| Derwent Valley Light Railway | |
|---|---|
| The Blackberry Line | |
 Train shunting on the DVLR | |
| Locale | England |
| Terminus | Murton |
| Coordinates | 53°57′46″N1°00′35″W / 53.9629°N 1.0096°W /53.9629; -1.0096 |
| Commercial operations | |
| Name | Derwent Valley Light Railway |
| Built by | Derwent Valley Light Railway (DVLR) |
| Original gauge | 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)standard gauge |
| Preserved operations | |
| Operated by | Derwent Valley Light Railway Society |
| Stations | 1 |
| Length | 1⁄2 mile (0.80 km) |
| Preserved gauge | 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)standard gauge |
| Commercial history | |
| Opened | 1912–1913 |
| Closed | 27 September 1981 |
| Preservation history | |
| 1985 | Light Railway Order transferred to Murton section of line |
| 1990 | Great Yorkshire Preservation Society moves to Murton |
| 1991 | Wheldrake station obtained |
| 1992 | Railway converted toSustrans cycle track between York and Osbaldwick |
| 1993 | Railway reopens |
| 2013 | DVLR marks 100 years of original full route opening |
TheDerwent Valley Light Railway (DVLR) (also known asThe Blackberry Line) was a privately ownedstandard-gauge railway inNorth Yorkshire, England, and was unusual in that it was nevernationalised, remaining as a private operation all its life. It ran betweenLayerthorpe on the outskirts ofYork toCliffe Common nearSelby. It opened in two stages, in 1912 and 1913, and closed in sections between 1965 and 1981. Between 1977 and 1979, passenger steam trains operated between Layerthorpe andDunnington – the entire length of track at that time. In 1993 a small section was re-opened as part of theYorkshire Museum of Farming atMurton.
The line gained its nickname ofThe Blackberry Line in the days when it used to transportblackberries to markets in Yorkshire and London.[1]
The south end of the railway, fromWheldrake toCliffe Common, was opened on 29 October 1912, with the remainder of the line opening on 19 July 1913. Although it was constructed primarily as a freight line, passenger trains were introduced from 1913, and during theFirst World War it was used as a diversionary route by theNorth Eastern Railway between York and Selby. Passenger services ended in 1926, though freight traffic prospered through theSecond World War.
In 1923, most British railway companies weregrouped into four large companies, with the nearby North Eastern Railway becoming part of theLondon and North Eastern Railway. However, the DVLR remained independent, and continued to do so even afternationalisation in 1948.
By 1961 normal traffic consisted of one return journey per day. A sympathetic group of guests described the line as "a cross between Emmett and The Titfield Thunderbolt". Their photographs and text portrayed a museum piece operating in harmony with staff, timeless practice and local wildlife.[2]
In 1964,British Railways closed theSelby to Driffield Line, meaning that the junction at Cliffe Common became redundant. With the connection to Selby now gone, the DVLR was left isolated at its southern end. The line was subsequently run from the Layerthorpe end, but traffic generated by the southern section of the track was light, so the line was closed between Wheldrake and Cliffe Common in 1965. The section between Wheldrake and Elvington followed in 1968. Elvington was closed in 1973, leaving only about 4 miles (6 km) of track between Layerthorpe andDunnington on the outskirts of York. Two special trains were run along the whole length of the line in January 1965, being the last passenger trains to do so.[3]
In 1976, the owners of the railway decided to operate steam trains between Layerthorpe and Dunnington, which was the entire length of the line at that time. A regular summer service started in 1977, withJ720-6-0T locomotive number 69023Joem (now preserved at theNorth Yorkshire Moors Railway) operating the services. But by 1979 there were not enough passengers for continued operation, and the service ceased. The railway continued to carry occasional freight trains to Dunnington until 1981, when the grain driers at Dunnington closed and the last major source of freight for the line was gone. As well, the railway was in need of major renovation: the majority of the rails and buildings dated from 1913. However, the owners decided that the lack of demand for freight failed to justify any restoration and closed the line down. The last train ran on 27 September 1981. In 1984 the holding company,Derwent Valley Holdings, becameDerwent London, now a multimillion-pound property investment and development company.[4]
TheFoss Islands Branch Line, to which the Derwent Valley Light Railway connected at Layerthorpe, was subsequently closed in 1989, and lifted in 1992.
Until 1990, a small preservation group, theGreat Yorkshire Railway Preservation Society, was originally based atStarbeck nearHarrogate.[5] When this closed, the society members relocated to the Yorkshire Museum of Farming, and started to rebuild approximately3⁄4 mile (1.2 km) of track towards York, including the section under theYork by-pass. A new station was constructed using the original station buildings from Wheldrake, and the railway re-opened in 1993.
The line now runs a mixture of ninediesel locomotives on Sundays and bank holidays.
