Wensleydale Railway

Over het museum

The railway through Wensleydale was built in the 1850s and 1870s, first as a branch from Northallerton to Leyburn and later extended west to Hawes, where it met the Settle to Carlisle line. It carried milk, stone and passengers until the full passenger service ended on 26 April 1954. The western end was closed in the 1950s and 1960s, the track beyond Redmire was lifted, and freight to a quarry near Redmire continued until 1992.

A group of local enthusiasts formed the Wensleydale Railway Association in 1990 with the aim of bringing passenger trains back. Military trains to and from Catterick Garrison began running over the line in 1996, which helped to pay for repairs. A separate operating company was set up in 2000, a 99-year lease of the line was signed in 2003, and passenger services restarted on 4 July 2003 with stations at Leeming Bar and Leyburn. Bedale, Finghall Lane and Redmire followed in 2004, and Scruton reopened in 2014. Passenger trains do not currently run over the last section of about 5 miles between Leyburn and Redmire.

Today heritage diesel trains run on selected days between Scruton or Leeming Bar and Leyburn, and the railway is run largely by volunteers. Several stations are presented as living museums: Scruton is a recreated Victorian country station, and the Grade II listed station house at Leeming Bar was restored with National Lottery Heritage Fund support and furnished as it might have looked in the 1920s. The railway is working to restore passenger services over that section, and track replacement work at Redmire was carried out in autumn 2026 as part of the first phase.

Hoogtepunten

• Heritage diesel trains through Wensleydale between Scruton or Leeming Bar and Leyburn
• Loco-hauled services on Wednesdays and Saturdays in the summer season
• Scruton station, a recreated Victorian country station with costumed guides
• Leeming Bar station house, furnished in 1920s style, with a free explorer trail
• Christmas train rides in November and December

Vaste collectie

• Leeming Bar Station House – The restored station house with its parcels office, ticket office, waiting room and station master's rooms is furnished as it might have looked in the 1920s.
• Scruton Station – A recreation of a small Victorian country station, usually staffed on running days by volunteers in period costume who explain rural life over a century ago.

Opgericht

2000

Beheerder

Wensleydale Railway PLC

Toegangsprijzen & kortingen

2026 fares. The regular price shown is the Ranger All Line ticket, which allows travel on the whole line all day; shorter journeys are cheaper, from 3 pounds for a single between Leeming Bar and Bedale. Discount codes can be entered when booking online: 25 per cent for local residents, armed forces and Rail Riders members, and 15 per cent for Rail Advent members; proof must be carried. Members of the Wensleydale Railway Trust pay half of the normal train fare and receive 10 per cent off in the railway's shops and cafes. Special events such as the Christmas train ride, afternoon teas and diesel galas are priced separately.

Toegankelijkheid

• Rolstoeltoegankelijk: geen informatie
• Lift: geen informatie
• Aangepast toilet: geen informatie
• Gehandicaptenparkeerplaats: geen informatie
• Hulphonden welkom
• Tastmodellen / voelbare objecten: geen informatie
• Rondleidingen in gebarentaal: geen informatie
• Informatie in eenvoudige taal: geen informatie
• Audiodescriptie: geen informatie

Assistance dogs travel free. No further access information is published on the railway's website.

Kinderen & gezin

Erg geschikt voor kinderen & gezinnen

• Gezinsrondleidingen & workshops
• Speurtocht, doeboekje of kinderaudiotour
• Doe- en voelstations

Children aged 3 to 15 travel for 1 pound on normal scheduled trains. At Leeming Bar station house a free explorer trail lets families try on 1920s costumes and handle period items, and the railway runs a Christmas train ride for families in winter.

Bereikbaarheid & parkeren

Leeming Bar station is about half a mile from junction 51 of the A1(M); follow signs for Leeming Bar Industrial Estate. Satnav postcode DL7 9AR. A shop and two pubs are across the road from the station.

Service & horeca

• Café
• Museumwinkel

A buffet coach on the platform at Leeming Bar sells hot drinks and snacks. Bedale Station Tea Room, Arthur's Tea Room at Leyburn and Percy's Tea Shop at Scruton (open on most days) serve drinks and cakes, and there are shops at Bedale and Leyburn stations.

Evenementen & zaalverhuur

Het museum heeft hierover geen informatie gepubliceerd.

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