ALTHOUGH presently closed, a heritage railway has exciting plans for when opening is permitted.

As the Wensleydale Railway awaits re-opening, it is planning to start the new season with an hourly service between Bedale and Scruton stations. Stepping back in time, at Scruton visitors can experience a living museum, tour the station and take part in activities.

They can then travel to Leeming Bar and participate in a planned education and community engagement programme. This will consist of a wide range of heritage-based activities allowing visitors to discover and experience life at a busy country station in the inter-war period.

In order to stay connected with their supporters, the railway has planned a series of live digital talks provided free over Zoom or Facebook. Each talk is designed for specific groups and tailored to their interests.

On Wednesday at 7pm, Steve Davies, a former colonel in the British Army, will give an account of the Sierra Leone National Railway Museum. A lifelong railway enthusiast, Col Davies is involved in a number of heritage railway projects both on a professional and voluntary basis.

The subject of his talk, The Sierra Leone National Railway Museum, was established when he was deputy commander of the International Military Advisory Training Team in the west African country. This was achieved working in his spare time with a team of 15 young unemployed Sierra Leoneans.

Together they transformed a shed of locomotives, abandoned since the abolition of the state railway in 1974, into the country’s first railway museum.

To listen to the talk, follow the link from the Wensleydale Railway website or alternatively, join through its Facebook events page.

Wensleydale Railway is a tourist and heritage line starting at Northallerton. It passes through Bedale and Leyburn to Redmire on the edge of the Yorkshire Dales National Park.