Now preserved for almost sixty years, the former Midland Railway branch from Keighley to Oxenhope, to the west of Bradford may not be one of the country’s longest herotage lines, indeed it only stretches to around five miles, but it is one of the country's mostp popular preserved lines.
With a history stretching back to the mid-nineteenth century, the Keighley & Worth Valley provided an essential link for the communities that it served for almost a century. The harsh economic realities of the 1950s made its future uncertain and its fate was, theoretically, sealed before the infamous Beeching Report of March 1963.
However, there were a number of local enthusiasts who, having previously witnessed the demise of the ex-Great Northern Railway Queensbury Triangle routes in the mid-1950s, were determined that the Oxenhope line would not suffer a similar fate.
With the line preserved, services were triumphantly restored in 1968 and the line has been providing pleasures for tourists and enthusiasts ever since. This book traces the history of the line, both before and after preservation and looks at what makes the line such a popular railway today.
Well-illustrated throughout with archive black & white and recent colour photographs. Hardback. 120 pages.