Repairs to engines could cost thousands

A HUGE clean-up operation is under way at one of Yorkshire’s best-known heritage railways following flooding caused by Storm Ciara.

The Keighley and Worth Valley Railway’s engine shed, in Haworth, bore the brunt of the weather on Sunday when a nearby beck overflowed.

Seventeen steam and diesel locomotives were in the shed at the time and several of the engines may now have to be sent away for costly repair work.

The site was also flooded after the Boxing Day 2015 storms and the line took 12 months to recover financially.

Operations manager Noel Hartley said: “When there is a surge of rain the beck gets so high that it breaches the bridge and floods our yard, which is only about 15ft away. It fills the tracks, the shed and the locos and then flows out the other end.

“The first time it happened was in 2005, and then again in 2015 – it seems to be happening more frequently. We’re still assessing the damage to the engines.

“Steam engines don’t come off too badly, but the diesel-electrics have traction motors that are quite low down and they fill with water and silt.

“If they’re ruined they will have to be sent away for an overhaul – for each engine it would cost between £12-13,000.

“It also costs a lot of volunteer time to take the locos apart. Last time it took us a year to fully recover, both from the clean-up and in terms of train availability.”

Mr Hartley believes the flooding is worse than in 2015, although defences erected in the past five years were successful in protecting the volunteers’ accommodation and some storage buildings.

Volunteers were hard at work with shovels, he said, adding: “There’s rubble, sand, muck, tree debris – anything that is in a river is now in the shed, except fish!”