Keighley & Worth Valley Railway
A steam train ride through the heart of Brontë country
(Photos/words © urban75, March 2008)
After closure by British Railways in 1962, a Preservation Society was formed by local people and railway enthusiasts to reopen the line.
After a long struggle, passenger traffic restarted on 29th June 1968, with stations restored to a 1950s, post-nationalisation appearance.
The five mile branch line has prospered and become a firm favourite with film and TV producers, appearing in productions such as Yanks, Sherlock Holmes, Last of the Summer Wine, Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em, Poirot, A Touch Of Frost and Pink Floyd's The Wall
The Railway is most famous for its role in the 1970 film version of The Railway Children, which featured Jenny Agutter, Bernard Cribbins and Sally Thomsett.
![Keighley and Worth valley railway, Oakworth, Haworth and Oxenhope, West Yorkshire, England, with pictures of steam trains, stations, locomotives and more](images/worth-valley-railway-01.jpg) Waiting for the Keighley train on a rain-soaked Haworth station.
![Keighley and Worth valley railway, Oakworth, Haworth and Oxenhope, West Yorkshire, England, with pictures of steam trains, stations, locomotives and more](images/worth-valley-railway-02.jpg)
![Keighley and Worth valley railway, Oakworth, Haworth and Oxenhope, West Yorkshire, England, with pictures of steam trains, stations, locomotives and more](images/worth-valley-railway-03.jpg) Haworth station is entirely lit by gas.
![Keighley and Worth valley railway, Oakworth, Haworth and Oxenhope, West Yorkshire, England, with pictures of steam trains, stations, locomotives and more](images/worth-valley-railway-04.jpg) Our train arrives!
![Keighley and Worth valley railway, Oakworth, Haworth and Oxenhope, West Yorkshire, England, with pictures of steam trains, stations, locomotives and more](images/worth-valley-railway-05.jpg) The award winning Edwardian Oakworth station, where the 1970s production of the The Railway Children was set.
![Keighley and Worth valley railway, Oakworth, Haworth and Oxenhope, West Yorkshire, England, with pictures of steam trains, stations, locomotives and more](images/worth-valley-railway-06.jpg) Preparing to leave Oakworth.
![Keighley and Worth valley railway, Oakworth, Haworth and Oxenhope, West Yorkshire, England, with pictures of steam trains, stations, locomotives and more](images/worth-valley-railway-07.jpg)
![Keighley and Worth valley railway, Oakworth, Haworth and Oxenhope, West Yorkshire, England, with pictures of steam trains, stations, locomotives and more](images/worth-valley-railway-08.jpg) Ingrow West's station building was dismantled, transported and rebuilt stone by stone from the Midland station at Foulridge, Lancashire.
![Keighley and Worth valley railway, Oakworth, Haworth and Oxenhope, West Yorkshire, England, with pictures of steam trains, stations, locomotives and more](images/worth-valley-railway-09.jpg) The start of the branch line at Keighley, at the junction with the mainline station.
![Keighley and Worth valley railway, Oakworth, Haworth and Oxenhope, West Yorkshire, England, with pictures of steam trains, stations, locomotives and more](images/worth-valley-railway-10.jpg) The loco taking on water.
![Keighley and Worth valley railway, Oakworth, Haworth and Oxenhope, West Yorkshire, England, with pictures of steam trains, stations, locomotives and more](images/worth-valley-railway-11.jpg)
![Keighley and Worth valley railway, Oakworth, Haworth and Oxenhope, West Yorkshire, England, with pictures of steam trains, stations, locomotives and more](images/worth-valley-railway-12.jpg) Grabbing a cuppa in the waiting room at Keighley.
![Keighley and Worth valley railway, Oakworth, Haworth and Oxenhope, West Yorkshire, England, with pictures of steam trains, stations, locomotives and more](images/worth-valley-railway-13.jpg) We took a return trip down the line, and the rain was thundering down by the time we reached the terminus at Oxenhope.
![Keighley and Worth valley railway, Oakworth, Haworth and Oxenhope, West Yorkshire, England, with pictures of steam trains, stations, locomotives and more](images/worth-valley-railway-14.jpg) Steam train in the rain.
![Keighley and Worth valley railway, Oakworth, Haworth and Oxenhope, West Yorkshire, England, with pictures of steam trains, stations, locomotives and more](images/worth-valley-railway-15.jpg)
![Keighley and Worth valley railway, Oakworth, Haworth and Oxenhope, West Yorkshire, England, with pictures of steam trains, stations, locomotives and more](images/worth-valley-railway-16.jpg) Sheltering from the rain in the Oxenhope booking office.
![Keighley and Worth valley railway, Oakworth, Haworth and Oxenhope, West Yorkshire, England, with pictures of steam trains, stations, locomotives and more](images/worth-valley-railway-17.jpg) End of the line.
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