Nidd Valley Railway

The proposal to drive a railway into Nidderdale was first mooted by the Leeds & Thirsk Railway Company when they were constructing their line. Parliamentary 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.{{cite book|last1=Blakemore|first1=Michael|title=Railways of the Yorkshire Dales.|date=2005|publisher=Great Northern Books|location=Ilkley|isbn=1-905080-03-4|page=19|chapter=Nidderdale}} The branch was single line throughout, with no passing places for passenger traffic at the intermediate stations, though goods trains could pass at {{rws|Ripley Valley}}, {{rws|Birstwith}} and Dacre.{{cite book |last1=Suggitt |first1=Gordon |title=Lost railways of North and East Yorkshire |date=2005 |publisher=Countryside Books |location=Newbury |isbn=978-1-85306-918-5 |page=36}} The line ran a distance of {{convert|11+1/2|mi}} from Ripley Junction on the Leeds to Thirsk line, which was {{convert|3|mi}} north of {{rws|Harrogate}},{{sfn|Chapman|2011|pp=52–55}} the distance from Harrogate to Pateley Bridge being {{convert|14|mi|77|chain}}.{{cite book |last1=Hoole |first1=Ken |title=Railways in the Yorkshire Dales : a pictorial history |date=1985 |publisher=Dalesman |location=Clapham |isbn=0-85206-826-3 |page=41}} The railway stayed on the north side of the River Nidd, (save a short stretch between Darley and Dacre stations) and was mostly uphill towards Pateley Bridge.{{cite book |last1=Bairstow |first1=Martin |title=Railways around Harrogate |date=1986 |publisher=M. Bairstow |location=Halifax |isbn=0-9510302-3-X |pages=32, 34}}

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.{{cite book|last1=Burgess|first1=Neil|title=The Lost Railways of Yorkshire's West Riding; Harrogate and the North|date=2014|publisher=Stenlake|location=Catrine|isbn=9781840336559|page=20}}{{cite book|last1=Cobb|first1=M. H.|title=The railways of Great Britain : a historical atlas at a scale of 1 inch to 1 mile vol. 2.|date=2003|publisher=Ian Allan Publishing|location=Shepperton|isbn=0-7110-3003-0|page=411}}

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.{{cite book|last1=Suggitt|first1=Gordon|title=Lost railways of North and East Yorkshire|date=2005|publisher=Countryside Books|location=Newbury|isbn=978-1-85306-918-5|pages=36–37|chapter=3: Nidderdale}}

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).{{cite book |last1=Hoole |first1=Ken |title=Railway stations of the North East |date=1985 |publisher=David & Charles |location=Newton Abbot |isbn=0-7153-8527-5 |page=168}} Goods traffic was mixed; inbound was mostly coal and construction traffic (especially for transfer over to the Nidd Valley Light Railway) for the reservoir building schemes in Upper Nidderdale. 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{{cite magazine|last1=Joy|first1=David|title=Rails in Nidderdale|magazine=Backtrack magazine|date=May 2014|volume=28|issue=5|pages=262–269|publisher=Pendragon|location=Easingwold|issn=0955-5382}} that were used for the platforms at {{stnlnk|York}}, {{stnlnk|Newcastle}}, {{stnlnk|Holyhead}} and {{stnlnk|London Paddington}}.{{cite web|last1=Everett|first1=Shirley|title=Strategic Stone Study - A Building Stone Atlas of North Yorkshire, West|url=https://www.bgs.ac.uk/downloads/directDownload.cfm?id=2484&noexcl=true&t=North%20Yorkshire%2C%20West%20%2D%20Building%20Stone%20Atlas|website=bgs.ac.uk|accessdate=10 September 2017|page=7|format=PDF|date=May 2012}}{{cite web|title=Local History {{!}} Pateley Bridge Town Council in North Yorkshire|url=http://www.pateleybridgecouncil.org.uk/history.php|website=www.pateleybridgecouncil.org.uk|accessdate=9 September 2017}}

After the traffic on the Nidd Valley Light Railway ceased, passenger numbers and through freight traffic on the branch declined.{{cite book|last1=Burgess|first1=Neil|title=The Lost Railways of Yorkshire's West Riding; Harrogate and the North|date=2014|publisher=Stenlake|location=Catrine|isbn=9781840336559|page=24}} 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.{{sfn|Chapman|2011|p=55}}

The old line northwards from Harrogate to Ripley has been converted into a bridleway for walkers, horses and cyclists as Nidderdale Greenway.{{cite web |last1=Magazine |first1=Dalesman |title=Discovering the new Nidderdale Greenway cycle route |url=https://www.dalesman.co.uk/discovering-the-new-nidderdale-greenway-cycle-route/ |website=dalesman.co.uk |access-date=25 December 2021 |date=22 May 2013}} 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.{{cite news |last1=Newton |first1=Grace |title=Nidd Valley Railway: The closed line that could be converted into the Nidderdale Greenway cycle route extension |url=https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/heritage-and-retro/heritage/nidd-valley-railway-the-closed-line-that-could-be-converted-into-the-nidderdale-greenway-cycle-route-extension-3385546 |access-date=25 December 2021 |work=The Yorkshire Post |date=16 September 2021}}

{{main|Nidd Valley Light Railway}}

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

{{reflist}}

• {{cite book|last=Chapman|first=Stephen|title=Railway memories no. 24; Harrogate & Wetherby|date=2011|publisher=Bellcode Books|location=Rudston, East Yorkshire|isbn=978-1871233-24-7}}

{{commons category|Nidd Valley Railway}}

• [http://www.hadfhs.co.uk/the-nidd-valley-railway-and-how-it-affected-the-census-returns-of-1861-and-1881/ Brief line history and route plan]
• [http://www.npemap.org.uk/tiles/map.html#140,154,2 Line on a 1948 OS Map]

Category:Closed railway lines in North East England

Category:Rail transport in North Yorkshire

Category:Railway lines opened in 1862

Category:Nidderdale

Category:1862 establishments in England

Category:North Eastern Railway (United Kingdom)