Wensleydale Railway is delighted to announce that its 3-day Model Railway Weekend is returning for 2023 and will take place over the May Bank Holiday weekend on Saturday the 29th, Sunday the 30th of April and Monday the 1st of May and will take place at Leeming Bar Station.
The popular model rail show will feature plenty of layouts in an array of gauges for all to enjoy on a smaller scale. The weekend will also see the railway operate its entire heritage diesel fleet at different times throughout the weekend. Fans of heritage diesel will no doubt be excited to learn that a one-off, special double-headed train will run to Leyburn, hauled by the railways class 37 and class 33 locos.
The model rail event is going to be larger than 2022 and will be taking place inside the engine shed at Leeming Bar and there will also be a marquee in the car park. An array of layouts will be displayed from N to O gauge and will be exhibited amongst the standard gauge locomotives such as the ex-Tyne and Wear locomotive No. WL 4 and a partly rebuilt steam locomotive.
The event is ideal for all the family with activities for children too.
Activities include:
- Children’s rides on a 5¼ inch-gauge steam and diesel railway by the Leeds Society of Model and Experimental Engineers with 145 feet of track in the car park.
- A traction engine will be in steam and displayed in the car park
- Visitors get a chance to drive a class 03 diesel shunter locomotive for just £5.
There will be plenty of food and drink available including:
- A real ale bar
- Wood-fired pizza
- fast food and sweet stalls.
- Other stations will also have refreshments available.
Trains will be operated right through the weekend between Scruton and Leyburn with all-day rover tickets available to purchase.
The event will run from 10 am to 4.30on on the 29th and 30th of April and 10am to 4pm on the 1st of April.
Tickets are available for:
- Model railway show only
- All-day rover ticket with show entry
- Train travel only on all trains
To buy tickets online please visit: https://wensleydale-railway.co.uk/ or purchase at the event.
Terry Larder, Director, Trustee and event organiser, Wensleydale Railway
“We held our first-ever model railway show in 2022 and it was very popular with visitors. This year’s event will have more layouts on display, more trade stands and vendors and also see us showcase and operate our entire heritage diesel fleet at various times over the weekend. It’s not to be missed!”
Responses
The model railway exhibitions look good, but it looks like the Wensleydale Railway has now abandoned any use of steam locomotives on its route to Leyburn. This is a great shame as they started out using steam and I thought they would carry on with this, once the pandemic shutdowns were past. Their “heritage diesel trains” also appear mainly to be mainline cast off 4-wheel Pacers, which have a horrible ride quality and were universally disliked on Network Rail. I hope I’m wrong, but I can’t see a lot of people wanting to travel on these units.