For two weekends in September, the public has the opportunity to take a Grand Tour behind the scenes at the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway.
The railway, which has hosted two versions of the cinema classic The Railway Children, will be throwing open its doors to passengers who buy day rover tickets. Passengers will have access to the five-mile branch line’s inner most workings including being up close with the locomotive giants of steam during the weekends of September 7 and 8 and September 14 and 15.
On offer will be the opportunity to take a guided tour round Haworth shed and engineering centre where steam locomotives are prepared and maintained for their daily lives climbing from Keighley to Oxenhope. Then there will be the opportunity to see where porter Mr Perks from The Railway Children films worked in the Edwardian era themed station at Oakworth; step back in time to two museums at Ingrow West (admission free to day rover ticketholders) and be guided round the railway’s terminus at Keighley, including the newly opened Water Tower visitor centre and an opportunity to see round the station’s signalbox.
From September 1, the line between Haworth and Oxenhope will be closed due to the replacement of time-expired Bridge 27 over Bridgehouse Beck just outside Haworth Station, but the Grand Tour is on offer while services are still running between Haworth and Keighley. The full five-mile route is expected to reopen on September 21 once the bridge replacement is completed.
The Keighley & Worth Valley Railway’s marketing officer, Tom Marshall, said: “We want to make sure that our visitors don’t miss out on full value while the section of line from Haworth to Oxenhope is closed for work on Bridge 27. Our visitors will have an almost unique opportunity to ride behind our diesel trains as well as step behind the scenes at the railway’s key centres.
“The Grand Tour represents a fantastic opportunity for all the family to see what it takes to make a heritage railway tick, and our volunteers are looking forward to showing off the railway’s locomotives, rolling stock, stations and services.”
For full details of day rover tickets and all that is on offer at the two Grand Tour weekends, visit www.kwvr.co.uk
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