PROJECT UPDATE (21 October 2026)

We’re making solid progress with the major infrastructure upgrade work on the 2.5-mile Leyburn to Wensley section of our line. Our rail contractor has now replaced 200 sleepers on the closed section of line west of Leyburn with a further 200+ sleepers still needing to be replaced. Last month, they completed relaying a 660-foot section of track (11 track panels) to the west of Leyburn Station.

This Phase 1 work is due to be completed by the end of this year and will see the 2.5-mile Leyburn to Wensley section of track brought up to required operational standards.

In the New Year, attention will turn to Phase 2 and the final 2.5 miles from Wensley to Redmire. A detailed survey has been completed and costs and plans developed. Significant upgrade work is required on this section of line, and we need to raise approx. £420,000 to complete it.

Your continuing support and generosity remain crucial to enable us to restore passenger services between Leyburn and Redmire. Our ability to reopen this stunning scenic section of our railway is dependent on 2 critical factors - money and volunteers. The more we have of each, the quicker we can return to Redmire.

DONATIONS: Please donate today and support our plans.

✅ Donations can be made online, by BACS, cheque or cash at our stations.

✅ Online Donations: https://www.justgiving.com/campaign/returntoredmire

✅ Bank Transfer Donations: Wensleydale Railway Trust Limited, Sort code: 82-62-13, Account number: 20144508

✅ Cheques: Please make payable to “WRT” and send to:

The Treasurer WRT

Leeming Bar Station

Leases Road

Leeming Bar

North Yorkshire

DL7 9AR

Contact Nick at fundraising@wensleydalerailway.com or visit our website for more details and other donation methods https://wensleydale-railway.co.uk/return-to-redmire/

VOLUNTEERING: Many hands make light work. Can you help?

✅ You don’t need experience to join the team as training will be given.

✅ We’re looking for people with a good level of physical fitness and a willingness to get stuck-in.

✅ It’s rewarding work and you will be made very welcome.

Get in touch today. Email: volunteercoordinator@wensleydalerailway.com / Phone: 01677425805

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For a more complete picture of our Return to Redmire plans, why it’s important, what work we’ve done, the challenges we face, what is being done now and what remains to be done, please visit our website here:

PROJECT UPDATE (10 September 2026)

We have started further major infrastructure upgrade work on the Leyburn to Wensley section of our line. Specialist rail contractor Lampitt Rail Services is relaying a 660-foot section of track (11 track panels) to the west of Leyburn Station, (immediately west of Bridge 27) using some materials recovered from the former Eggborough power station site.

This is phase 1 of our plans to restore passenger services over the approx. 5-mile section of our railway between Leyburn and Redmire. This phase is expected to take approx. 3-4 months to complete and will see the Leyburn to Wensley section of track brought up to required operational standards.

A considerable amount of sleeper replacement, re-ferruling of chairs and re-ballasting will also be done on this approx. 2.5-mile section of line. Some further drainage improvement work will also be completed, and a user-worked farm level crossing will have its wooden crossing deck replaced with rubber decking panels and the section of track running through it will be relayed with concrete sleepers.

Planning is also underway to complete phase 2 of the project - the approx. 2.5-mile Wensley to Redmire section. More news to follow.

Your continuing support and generosity remain crucial to enable us to restore passenger services between Leyburn and Redmire. Our ability to reopen this stunning scenic section of our railway is dependent on 2 critical factors - money and volunteers. The more we have of each, the quicker we can return to Redmire.

DONATIONS: Please donate today and support our plans.

✅ Donations can be made online, by BACS, cheque or cash at our stations.

✅ Online Donations: https://www.justgiving.com/campaign/returntoredmire

Contact Nick at fundraising@wensleydalerailway.com or visit our website for more details and other donation methods https://wensleydale-railway.co.uk/return-to-redmire/

VOLUNTEERING: Many hands make light work. Can you help?

✅ You don’t need experience to join the team as training will be given.

✅ We’re looking for people with a good level of physical fitness and a willingness to get stuck-in.

✅ It’s rewarding work and you will be made very welcome.

Get in touch today. Email: volunteercoordinator@wensleydalerailway.com / Phone: 01677425805

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For a more complete picture of our Return to Redmire plans, why it’s important, what work we’ve done, the challenges we face, what is being done now and what remains to be done, please visit our website here:

https://wensleydale-railway.co.uk/return-to-redmire/

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Our goal is to restore passenger services to Redmire station by September 2025. This will coincide with the 200th anniversary celebrations of the World’s first passenger service on the Stockton & Darlington Railway in 1825. We need your help.

What has been done?

The line from Leyburn to Redmire has been surveyed, all defects noted, and an action plan produced to bring the line back up to passenger standards again. Work started west of Leyburn in 2023, changing sleepers, removing trees and sorting out earthworks and drainage.

This section of the line is in a cutting and over the years the earth on the north side has gradually drifted down onto the track. This has all had to be dug out and shored up to prevent recurrence.

The drainage here is also very poor. Approx. 260m of concrete U tube drainage channel had to be dug out to remove damaged pipes containing asbestos.

How can you help?

There is a 0.75-mile section of track close to Wensley Station that needs to be slewed away from the embankment edge. The earthworks which carried the railway along the foot of the cliffs below Leyburn Shawl have eroded and material fallen into the adjacent fields. Some sleeper ends have been left exposed and unsupported.

This is a big job which will require contractor support. The track section has been surveyed by a Civil Engineer and plans made to slew the track away from the embankment edge onto what was once part of the quarry sidings.

It sounds simple, but it will involve approx. 1,000 tons of ballast (at a cost of around £25,000), the hire of machinery and qualified operators, works trains and our operating staff, permanent way engineers to approve the work, plus hiring a tamping unit (this alone will cost around £10,000) and last but not least, the efforts of our volunteer teams.

There is also a short section of track just east of Wensley crossing which needs attention and that should get us to Wensley. Next, we need to start work on the line to the west, notably Preston Bank as it runs downhill towards Redmire Station. Some of the rail necessary is already on site and we have some other materials, but we will need significant support to complete the job.