The Wensleydale Railway's Class 142 and 143 Pacer diesel multiple units can be seen in the opening sequences of an episode of ITV's popular crime drama Vera.
Filming for episode 2 of Series 13 of Vera which aired on Sunday, 14 January took place at Redmire Station.
The railway's Class 143 Pacer diesel multiple unit put in a brief cameo appearance whilst its Class 142 units were seen in background shots.
This is the 13th season of the Vera dramas, in which Brenda Blethyn stars as DCI Vera Stanhope and David Leon is Joe Ashworth. Wensleydale was the location for this latest series, and filming took place in Wensleydale last July.
The Wensleydale Railway has an ambition to restore passenger services to Redmire, and is currently raising funds to upgrade the necessary infrastructure. It is running a fundraising appeal to help raise funds to achieve its aim, and welcomes donations which can be made online by clicking here.
Nick Keegan, Fundraising and Marketing Manager at Wensleydale Railway said: “It was great to be chosen as a filming location for Vera and have the opportunity for audiences to see the natural beauty of the area.
“Our railway offers a variety of scenic locations and historic backdrops. From our award-winning restored Edwardian and Victorian stations at Scruton and Leeming Bar, to stunning Yorkshire Dales scenery, we have much to offer our visitors and tv and film production companies.”
“The 5-mile section of our line between Leyburn and Redmire has arguably some of the finest scenery & views in the Yorkshire Dales. We would love to reopen the Leyburn to Redmire section of the line but are faced with some significant infrastructure challenges. We are working hard to overcome these, but we need your help.”
Before the Covid epidemic the Wensleydale Railway used to run steam hauled trains to Redmire but, since the lockdowns they have not seemed to recover very well at all.
Their services now only go as far as Leyburn and all of them use the awful class 143 Pacers (AKA bone shakers because of their non-bogie wheels).
These units were universally hated when in mainline service and I don’t think they are any more liked in preserved railway service. I think they put a lot of people off travelling on this line
Agreed horrible things pacers kwvr use one on a regular basis and it is usually empty .
I travelled from Redmire some years ago, when it was still open by the Wensleydale Rly..Delightful ride! Hope it will reopen soon. How marvellous it would be to see it open all the way to the Settle & Carlisle at Hawes Junction & Garsdale, as it was called by the great Midland Railway, but I don’t think it will ever happen.
Inasmuch that the shoot will take place at Redmire, does that mean that the entire length of the line is now open to Redmire and ready for full operation ? I hope so, because it really is a beautiful line, but only if it is possible to travel its entire length ?
Neil: I think that you maybe expecting common sense to raise it’s ugly head.
I fear not much hope for that.
Richard Harman
“”In 2014, Scruton station was reopened and a new station built at Northallerton West, enabling passenger services to be extended east of Leeming Bar, but this section was closed to passengers again in August 2016 following a collision between a train and a car at a level crossing near Yafforth. It is hoped to recommence services at a future date once work to upgrade level crossing equipment is complete.”” …FROM : WHR website,.
“”The RAIB’s examination also found that the road traffic signals at Yafforth level
crossing were fitted with 36 W incandescent lamps. These lamps were designed to
cast a narrow, intense beam of light. …The 1987 Stott Report, for example,
concluded that their light output was only half that of the conventional road traffic
signals in use at that time. This relatively low level of brightness means that they are
less likely to be noticed by approaching road vehicle drivers compared to signals
using brighter types of lamp, such as modern LEDs….””
The RAIB report said that a car hit a diesel electric loco with three coaches travelling at 10mph (not vice versa).
There was no RAIB recommendation that expensive barriers should be installed, so the ceasing of traffic seems spurious as the costs of replacement LED lamps that has also taken place by Network Rail, on their network, would surely be minimal.