The Nidd Valley Railway was a long single-track branch railway line that ran along the valley of the

River Nidd The River Nidd is a tributary of the River Ouse in the English county of North Yorkshire. In its first few miles it is dammed three times to create Angram Reservoir, Scar House Reservoir and Gouthwaite Reservoir, which attract a total of aroun ...

North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is the largest ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county (lieutenancy area) in England, covering an area of . Around 40% of the county is covered by National parks of the United Kingdom, national parks, including most of ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. Built by the North Eastern Railway, it ran from Ripley Junction, on the Harrogate to Ripon Line, to via five intermediate stations, , , , , and .

History

The proposal to drive a railway into

Nidderdale Nidderdale, historically also known as Netherdale, is one of the Yorkshire Dales (although outside the Yorkshire Dales National Park) in North Yorkshire, England. It is the upper valley of the River Nidd, which flows south underground and then ...

was first mooted by the Leeds & Thirsk Railway Company when they were constructing their line.

Parliamentary A parliamentary system, or parliamentarian democracy, is a system of democracy, democratic government, governance of a sovereign state, state (or subordinate entity) where the Executive (government), executive derives its democratic legitimacy ...

authority was granted, but they allowed the powers to lapse and in 1860, the North Eastern Railway (who had been granted authority in 1859) started constructing the line instead. It opened to traffic on 1 May 1862. The branch was single line throughout, with no passing places for passenger traffic at the intermediate stations, though goods trains could pass at , and Dacre. The line ran a distance of from Ripley Junction on the Leeds to Thirsk line, which was north of , the distance from Harrogate to Pateley Bridge being . The railway stayed on the north side of the

, (save a short stretch between Darley and Dacre stations) and was mostly uphill towards Pateley Bridge.

Stations

Upon opening the line had three intermediate stations: Killinghall (renamed first to Ripley in 1862, and then to Ripley Valley in 1875), Birstwith, and Dacre, with Darley opening in 1864 and Hampsthwaite opening in 1866. Initially, services for passengers on the line amounted to four out and back workings per day between Harrogate and Pateley Bridge. By 1923, this was seven a day, but this tally fell back again when by the 1950s, only two services in each direction were working the line. All stations on the line had goods facilities, with the exception of Hampsthwaite, which was for passengers only, and actually closed a year earlier to passengers than the other stations on the line (2 January 1950). Goods traffic was mixed; inbound was mostly coal and construction traffic (especially for transfer over to the

Nidd Valley Light Railway Nidd Valley Light Railway was a light railway in upper Nidderdale in the West Riding of Yorkshire, England. It was owned by Bradford Corporation Waterworks Department and the corporation also operated its public passenger services. Power & Tracti ...

) for the reservoir building schemes in

Upper Nidderdale Nidderdale, historically also known as Netherdale, is one of the Yorkshire Dales (although outside the Yorkshire Dales National Park) in North Yorkshire, England. It is the upper valley of the River Nidd, which flows south underground and then ...

. Grain traffic to the flour mill at Birstwith continued up to closure of the line. Outward bound traffic was mixed too, with milk being common but the Scotgate Ash quarries above Pateley Bridge provided sandstone slabs and blocks that were used for the platforms at , , and .

Closure

After the traffic on the Nidd Valley Light Railway ceased, passenger numbers and through freight traffic on the branch declined. In addition, a bus service between Harrogate and Pateley Bridge with stops in the villages was more convenient for many residents than a walk to the station. The last scheduled passenger train ran on 31 March 1951 but the line remained open for goods until 30 October 1964. The last branch goods working was pulled by J27 0-6-0 No 65894. The old line northwards from Harrogate to Ripley has been converted into a bridleway for walkers, horses and cyclists as

Nidderdale Greenway The Nidderdale Greenway is a path that runs between Harrogate and Ripley in North Yorkshire, England. It uses a former railway line that ran between Harrogate and Pateley Bridge as its course. The route connects to other cycle paths including t ...

. The entire line up to Pateley Bridge (and beyond on the Nidd Valley Light Railway), has also been proposed to be converted into a greenway.

Nidd Valley Light Railway

Between 1907 and 1937 the line connected at to the Nidd Valley Light Railway, built to carry men and materials to the construction sites of two large reservoirs, Angram and Scar House.

References

Sources

External links

{{commons category, Nidd Valley Railway
Brief line history and route plan
Closed railway lines in North East England Rail transport in North Yorkshire Railway lines opened in 1862 Nidderdale 1862 establishments in England North Eastern Railway (UK)