We are very excited to celebrate ‘Railway 200’ here at Whistlestop Valley, the home of Kirklees Light Railway.
What you may not know is Kirklees Light Railway was formerly a standard gauge branch line and began operation in 1879, which makes our little piece of history 146 years old.
Our celebration of 200 years of railways is even more special for us as we welcome the return of resident steam locomotive Katie following withdrawal from service in 2020 for an extensive overhaul.
Katie is our oldest locomotive having been built in 1954 by Trevor Guest for the Dudley Zoo railway. She entered service in 1956 before heading off to a new life at the seaside at Fairbourne Railway, Wales between 1965 and 1985 joined by her younger sister, Siân.
Siân was built by Guest Engineering & Maintenance Co Ltd in Stourbridge in 1963. She is now owned by the Siân Project Group, who have made Kirklees her adoptive home.
We are immensely proud to have a parts of railway history on our home locomotive fleet and we are thrilled to announce we will be hosting our first Katie and Siân weekend, ‘Sisters in Steam’ during the first May bank holiday weekend, from Saturday 3rd to Monday 5th May 2025.
Katie and Siân weekends have always been firm favourite and it gives an opportunity too see the sisters doing it for themselves, reminiscent of the Fairbourne years with an intensive timetable, KLR history and lots more.
Come and join us and be part of the celebration.
Tickets will be on sale soon – info@whistlestopvalley.co.uk or 01484 865727