The KWVR is a standard gauge branch line which joins the national railway network at Keighley in the north east of England and runs 5-miles up the Worth Valley to Oxenhope. Other stations on the Line are at Ingrow, Damems, Oakworth (location of the film The Railway Children) and Haworth (the village is the former home of the Brontë family).

The Line was built in 1867 by local mill owners, but with the operation of trains 'franchised' to the Midland Railway which operated the adjoining Bradford/Leeds - Skipton line. The Midland Railway eventually bought out the KWVR Company. The Line became part of the London, Midland & Scottish Railway in 1924 and British Railways (BR) in 1948.

BR's economies closed the branch in 1962, but local opposition was such that a preservation society was formed which created a Company to buy the Line outright, lease access into Keighley station and operate a regular public service.

Diesel railcars were purchased to operate a daily passenger service, a diesel locomotive to work goods trains and several steam locomotives and carriages to operate a tourist service.

The Line reopened in 1968 and has been owned, operated and managed entirely by volunteer members of the preservation society ever since. The sale of the Worth Valley branch was the first privatisation of British Railways and the 6 year legal battle to transfer ownership was testament to this. It is amazing to think now, but the new KWVR did not have to raise the thousands of pounds 'up front' to buy the Line from BR, we paid them in instalments over the following 25 years - with no interest, simply the cost of the Branch / 25! We paid BR the final installment in 1992.

The six year closure led to the line's freight and 150,000 local passengers finding other means of transport. However a weekend morning diesel 'shopper' service proved viable together with a steam train service from midday, and a daily steam train service throughout the summer and public holiday weeks. Residents of the Valley can now apply for a special pass which gives them greatly reduced fares and provide a convenient alternative to the bus.

In the years since reopening not only has the KWVR developed into one of the country's premier 'heritage' railways it has continued a tradition of service to the communities along the Worth Valley, operating rail services on almost 200 days per year.

The Keighley & Worth Valley Railway is a single track line running 4 miles 75 chains from Keighley to Oxenhope. The 0 milepost is on the site of the former Keighley Station Junction signal box, approximately 2 chains to the east of the present connection with the national rail network. The "up" direction is to London and hence from Oxenhope to Keighley.

Locomotive run-round facilities exist at both ends of the line: at Keighley the locos. use the track running through platform 3, at Oxenhope a dedicated run-round loop line is used. A passing loop, which may be used by all classes of trains, is located at Damems Junction (2.3 miles) . A goods loop also exists at Haworth (4 miles) but this is currently out of use until signalling work has been completed.

The steepest gradient on the line is 1 in 56, which occurs in two places: Keighley Curve (0m.10ch to 0m.27ch.) and between Ingrow Tunnel (1m.35ch.) and Damems station (2m.0ch). The average gradient of the line is 1 in 70.

The K.& W.V.L.R. occupies platforms 3 and 4 at Keighley station (platforms 1 and 2 are used by the national railway network's Bradford/Leeds to Skipton, Morecambe and Carlisle trains).

Platform 4 is used by most services but platform 3 may be used when Keighley Station Yard Working is in operation (see below).

The line is worked by the "One Train Working" system using a train staff containing an Annetts key. All points on the main line, except those at Damems Junction, are secured by an Annetts lock. The O.T.W. staff may also be used to unlock the signal box lever frame at Damems Junction and institute electric token block working. This splits the line into two block sections: Keighley to Damems Junction and Damems Junction to Oxenhope.

Provision also exists for unlocking an Annetts key at Keighley South ground frame to institute "Keighley Station Yard Working", which enables the Keighley station area, between 0m and 03m, to be worked as a separate section.

Signalling on the line is a mixture of British Railways upper quadrant and Midland Railway lower quadrant semaphore signals. All points are operated by mechanical rodding from lever frames; the lever frames at Oxenhope use Midland Railway economical facing point locks.

The most severe curve on the line is the down line to up line connection of Keighley West Crossover, (5.4 chains radius). There are two other check-railed curves: the 9 chain radius Keighley Curve (0m.5ch. to 0m.27ch.) and the 13 chains radius Globe Inn Curve (0m.32ch. to 0m.44ch.).

