about railstory
RAIL STORY results from a collaboration between the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway, the Vintage Carriages Trust and the Bahamas Locomotive Society, giving visitors greater opportunities to learn about and understand the preservation and conservation of our railway heritage.
Vintage Carriages Trust
The Vintage Carriages Trust (VCT) is a volunteer body, based on the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway. It was formed in 1965 by a group of volunteers whose interest was in wooden bodied carriages. They could see that there was a need to concentrate on the preservation of these historic items which were in grave danger of disappearing due to the weather and vandalism damage and unsuitability for regular use on preserved railways of the day.
The Trust became a Registered Charity (No. 510776) in 1981 and a Registered Museum (No. 1202) in 1992. The Collection held by the Trust is at present nine historic railway carriages, also three small industrial steam locomotives, and a collection of railway posters and other miscellaneous railway items. The Trust owns the Museum of Rail Travel and in the last twenty years this has developed into a large museum display and associated workshop, and is the Trust’s headquarters.
Bahamas Locomotive Society
The Society was formed in 1967 with the aim of purchasing and maintaining in working order the former LMS Railway ‘Jubilee’ class steam locomotive No.45596 Bahamas .
They subsequently established the Dinting Railway Centre in Derbyshire – as a working museum to house Bahamas and the ever-growing collection of locomotives and rolling stock – before relocating operations to Ingrow.
Registered as a Charity for educational purposes, the society continues to aspire to help explain the role of the steam locomotive in the development of this country and its people.
Keighley & Worth Valley Railway
The Keighley & Worth Valley Railway is a preserved standard gauge line, staffed largely by unpaid volunteers, which joins the national railway network at Keighley and runs 5-miles up the valleys of the River Worth and Bridgehouse Beck to Oxenhope.
In June 1968, the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway opened for business, just weeks before the age of steam finally ended for British Railways. This was as a result of the foresight and efforts of a local group of railway enthusiasts who rescued the line after closure in 1962.
The Railway is perhaps most famous for its role in the 1970 film version of Edith Nesbit’s story The Railway Children. The Railway has published a book which describes the making of the film and includes over 70 photographs along with the recollections of many volunteers who were involved.