Keighley & Worth Valley Railway

In 1861, John McLandsborough, a civil engineer, visited Haworth to pay tribute to Charlotte Brontë but was surprised to find that it was not served by a railway. He proposed a branch running from the Midland Railway's station at Keighley to Oxenhope. The line would serve three small towns and 15 mills along its length.

A meeting of local gentlemen were told that the line would cost £36,000[1] to build[2] (equivalent to £3,570,000 in 2021).[3] A total of 3,134 shares worth £10 each were issued at this meeting, along with the election of directors, bankers, solicitors and engineers. J McLandsborough, the original proposer of the line (who dealt predominantly with water and sewerage engineering, but had experience of building the Otley and Ilkley Railway) was appointed acting engineer; whilst J. S. Crossley of the Midland Railway was appointed consultant engineer.

The railway was incorporated by an Act of Parliament in 1862 and the first sod was cut on Shrove Tuesday, 9 February 1864 by Isaac Holden, the chairman of the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway.[4]

The railway was built as single track but with a trackbed wide enough to allow upgrading to double track for expansion.[2] Although the work was estimated to take approximately one year, delays including buying land for the line, a cow eating the plans near Oakworth and engineering problems meant the work took nearly two years to complete. In particular the southern tunnel to Ingrow West had quicksand oozing through bore holes that required additional piles to be driven down to the bedrock to support and stabilise the tunnel. Unfortunately the work damaged the foundation to the Wesley Place Methodist Church resulting in the church receiving £1,980 from the railway company.[2]

Tracklaying was completed in 1866, having started at each end and joined in the middle. The line was tested with a locomotive from Ilkley, which took nearly two hours to get from Keighley to Oxenhope, but just 13 minutes to get back.[2] Before opening, violent storms struck the line in November of that year.

The opening ceremony was held on Saturday 13 April 1867.[5] Unfortunately, the train got stuck on Keighley bank and again between Oakworth and Haworth, necessitating splitting it before carrying on with the journey. Finally, on 15 April 1867, public passenger services on the Worth Valley commenced.

The line was operated by the Midland Railway, who owned most of the rail network in the area, and was eventually bought by the Midland in part due to interest from the rival railway company, the Great Northern. Upon sale of the railway, the mill owners made a profit, which was unusual for many lines of that type, as (for strategic reasons) the Midland wanted to prevent the GN from taking over its territory. After becoming part of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway in 1923 during Grouping, ownership passed to British Railways (BR) following nationalisation in 1948.

On 6 November 1892 the deviation line between Haworth and Oakworth through Mytholmes Tunnel was opened and the original route abandoned.[6] The Midland had intended to double the entire route as the traffic was so heavy. However, due to national political developments, in particular a dispute on rates between the Railway Companies' Association and the Government, the railway companies were urged by the Association to cease all but essential capital expenditure. Consequently, although the Parliamentary Bill to double the track had been turned into an Act, the Midland decided not to double the whole route, but did undertake the necessary work on the section to avoid the trestle viaduct at Vale Mill. This is why that part of the line today looks so different from the rest of the route. The need for the deviation was to avoid a large wooden trestle viaduct that crossed a mill pond, as the locals believed the viaduct was unsafe, and supposedly many alighted at Oakworth and continued on foot to Haworth to avoid crossing the viaduct. The original trestle viaduct can be seen in a picture hanging in the booking hall of Oakworth station.

The need to increase capacity for the heavy traffic remained, so at the turn of the century, the Midland installed a passing loop at Oakworth and signalling at Haworth which gave virtually as much flexibility for dealing with the traffic as would have been the case had the line been doubled.

