Steam team stoked up for chance to welcome visitors back to line

VOLUNTEERS at the Embsay & Bolton Abbey Steam Railway are “chomping at the bit to get steaming” again after nearly four months out of action.

The service at one of North Yorkshire’s top beauty spots is welcoming customers back from July 25.

Business manager Rob James said the charity is excited to let people back on to its steam trains and Dales Dining services, but the long break has allowed volunteers to restore old facilities too.

He said: “We’ve been shut since the middle of March so we’re chomping at the bit to get cracking on and get steaming.”

To honour the role of NHS workers in tackling the coronavirus crisis, the charity’s Illingworth/Mitchell train will be renamed after two nursing pioneers – Mary Seacole, who challenged racism and nursed soldiers during the Crimean war, and Florence Nightingale.

The charity will open to customers for an initial three days a week – Tuesday, Saturday and Sunday – but may extend the timetable should there be demand for it.

Organisers are also looking into ways that they might be able to host the railway’s beer festival in August with fewer attendees.

Volunteers have also been busy restoring an old director’s saloon, thought to be from the Edwardian period and to have royal connections.

“That’s a beautiful thing,” said Mr James. “It’s not been in operation with this railway for years.”

Laser Construction Services, based in Embsay, has also

We’re chomping at the bit to crack on and get steaming.

Rob James, business manager at the Embsay & Bolton Abbey Steam Railway.

helped the charity by working on a long-planned second platform at Bolton Abbey, saving the railway around £20,000, estimates Mr James, and laying the groundwork for its finishing touches.

All tickets for services must be pre-booked through the railway’s online ticketing system.

Customers will be spread further apart than usual to accommodate social distancing between groups and “stringent cleaning procedures” will be in place for the benefit of customers and staff.

“We’re trying to make sure what we’re doing is safe and responsible,” added Mr James.

PICTURES: GERARD BINKS. READY TO ROLL: Top, driver David Umpleby cleaning the cab of the Illingworth/Mitchell locomotive, above right, preparing for its steam test as the Embsay & Bolton Abbey Steam Railway gears up to reopen; above left, fitter Arthur Harrinson at work on the rolling stock.