Skip to content
The Great Britain Guide

Heritage railways · Yorkshire & the Humber

Derwent Valley Light Railway

Derwent Valley Light Railway is a heritage railway in the United Kingdom.

Derwent Valley Light Railway, heritage railways in Yorkshire & the Humber

Wikimedia Commons licence

Plan your visit

Typical visit
1.5 h–3 h
Best time of year
Spring – autumn
Nearest railway station
Murton Park · 0.0 km
  • Family-friendly

About

Derwent Valley Light Railway is a heritage railway in the United Kingdom — a preserved or volunteer-run line carrying tourist services. Coordinates: 53.9630°, -1.0104°.

Photo gallery

From the Wikipedia article

The Derwent Valley Light Railway (DVLR) 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. This meant it became the last bona fide railway in the UK. 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, as an attempt to capitalise on the increased tourism the National Railway Museum was bringing to York. Unfortunately this failed, mostly due to Dunnington hardly being a destination beyond what the railway lead to. In 1993 a small section was re-opened as part of the Yorkshire Museum of Farming at Murton. The line gained its nickname of The Blackberry Line in the days when it used to transport blackberries to markets in Yorkshire and London.

Excerpt from Wikipedia under CC BY-SA 4.0. See the source article linked in Sources below.

Background

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…

Sourced from Wikipedia under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Coordinates
53.9630, -1.0104
District
York
Parish
Murton
Postcode
YO19 5GH
Parliamentary constituency
York Outer
Nearest railway station
Murton Park0 km

Sources

Other places nearby

Loading nearby places…

Nearby

More heritage railways in this region

Frequently asked questions

Where is Derwent Valley Light Railway?
Derwent Valley Light Railway is in Yorkshire & the Humber, in the United Kingdom — coordinates 53.9630°, -1.0104°. The nearest railway station is Murton Park, around 0 km away.