Duke sees railway revival on royal train with a difference

Think of rail transport for crowned heads and the image is invariably of the extravagantly furnished saloon once used by Queen Victoria and now kept in the national museum at York.

Yet here was an obscure 40-year-old diesel unit, offering nothing more than basic seating arrangements and looking like three green buses strung together, elevated to an unaccustomed new status if only for a few heady hours.

Someone produced the proof for photographic posterity. Like a bus, the train had a roller blind at the front which had been turned with a handle to produce the prized combination 1X01, the official Royal train headcode, a technical device still used internally by operating staff with modern computers to identify what is using the rail network and where.

The Duke of York was following in the train tracks of his grandmother, his mother and his brother Charles, all of whom were berthed at Bedale station at various times while travelling to and from official engagements in the region.

In all three cases, however, the proper Royal train was involved rather than the extempore version the Duke was about to board in company with volunteers who are bringing the Northallerton to Redmire line back to life.

The Duke's visit to Leeming Bar was interesting for what he did not see. He was not shown, for example, the 41-year-old diesel engine brought from a railway centre in East Anglia.

Wensleydale Railway is completing the refurbishment of the engine, once based at Thornaby and thought to have been used on the workaday limestone trains which previously supported the branch, in readiness for locomotive-hauled passenger runs later this year.

Skulking behind the goods shed were four former main line passenger carriages, one of which will be prepared for eventual service, another for static purposes.

The remaining two, windowless and clearly the worse for wear, will become sources of spares. Even Wensleydale Railway chief executive Scott Handley admitted that he did not want those hanging around for longer than necessary.

In much better shape was the immaculately restored 34-year-old railway buffet car inspected by the Duke, who had the mysteries of its electrical systems explained to him by retired structural engineer and rolling stock volunteer Bernard Morris.

Mr Morris said: "Volunteers are usually up to their necks in muck and bullets and they were very pleased to have their work recognised."

Then there were the real life railway children, not born when regular passenger services ceased 50 years ago nor when limestone trains succumbed to irreversible market forces in 1992.

Meeting the Duke was an experience to remember for the 82 pupils of Aiskew and Leeming Bar CE Primary School, who used a train to Leyburn for a geography study trip soon after scheduled passenger services were reinstated last July. They became the first schoolchildren to make such a trip for half a century.

It transpired that deputy head Christine Millgate had lost her voice and head teacher Jon Sykes said: "The Duke cracked a joke along the lines of 'Where has she put it?'

"The opportunity to meet the Duke came about because of our good relationship with the railway. The older children particularly were really thrilled. He was really friendly towards the pupils."

The Duke chatted to train driver Norman Ash and guard Barry Glen before making the private journey to Leyburn, where he met civic dignitaries including Coun Trixie Walker, the Mayor, unveiled a plaque commemmorating his visit and signed the visitors' book.

Coun Walker, who had a relative once working as stationmaster at Askrigg and whose mother travelled by train to Yorebridge Grammar School, said the revival of passenger services had made a tremendous difference to shops in Leyburn. She saw the visit of the Duke to such a small rural railway as a great honour.

The Royal visitor was greeted by the newly formed Leyburn town band, whose music sheets included The Grand Old Duke of York, and talked to members and their conductor, George Lundberg.

Before he left the Duke congratulated Wensleydale Railway on its achievements so far, describing them as a wonderful addition to the national rail network. He wished the company well in its efforts to extend westwards, a reference to the ambition to reinstate track to Garsdale.

Volunteers presented to the Duke on the train undertake heavy work on the track, restore rolling stock and buildings, help with catering and run Wensleydale Railway shops, are responsible for office administration and promote the revived line at exhibitions and other public events.

Volunteer co-ordinator John Young said: "The Wensleydale Railway is the first of what is expected to become a national trend in locally developed and managed community railways.

"The success of a community railway is heavily reliant on the input the community itself can provide. The contribution made by volunteers, as in many organisations, is essential to the future of this project."

Mr Handley said: "The Duke asked how we run the railway with a mixture of paid and volunteer staff, maintenance and our plans for new services and stations. It is very unusual for an independent railway to merit a Royal visitor."

Official business concluded, it was time to run the train and its passengers a few more miles to Redmire. It became the first passenger train to visit the present terminus since an excursion in 1998, symbolising Wensleydale Railway hopes of reopening the entire surviving branch to the public later this year.