Derwent Valley Light Railway

The Derwent Valley Light Railway (DVLR) (also known as The Blackberry Line) was a privately owned standard-gauge railway in North Yorkshire, England, and was unusual in that it was never nationalised, remaining as a private operation all its life. It ran between Layerthorpe on the outskirts of York to Cliffe Common near Selby. 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 and Dunnington — the entire length of track at that time. In 1993 a small section was re-opened as part of the Yorkshire Museum of Farming at Murton.

This article is about the Derwent Valley Railway in Yorkshire, England. For other railways with this name, see Derwent Valley Railway (disambiguation).

Derwent Valley Light Railway
The Blackberry Line
Train shunting on the DVLR
LocaleEngland
TerminusMurton
Coordinates53.9629°N 1.0096°W / 53.9629; -1.0096
Commercial operations
NameDerwent Valley Light Railway
Built byDerwent Valley Light Railway (DVLR)
Original gauge4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Preserved operations
Operated byDerwent Valley Light Railway Society
Stations1
Length1⁄2 mile (0.80 km)
Preserved gauge4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Commercial history
Opened1912–1913
Closed27 September 1981
Preservation history
1985Light Railway Order transferred to Murton section of line
1990Great Yorkshire Preservation Society moves to Murton
1991Wheldrake station obtained
1992Railway converted to Sustrans cycle track between York and Osbaldwick
1993Railway reopens
2013DVLR marks 100 years of original full route opening

The line gained its nickname of The Blackberry Line in the days when it used to transport blackberries to markets in Yorkshire and London.[1]

History

The south end of the railway, from Wheldrake to Cliffe 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 the First World War it was used as a diversionary route by the North Eastern Railway between York and Selby. Passenger services ended in 1926, though freight traffic prospered through the Second World War.

In 1923, most British railway companies were grouped into four large companies, with the nearby North Eastern Railway becoming part of the London and North Eastern Railway. However, the DVLR remained independent, and continued to do so even after nationalisation 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 the Selby 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 decision was taken to close the line between Wheldrake and Cliffe Common in 1965. The section between Wheldrake and Elvington followed in 1968. Elvington was closed in 1973, leaving only approximately 4 miles (6.4 km) of track between Layerthorpe and Dunnington on the outskirts of York.

Final years

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, with J72 0-6-0T locomotive number 69023 Joem (now preserved at the North Yorkshire Moors Railway) operating the services. By 1979, there were not enough passengers to justify continuing 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. On top of that the railway was in desperate need of a major overhaul with the majority of the rails and buildings still being the 1913 originals. However, the owners decided that the lack of demand for freight failed to justify any plan of action other than to close the line down. The last train ran on 27 September 1981. In 1984 the holding company, Derwent Valley Holdings, became Derwent London, now a multimillion-pound property investment and development company.[3]

The Foss Islands Branch Line, to which the Derwent Valley Light Railway connected at Layerthorpe, was subsequently closed in 1989, and lifted in 1992.

Preservation
Steam train at Layerthorpe in September 1977

Until 1990, a small preservation group, the Great Yorkshire Railway Preservation Society, was originally based at Starbeck near Harrogate.[4] When this closed, the society members relocated to the Yorkshire Museum of Farming, and started to rebuild approximately 3⁄4 mile (1.2 km) of track towards York, including the section under the York 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 nine diesel locomotives on Sundays and bank holidays.

The track-bed from Layerthorpe to Osbaldwick, along with part of the former Foss Islands Branch Line in York, has been converted to a foot and cycle path, part of Sustrans route 66.[5]

Whilst future extension of the line towards Osbaldwick may be possible, as of 2018 there are currently still no formal plans for this.[6]

Route
Former station at Cliffe Common, 1988
Derwent Valley Light Railway
 East Coast Main Line
to Scarborough
 York
Rowntree's chocolate factory
Foss Islands Road depot
 York (Layerthorpe)
 Osbaldwick
Limit of operation
A64 (York by-pass)
 Yorkshire Museum of Farming
 Murton Lane
 Dunnington Halt
 Dunnington for Kexby
 Elvington
 Wheldrake
 Cottingwith
 Thorganby
 Skipwith
to Market Weighton
 Cliffe Common
to Hull
to York
 Selby

The original railway was 16 miles (26 km) long, and served the following places:

Rolling stock 1913–1981

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

DescriptionWheel ArrangementNotes
Rail Lorry0-4-0Built by The British Four-wheel Drive Tractor Lorry Super Engineering Company – trialed unsuccessfully in 1923
Railbus (2)0-4-0Ford chassis with body built by C.H.Roe of Crossgates (Leeds). Operated 1924–1926 when road bus competition saw them sold to County Donegal Railways.
Sentinel0-4-0TWorks 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 in British Rail Class 03 locomotives.[7] The table below lists the locomotives owned by the DVLR

