IMAGES TAKEN NEAR TO
Brentwood, LEYBURN, DL8 5HW

A view of the engine, which is visiting for the summer season along with GWR 0-6-2T 5643. This was during the 1940s event. Trains were busy with passengers, no doubt helped by the nationwide coverage by countryfile the week before.

Love them or hate them (and more people seem to be in the latter camp rather than the former), the BR ‘Pacer’ diesel multiple unit railbuses were stalwarts of local services across the north of England for nearly 40 years. They were inexpensively developed using a passenger body based on the Leyland National bus on top of a chassis based on the HSFV1 research vehicle and were initially intended to be a short-term solution to a shortage of rolling stock. However, following privatisation, modernised replacements were lacking, and the Pacer fleet remained in service on some lines until 2021 – 37 years after their introduction in 1984. It was therefore a mild surprise when I visited the Wensleydale Railway and found that their services were being operated by two Class 142 Pacers. It seemed somewhat strange to ride on a ‘heritage’ service using a vehicle on which I had enjoyed/endured so many local journeys during the past few years. I suppose ‘nostalgia’ has to begin sometime!

Middleham Low Moor: Image

Opened in 1856 by the Bedale & Leyburn Railway as an extension of the line from Northallerton. Closed in 1954, and reopened by the Wensleydale Railway in 2004, although the eastbound platform hasn't been restored. View east towards Spennithorne and Bedale.

The railway first reached Leyburn in November 1855, when the Bedale & Leyburn Railway opened its line from Leeming (where it made an end-on junction with the York, Newcastle and Berwick Railway branch from Northallerton). Passenger services commenced six months later, with a further extension westwards to Hawes being built by the North Eastern Railway in 1877/8 (the NER having also absorbed the B&L in 1857). At Hawes, another end-on junction was made with the Midland Railway branch from Hawes Junction that gave the NER access to the Settle-Carlisle Railway by means of running powers (which it made use of for passenger trains). The branch became part of the LNER under the terms of the 1923 Grouping. For most of its life, the route had a basic service of five passenger trains each day along its entire length with one or two extras reaching Leyburn from Northallerton, along with a small number of parcels, milk and goods trains. Nationalisation followed at the end of 1947, but less than a decade later the station was closed when the Northallerton to Hawes route fell victim to road competition, services being withdrawn on 26 April 1954. (Wikipedia) http://www.furnessrailwaytrust.org.uk/other5643history.htm

Attractively restored buildings on the Wensleydale Railway line, accommodating a 1940s style cafe and a small souvenir shop.

On the Wensleydale Railway

A diesel multiple unit on the Wensleydale Railway is awaiting departure to Leeming Bar.

s at July 2022, Leyburn Station forms the western terminus of the Wensleydale Railway. The railway first reached Leyburn in November 1855, when the Bedale & Leyburn Railway opened its line from Leeming. The branch became part of the LNER under the terms of the 1923 Grouping. For most of its life, the route had a basic service of five passenger trains each day along its entire length with one or two extras reaching Leyburn from Northallerton. The station was closed when the Northallerton to Hawes route fell victim to road competition, services being withdrawn on 26 April 1954. In May 2003, The Wensleydale Railway reopened the station at Leyburn after leasing the line from Railtrack. The station buildings had survived after closure, which made the reinstatement of passenger facilities there straightforward. Passenger trains initially ran eastwards from Leyburn to Leeming Bar, but these were extended on to Redmire in August 2004.