I think that its now common knowledge that Mr Smith has indeed purchased the Aysgarth site.
Personally and on reflection, this may after all be a good thing.
As the rhetoric from the WR PLC Board seems to continue that they would have never managed to get to Aysgarth, it probably required someone with influence, commitment to the goal and of course some cash to not only purchase Aysgarth, but also look to build a railway back to Redmire.
If Mr Smith manages to achieve this, will that not be a bad thing?
Yes, well said.Wow,4 positive posts in a row.
The Railway is certainly trying new initiatives.eg the fine dining,evening gin trains etc.
They may not be to everybody's taste,but they are certainly proving very popular.
Fingers crossed for the future.
Well there is a clear link - the new owner is David Smith of West Coast Railways, and the name of the applicant on the planning application, the agent, is Steve Davies, one time head of the NRM and now chief of Wensleydale Railway plc.
My guess is that Mr.Smith will apply to re-build the link between Aysgarth and Redmire - as indeed he has himself proposed. If that is achieved, through running will be possible right through to the East Coast Main Line. Such a partnership between Smith and the WR and we have a very exciting prospect.
It seems clear that the purchase of Aysgarth Station was only the first link in a major plan.
They already have a station, Northallerton West. You can see it on Google Maps very easily. About 20 minutes walk from Northallerton station and about the same distance from the town centre. There are previous posts on this forum which explain why it's not is use. Short answer = lack of funds to upgrade the road crossings and I suspect a belief that it won't help things all that much for the reason you stated: 95% of visitors arrive by car anyway.To be fair to the Wensleydale railway, I think things are improving. We visited yesterday and the trains were fuller than I remember them being on previous visits. They are in a cache 22 situation, having 22 miles of track to maintain, without the rolling stock to provide a sufficient service to generate the income to maintain the infrastructure, let alone invest in expensive improvements.
I assume that along with the lack of stock, the railway has signalling and passing loop restrictions that restrict service frequencies. Getting to Asygarth would be nice, Redmire is a bit in the middle of nowhere but I think they are right that their priority has to be to steady the ship and consolidate what they have.
In Bedale and Leyburn they have two destinations that will attract visitors. I think they are right that maintaining a steam service is important, despite the cost. It is what the tourism market demands.
An easier win would be Northallerton. Not for a mainline connection, I think that is of dubious value unless you are near London, since most to the rest of the country use the car to reach such attractions. Simply because Northallerton is largish centre and another place that people are willing to visit. Of course that depends on how close the railway can get to the centre without having to spend a large amount of money.
They already have a station, Northallerton West. You can see it on Google Maps very easily. About 20 minutes walk from Northallerton station and about the same distance from the town centre. There are previous posts on this forum which explain why it's not is use. Short answer = lack of funds to upgrade the road crossings and I suspect a belief that it won't help things all that much for the reason you stated: 95% of visitors arrive by car anyway.
I am aware of Northallerton West, just not sure how close to the centre it is. People who think it won't make a difference are mistaken, I believe. I speak more as a lay person, like the tourists that use the line. People would prefer to start in a town with shops and things to do, rather than in the middle of a light industrial estate at Leeming Bar.
Perhaps he will talk to the preserved railway (which has a main line connection) which leads straight towards his operation and agree a way to make these transfers without needing road transport...There is a very tortuous, narrow approach road from Carperby which presumably rules out large locomotives. However at the time the Wensleydale Railway was running an open-top tourist bus through Wensleydale they used the station yard as a bus depot so one never knows.
Yes indeed the coach came by road from Redmire. The coach is actually a MK2 I believe.AFAIK the MK1 coach was left behind when WR vacated the site. It had been planned to use it as a cafe by the volunteers who used to do a great job of looking after the site.
Yes indeed the coach came by road from Redmire. The coach is actually a MK2 I believe.
The coach I recall at Redmire was good for scrap, a real mess.
The volunteers who were at Aysgarth, a really enthusiastic bunch as I recall, did a remarkable job on the coach turning it from a "wreck" to a split cafe \ meeting hub.
I share Worf's view that the volunteers did a great job.....I was told that they are no longer members of the WR after the demise of Aysgarth. That I assume was a great loss to the WR, because on the many occasions I attended Bank Hols up there when they were open and the occasional drop in during the weekends when they weren't technically open, they always tried to accommodate me and show me \ tell me what their plans were.
Finally as regards the coach, the fact that it remains there must have been part of the sale to the new owner, as I was told it belonged to the WR.
There was also two small industrial diesels up there and a brake van, which again I am told are still there. I don't know who owned the Locos, but the Brake Van I am again told belonged to the WR, so must have been sold with the site?
Seems with the figures bandied about plus the few extra's sound like the new owner got a bargain??