The North East Area held their AGM at Leeming Bar on 13th September 2008. The meeting was attended by 15 members and on conclusion of the business our guest speaker, Chris Leah, gave a informative presentation about the progress being made by the IRO, particularly in areas of education and development.
Chris also spent a few minutes telling the meeting about the story of the development of the Wensleydale Railway, operations and proposals for future deveopments of the railway. The Railway operates between Leeming Bar and Redmire. However, the Railway also leases the line betweeen Castle Hill Junction, Northallerton and Leeming Bar which is available for operation of MoD services and special passenger trains This is a total operational length of 22 miles. The line is leased from Network Rail on a 99 year lease. There are plans to extend the railway towards Bolton Castle and Aysgarth Falls would increase the potential of the line, particularly to the tourist market.
There are 72 Level Crossings including 4 AOCL‚s. There are also a number of significant structures on the line of route. Currently the railway is undertaking an extensive programme of track renewal with 5,000 sleepers to replace. They have embarked on a major fund raising campaign to fund this.
Operations commenced in 2004 and currently there are 3 trains are operated a day using a Class 101 DMU which is supplemented by steam operation. The line is primarily operated by volunteers although there are a small number of part-time staff employed by the Railway. The Railway is covered by a Safety Regime which includes Railway Group Standards, RSSB Rule Book, Safety Management System and ROGS. The Railway currently has a few issues with vandalism at Leeming Bar.
The Railway carries 25,000 passengers a year serving the tourist, walkers, community, coach tours and the enthusiast markets. Steam operations are scheduled for a month every year.
After the talk the IRO Party adjourned to Leeming Bar station for a trip on the Railway to Redmire. Our special thanks go to Chris Leah for all the arrangements he made for us that made the day very enjoyable.