VISITORS called at a railway station with no trains at the weekend, to support volunteers fighting to reopen a troubled tourist line.

The volunteers, members of the 1,000-strong Weardale Railway Trust, have embarked on a fundraising campaign to save the County Durham railway, which went into voluntary administration at the start of the year with debts of nearly £1m.

No trains have run this year, but members still decided to man the station and railway shop at Stanhope over the bank holiday.

The result was a steady stream of visitors anxious to find out what is happening to the railway, said trust acting chairman Kevin Hillary,

"Although most of the visitors were caravanners and North-East people having a day out in the dale, there were some who had travelled from farther afield," he said.

"There was even one couple from Essex, staying at Alston over the weekend, who were eager to hear when the rail way will be back up and run- ning."

Talks are continuing with public funders and at least one private company is said to be prepared to invest in the railway project.

During the summer last year, it operated trains on a five- mile stretch of track between Stanhope and Wolsingham, carrying about 14,000 passengers.

At the same time, the railway railway trust's membership rose from about 350 to more than 1,000.