British Railways operated the last scheduled passenger train on Saturday 30 December 1961 and with no Sunday service the passenger service was deemed withdrawn from Monday 1 January 1962. Freight trains continued to run to Oxenhope until 18 June 1962. On 23 June 1962 the new formed Keighley and Worth Valley Railway Preservation Society chartered a special passenger train which ran from Bradford to Oxenhope and return. After this train the section between Oxenhope and Ingrow Junction was completely closed.[7]

S160 'Big Jim' 5820 arrives at Haworth with a service to Oxenhope

A preservation society was formed in 1962 of rail enthusiasts and local people which bought the line from BR and reopened it on 29 June 1968 as a heritage railway.[8] The first train to leave Keighley for Oxenhope on that date was the only train to operate anywhere on the network due to a national train strike.[9] The line is now a major tourist attraction operated by 500+ volunteers and roughly 10 paid staff. It carries more than 100,000 passengers a year.[10]

The KWVR is the only complete heritage railway in the UK to be preserved and operating. It has its link to the main line which is in regular use for all types of traffic, including public passenger trains and it operates the whole railway as last used by British Railways.

On 10 July 2008, the Duke of Kent visited the railway following the 40th anniversary of its reopening.[11][12][13] While at the railway, the Duke travelled in the carriage and on the locomotive footplate of a specially prepared "Royal Train", consisting of tank locomotive 41241, an LMS Class 2MT, pulling a single carriage, The Old Gentleman's Saloon, as featured in The Railway Children, which is a former North Eastern Railway directors Saloon.

The morning diesel railbus service at Damems station

On weekends, in particular Saturday mornings, local residents who live in Oxenhope, Haworth, Oakworth and Ingrow catch the early morning diesel service to Keighley, returning later on steam hauled services. During the weekday outside of the summer months, locals instead use the local bus services.

As a privately owned heritage railway, the line does not specifically serve commuters; however, a study by Ove Arup & Partners funded by Metro looked at the feasibility of a daily commuter service between Oxenhope and Keighley in 2009.[14] After the first stage of the study was released, Metro stated concerns about a lack of funding and available rolling stock, meaning that services are unlikely to run in the short to medium term.[15]

Another study undertaken in 2011 on behalf of the Worth Valley Joint Transport Committee found that running up to four commuter trains each way in the morning and evening is feasible.[16]

Railbus at Keighley station, 2012

• Mainline connections to Leeds, Bradford, Skipton, Carlisle, Lancaster, Morecambe and London King's Cross
• Railway shop and buffet
• Turntable
• Picnic area
• Station restored to BR 1950s condition complete with cast-iron platform canopy on Platform 4, as once existed on all of the platforms

• Access to the Vintage Carriages Trust's Museum of Rail Travel
• Railway shop
• Access to the Bahamas Locomotive Society Museum 'Ingrow Loco'
• Car parking

Damems station, March 2017

• The smallest standard-gauge railway station in Britain, complete with waiting room, booking office, signal box and level crossing
• Lit by gas and heated by coal stoves
• It is mostly used by passengers changing trains, usually during busy periods, such as gala events
• Featured as Ormston in the BBC's Born and Bred

Oakworth station, April 2000

• Famous as the location for the filming of the 1970 film The Railway Children, starring Jenny Agutter, Dinah Sheridan, Bernard Cribbins, Sally Thomsett and Gary Warren
• Restored to Edwardian condition, the station is lit by gas lamps
• Heated by up to four coal fires in winter
• Civil Engineering yard, containing all engineering wagons (not open to public)
• Car parking (for 'Horseless Carriages')

Haworth station, December 2011

• Railway shop
• Motive Power & Civil Engineering Departments situated here (Not open to the public, although guided tours are run on peak days)
• Picnic area and engine shed viewing area
• Access to Haworth village and the Brontë Parsonage
• Gas lit platform
• An example of a 1950s country station

• Terminus of the branch (Located at around 660 feet (201 m) above sea level)
• New Heritage Lottery Fund-supported exhibition shed; contains locomotives and carriages not currently in use and explains their history and that of the line as a whole
• Carriage & Wagon Maintenance department (Not open to the public)
• Buffet (converted from BR Mk1 RMB No. 1824) and railway shop.
• Car parking
• Bus connections to Hebden Bridge
• Gas-lit platform, car park and waiting room