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There are a few lines that generally go unnoticed in their lifetimes. The Ribble Valley line between Clitheroe and Hellifield also known as 'The Ribble Valley Line' is one such line.
The line runs from huge urban city of Manchester's Victoria station to delightfully rural Hellifield station. Station of note between Mancheste and Clitheroe are Salford (Crescent and Central), Bolton and Blackburn. After Clitheroe there are no longer any stations until Hellifield. There used to be three intermediate station; Chatburn (closed 10/09/1962), Rimington (closed 1958) and Guisburn (closed 10/09/1962). At Hellifield the station is one of the stops on the famous Settle to Carlisle Railway. The line is 73 miles line and one of the 'must do' lines on the UK railway network.
The line between Clitheroe and Hellifield closed to passengers in September 1962 and became, in general, a freight only line with some occasional passenger trains when diverted due to engineering works. In 1983 the line was named along with the Settle and Carlisle line as ones to be closed. By 1989 the proposal was cancelled and the line remains freight only. In the mid 1990s there was a local Sunday only service reintroduced. All passenger services were dropped in December 2022 but campaigns and government pressure found traction and the line reopened to passengers on June 2nd, 2024 with a Saturday only service. This comprised of two northbound and two southbound (see timetable graph below).
With such a poor service how on earth would I be able to tick this line off on a one day trip?
And on a Saturday as well!
Of course it had to be another stupid O'Clock start from home and on to my usual train
9R02 East Croydon to St Pancras International 700122 [13m 40ch].
A short walk over to Kings Cross for my next train. I had sort of planned on the train about 07:00 but I was in time to catch
1D02 Kings Cross to Leeds 800110, 800108
I do enjoy the early trains (despite the early wake up and get out of the house) as they do tend to be rather quiet and less people than normal. I found a nice table seat and the train departed on time. At Leeds I had a good interchange time for my connection.
1M53 Leeds to Hellifield 158794 [36m 17ch].
The journey was quite a good one with a small spaniel giving us all a laugh as he fidgeted and wagged his tail at everyone. I got chatting to to a couple of guys who were doing a coast to coast bike ride for a childrens cancer charity. I'm know I could not do that!
I mentioned before in my trip report back in June 2023 about Hellifield station and its café - Shed 24H. This time I decided to do the station with decent amount of time to take photos and explore it properly. I'll be writing a full piece on it and when this is completed I will post a link here as well.
2J22 Hellifield to Manchester Victoria 150124
The train rolled in on time and was fairly well patronised with passengers.
The train departed and soon went over the junction and on the the line to Clitheroe.
Hellifield to Manchester Victoria ✅
The line passes some of the stations I hav only heard of in the past like Blackburn and Bolton. Indeed I think it was Bolton tat had some lovely old window glass in the platform building that said waiting room and station masters office. I may revisit one day and get some photos. Whilst on the trip a gentleman from the Ribble Valley line Community Rail group came round counting passengers and offered an old copy of their news booklet. It's quite an interesting read. If I lived more locally I could see me joining.
The closer we got to Manchester the busier the train became and the weather had heated up considerably. At Manchester Victoria I had about 15 minutes before catching my next train. Last time I was there it seemed busier than today.
1P70 Manchester Victoria to Manchester Piccadilly 185144, 185147 [2m 34ch].
I had planned that the next train I caught would be one of the TfW class 67 locos. Of course that plan was shot earlier in the day when it was replaced by a class 197 DMU.
1V46 Manchester Piccadilly to Crewe 197051 [30m 42ch].
At least I cleared the Cheadle Hulme North Jn to Manchester Line Jn ✅
As we approached Crewe the guard announced that the DMU would terminate and everyone would need to transfer on to the original booked class 67!!! Just my luck. I wandered around a bit and waited for my train back to London.
1A64 Crewe to Euston 221103, 221106 [153m 35ch].
The train was not bad and the entertainment was the mother and son opposite me who talked in Welsh all the way to London, it was nice to see a young child being brought up properly.
Once in London I walked down to St Pancras to get home.
9S48 St Pancras International to East Croydon 700150 [13m 40ch].
2J54 East Croydon to Selhurst 377325, 377317
Not a bad day.