If you were to embark on a lengthy journey up the A1 and had to choose a convenient pit-stop, then Bedale station on the Wensleydale Railway certainly has its advantages. The town has a wide and bustling main street, worthy of further investigation. On the station, the Platform One Café is excellent - especially the coffee and the raspberry flapjack. There is only one platform at Bedale station, so choosing a suitable name obviously did not require too much deliberation. The station building has been lovingly restored and we were given a warm welcome. There are even picnic tables provided on the platform.
The shuttle service to Scruton at this time of year is
provided by a Pacer unit – a type once derided but now rapidly approaching
iconic status. At the other end of the desirable traction continuum, our
previous visit here in 2019 coincided with one from Tornado, which was
photographed running round it’s train at Redmire, before taking us to Leeming
Bar and back.
The Bedale and Leyburn Railway Company opened in 1856 and was taken over by the North Eastern Railway soon afterwards to become part of the trans-Pennine route, joining the East Coast Main Line at Northallerton to the Settle and Carlisle Railway at Garsdale. It closed to passenger traffic in 1954, though limestone continued to be taken from Redmire to the steelworks on Teesside until 1992. The line was reopened for tourists by the Wensleydale Railway Association in 2003. Trains stopped at Bedale once more from 2005 and the station buildings returned to life in 2009. The signalbox on the other side of the level crossing is a Grade 2 listed building.
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