Number/NameWheel ArrangementNotes
1 Lord Wenlock0-6-0DMFormer BR Class 04 D2298. Purchased 1969 - sold in 1982 to Buckinghamshire Railway Centre.
20-6-0DMFormer BR Class 04 D2245. Purchased 1969 – sold in 1978 to the Shackerstone Railway
D23290-6-0DMFormer BR Class 04 bought for spares and subsequently scrapped in 1969
Claude Thompson0-4-0DMJohn Fowler built engine – works number 4210142 (1958) purchased from British Pipeline agency in 1978 and sold in 1982 to Buckinghamshire Railway Centre.
69023 Joem0-6-0TBritish Railways built locomotive of North Eastern Railway Class J72. Operated line 1977–1979 when it was sold back to the previous owner's family – In 2015 on Wensleydale Railway

Joem was purchased to run the short lived steam train passenger operation.[8]

Rolling stock 1993-present

The following rolling stock is owned by the preservation group as of January 2021:


Diesel Locomotives


Carriages
  • North Eastern Railway 4-wheel coach No. 1214/2462 built in 1890. (Under repair)
  • B&W Engineering 4-wheel observation coach No. BW1000 "Sylvia" built in 2003. (Operational)
  • Southern Railway 4-wheel PMV Luggage Van No. S1367S built in 1939. (under restoration)
  • British Railways Mk1 TSO No. E3805. (Operational, on loan from NYMR)
  • British Railways Mk1 TSO No. E4990. (Under overhaul, on loan from NYMR)
Wagons
  • British Railways Standard 20-ton Brake Van No. B951144 built in 1951. (Operational)
  • Metro-Cammell ZFV Dogfish Ballast Wagon No. DB993312 built in 1957. (Operational)
  • British Railways 12 ton Box Van No. 775810 built in 1957. (Operational)
  • British Railways 12 ton Box Van No. 762112 built in 1954. (Operational)
  • Chas Roberts Shell Mex and BP Tank Wagon No. 5081 built in 1938. (Operational)
  • NCB Coal Wagon K264. No. B291264. (Operational)
  • Great Western Railway Box Van No. W95166 built in 1915. (Operational)
  • London and North Eastern Railway 20 ton Plate Wagon No. 239666 built in 1940. (Operational)
  • steel flat wagon unknown builder and date (Operational)

In art and culture
A View of York (from Tang Hall Bridge)

In 1952, the artist L. S. Lowry painted three scenes of York as a commission from York Art Gallery. One of the pictures, entitled A View of York (from Tang Hall Bridge) depicts playing fields next to the railway, with a cooling tower (since demolished) and York Minster in the background. The painting was sold to a private collector, but was loaned to the art gallery in 2015 for temporary display.[9]

In 2013, York soprano Rebecca 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 song Wonderful Dream (Holidays are Coming) as a charity Christmas video, on YouTube.[10][11] It was very well reviewed[12] and by November 2015 received over 200,000 views on YouTube.[10]

References
  1. "Derwent Valley Light Railway to celebrate 100th anniversary". York Press. 30 May 2013. Retrieved 17 July 2013.
  2. Denison & Torr 1961, pp. 183–185.
  3. "The Derwent London trend that bucks the market". Daily Telegraph. 29 August 2007.
  4. "Welcome to the Derwent Valley Light Railway". Archived from the original on 25 May 2013. Retrieved 24 September 2015.
  5. "Easy cycle rides for leisure – No. 7" (PDF). York City Council. Retrieved 7 July 2013.
  6. "History of the Derwent Valley". Derwent Valley Light Railway official website. Archived from the original on 5 September 2008. Retrieved 25 June 2008. Given time, hard work and the resources, the line maybe extended from its current length, but that remains to be seen
  7. Stockwell, Johnathan D; Drummond, Ian (2013). Rails along the Derwent. Leeds UK: Holne Publishing. pp. 132, 133. ISBN 978-0-9563317-6-2.
  8. Stockwell, Jonathan D; Drummond, Ian (2013). Rails along the Derwent. Leeds, UK: Holne Publishing. pp. 127–133. ISBN 978 0 9563317 6 2.
  9. "Three L.S. Lowry works of York on public display together for the first time". York Museums Trust. Retrieved 18 January 2016.
  10. The video on YouTube
  11. York Press 12 December 2013
  12. Festive Pop 17 November 2013
  • Denison, John; Torr, Bill (May 1961). Dock, R. E. (ed.). "The Derwent Valley Light Railway". Model Railway News. Vol. 37 no. 437.
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