The line is predominately laid in 60 feet lengths of 95lb per yd. bull head rail; the inside rail is shortened to 59ft. 7Hin. on sharp curves to keep the rail joints parallel. A short section of older 45ft. rails survives between 0m.51ch. and 0m.63ch. The rails are secured by steel keys into cast iron S1 chairs which rest mainly on wooden sleepers but approximately 700 yd. rest on concrete sleepers.

There are two sections of flat-bottomed rail: approx. 3 mile of 98lb per yd. f.b. rail between Damems Junction and Oakworth and approx. 250 yd. of 109lb per yd. f.b. rail north of Haworth station; both sections are laid on concrete sleepers. All pointwork on the line is made from 95lb per yd. bull head rail save the loop side of Haworth North Points, which uses 85lb per yd. bull head rail.

There are two tunnels on the line: Ingrow Tunnel (150 yards long) and Mytholmes Tunnel (75 yards long). The Railway's bridges number from 1 to 31 plus "X" of which four have been abandoned; 18 are underbridges and 9 overbridges (Bridge X was on the station approach road at Oxenhope over a mill dam) but there have been many alterations since the line was constructed by the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway Co. in 1867.

The Keighley & Worth Valley Railway Co. was vested with the Midland Railway in 1881 to allow the Midland to come to agreement with the Great Northern Railway, which had received authority to construct a line from Bradford and Halifax to Keighley.

The companies had agreed to share the Worth Valley track between Keighley station, rebuilt and enlarged in its present location, and Keighley (Great Northern Junction) at 0H mile. This involved doubling this section of track, together with Bridges1 to 4 ( the original Bridge 4 appears to have been a lengthy single track masonry viaduct) and constructing a new bridge (3A) over the double track of the Great Northern Railway's Keighley Goods Branch.

In 1892, shortly after the Midland purchased the K.& W.V.R. and dissolved the company, a deviation was constructed between 2miles 77 chains and 3 miles 26 chains to avoid the expense of major repairs to Vale Viaduct, which had been constructed out of timber.

The deviation required the construction of four bridges: 2 masonry (Bridges 18 and 19), 2 steel (Bridges 16 and 17) and the 75 yards long Mytholmes Tunnel (Bridge 20). With the exception of the demolition of Bridge 14 (an accommodation overbridge situated at 2m.34ch.) in 1923, and the replacement of the wrought iron trough girder Bridges 6 (0m.70ch) and 12 (1m.47ch.) by pre-cast concrete structures in 1954, few other changes took place until the present company took over the operation of the line in 1968.

Since then, the following bridges have been abandoned and replaced by embankments: Bridge 3A (underbridge, 0m.33ch), Bridge 5 (occupation underbridge 0m.65ch), Bridge 15 (cattle creep, 2m.36ch.) and Bridge 23 (corn mill goit, 3m.59ch.)

The Way we Were ......

Today's passengers could well be forgiven for thinking that the KWVR has always been the clean and well maintained place you see today.

However things were very different back in 1962 when BR closed the line and everything was left to rot away or suffer at the hands of the vandals.

It took six years of hard work and tireless negotiations by volunteers of the Preservation Society before passenger trains finally ran again.

The above picture shows a snowy Oxenhope station on 30th December 1961 - the day that BR ran it's last passenger train on the branch.

Following closure, some of the stations suffered serious vandalism.

The picture above shows Ingrow West station in the mid 1960s. The building proved beyond restoration and was demolished soon afterwards.

Fortunately the KWVR was able to rebuild a station on the site in the late 1980s and it is once again open for business.

When the line re-opened in 1968, diesel railcars were used to provide a convenient service for morning commuters and shoppers.

These proved very popular and continue to complement the steam hauled trains for which the railway is now well known.

Haworth station in the days of the original Keighley & Worth Valley Railway in the 1890s, before the Midland took over and extended the station building.