On our way home from a great day out on Saturday we took a look at this railway. We'd often passed it but never visited. We bought the tickets online at £11.00 a head at concession rates and to be honest it wasn't worth it.
The whole place was run down and scruffy, the rolling stock wasn't well cared for at all. The windows were filthy. It looked as though they hadn't seen soap & water for months and the coachwork was the same.
The staff weren't well turned out at all and seemed totally disinterested in what they were doing. When we showed our tickets we asked if steam was running as we'd seen a diesel hooked up to the train. The guy we spoke to didn't know. I realise that sometimes steam isn't available but If I'd turned up to buy tickets on the day I would have been highly ticked off If I'd had to take a chance. He should have known.
There was a coach party on the train and one of the staff was quite vocal in his dislike of coach parties. Not on at all.
The line is pretty boring and the 20 minute trip seemed to drag. We'd travelled from Embsay to Castle Bolton and when we got to Castle Bolton there was little to see. The miniature railway there was closed up, which is fair enough in October, but the line seemed to be a few feet long and at £1 a ride wouldn't have seen us using it.
We ended up getting the train straight back to Embsay where we sampled the tea room. Coffee was £2.30 a cup, which doesn't seem too bad but it was only a spoon of instant and some hot water. I've had better and expected better.
We left after that, the whole experience was depressing. If we'd made the journey from home specifically to visit we would have been even more disappointed.
Thanks to Pam for the photos. I didn't take any video.
The whole place was run down and scruffy, the rolling stock wasn't well cared for at all. The windows were filthy. It looked as though they hadn't seen soap & water for months and the coachwork was the same.
The staff weren't well turned out at all and seemed totally disinterested in what they were doing. When we showed our tickets we asked if steam was running as we'd seen a diesel hooked up to the train. The guy we spoke to didn't know. I realise that sometimes steam isn't available but If I'd turned up to buy tickets on the day I would have been highly ticked off If I'd had to take a chance. He should have known.
There was a coach party on the train and one of the staff was quite vocal in his dislike of coach parties. Not on at all.
The line is pretty boring and the 20 minute trip seemed to drag. We'd travelled from Embsay to Castle Bolton and when we got to Castle Bolton there was little to see. The miniature railway there was closed up, which is fair enough in October, but the line seemed to be a few feet long and at £1 a ride wouldn't have seen us using it.
We ended up getting the train straight back to Embsay where we sampled the tea room. Coffee was £2.30 a cup, which doesn't seem too bad but it was only a spoon of instant and some hot water. I've had better and expected better.
We left after that, the whole experience was depressing. If we'd made the journey from home specifically to visit we would have been even more disappointed.
Thanks to Pam for the photos. I didn't take any video.
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