The track-bed from Layerthorpe to Osbaldwick, along with part of the formerFoss Islands Branch Line in York, has been converted to afoot and cycle path, part ofSustrans route 66.[6]
Whilst future extension of the line towards Osbaldwick may be possible, as of 2018 there are currently still no formal plans for this.[7][Needs update.]
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The original railway was 16 miles (26 km) long, and served the following places:
Initially trains were worked by locomotives owned by the North Eastern Railway (from 1923 LNER and from 1948 British Railways).
The railway purchased two railcars in the 1920s to operate a passenger service and the table below lists the stock owned by the company in the 1920s
| Description | Wheel Arrangement | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Rail Lorry | 0-4-0 | Built byThe British Four-wheel Drive Tractor Lorry Super Engineering Company – trialed unsuccessfully in 1923 |
| Railbus (2) | 0-4-0 | Ford chassis with body built by C.H.Roe of Crossgates (Leeds). Operated 1924–1926 when road bus competition saw them sold toCounty Donegal Railways. |
| Sentinel | 0-4-0T | Works no 6076. Operated on DVLR 1925 – 1929 before being sold to Summerson and Sons of Darlington. Scrapped c1971. |
Between 1929 and 1969 the line was again worked by main line locomotives.
In 1969 the DVLR decided to buy two ex-British Rail Class 04 shunters to operate services rather than hiring inBritish Rail Class 03 locomotives.[8] The table below lists the locomotives owned by the DVLR
| Number/Name | Wheel Arrangement | Notes | Image |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 Lord Wenlock | 0-6-0DM | Former BR Class 04 D2298. Purchased 1969 – sold in 1982 toBuckinghamshire Railway Centre. |  |
| D2245 | 0-6-0DM | Former BR Class 04 D2245. Purchased 1969 – sold in 1978 to theShackerstone Railway and now relocated back to the DVLR |  |
| D2329 | 0-6-0DM | Former BR Class 04 bought for spares and subsequently scrapped in 1969 | |
| Claude Thompson | 0-4-0DM | John Fowler built engine – works number 4210142 (1958) purchased from British Pipeline agency in 1978 and sold in 1982 toBuckinghamshire Railway Centre. | |
| 69023 Joem | 0-6-0T | British Railways built locomotive ofNorth Eastern RailwayClass J72. Operated line 1977–1979 when it was sold back to the previous owner's family – In 2015 onWensleydale Railway | |
Joem was purchased to run the short lived steam train passenger operation.[9]
The following rolling stock is owned by the preservation group as of January 2021:
| Number & Name | Builder/type | Wheel arrangement | Year built | Livery | Status | Image |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 03079 | British Rail Class 03 | 0-6-0DM | 1960 | BR Blue with Wasp Stripes | Operational |  |
| D2245 | British Rail Class 04 | 0-6-0DM | 1956 | Grey with Wasp Stripes | Operational | |
| 08528 | British Rail Class 08 | 0-6-0DE | 1959 | BR Green with Late Crest | Operational | .jpg) |
| 327964 "British Sugar York" | Ruston & Hornsby 165 | 0-4-0DM | 1953 | Green with Warning Chevrons | Operational |  |
| 466630 "Octavius Atkinson" | Ruston & Hornsby 88DS | 4wDM | 1962 | Green | Operational |  |
| 441934 "Rowntree No.3" | Ruston & Hornsby 88DS | 4wDM | 1960 | Lined Green with Rowntree's Lettering | Operational |  |
| 421419 | Ruston & Hornsby 88DS | 4wDM | 1958 | Green | Cosmetically restored | .jpg) |
| 417892 "Jim" | Ruston & Hornsby 48DS | 4wDM | 1959 | Green with Wasp Stripes | Operational |  |
| 4100005 "Churchill" | John Fowler & Co. | 0-4-0DM | 1947 | Black | Operational |  |
| DC2164 | Drewry Car Co. | 0-4-0DM | 1941 | Green | Operational |  |
In 1952, the artistL. S. Lowry painted three scenes of York as a commission fromYork Art Gallery. One of the pictures, entitledA View of York (from Tang Hall Bridge) depicts playing fields next to the railway, with a cooling tower (since demolished) andYork Minster in the background. The painting was sold to a private collector, but was loaned to the art gallery in 2015 for temporary display.[10]
In 2013, York sopranoRebecca Newman, with the enthusiastic participation of DVLR staff and a cast of children and adults from the theatre company We Are Theatre, with the fixed equipment and rolling stock of the railway, and Maggi the puppy, created her version of the songWonderful Dream (Holidays are Coming) as a charity Christmas video, on YouTube.[11][12] It was very well reviewed[13] and by November 2015 received over 200,000 views on YouTube.[11]
Given time, hard work and the resources, the line maybe extended from its current length, but that remains to be seen
