An historic Brigg artifact is being restored and will then provide an important service for members of the public visiting a tourist attraction.
The cast iron Victorian footbridge that spanned the tracks at Brigg railway station for decades until its replacement in 2015 with a modern structure was dismantled and moved to a heritage line in North Yorkshire.
The Wensleydale Railway has launched an appeal for donations to restore the Brigg survivor and install in at Leyburn station.
A grant from the Railway Heritage Trust helped transport it from North Lincolnshire to what's known as The Herriot Country Line.
The Wensleydale Railway began operating services in 2003 between Leeming Bar and Leyburn and expanded the service the following year to Redmire. Trains began running to Northallerton West in 2015.
The Million Pennies Appeal is funding the restoration of the former Brigg station footbridge.
Find our more and donate through this link...
People can also make contributions by texting STFB85 £3 to 70070.
Brigg's cast iron footbridge was erected during the era of the Manchester, Sheffield & Lincolnshire Railway (later called The Great Central Railway).
The bridge served passengers of the London Northern Eastern Railway from 1923 until the formation of British Railways in 1948, and then did likewise on the nationalised network.
It was carefully dismanted during the tenure of Network Rail and donated to the heritage railway.
Brigg Blog has been asked to supply pictures of the 19th century footbridge during its working life and has donated these two to the cause.
The one above dates from the 1970s; the other, showing the diesel-hauled freight train, was taken five years ago.
We are sure the heritage railway would welcome others, perhaps taken during the decades when steam locos were still in evidence.
If you have any that fit the bill, please let Brigg Blog know and we'll forward them on to our contact.
We are sure that many people in Brigg and further afield will be keen to visit the Wensleydale Railway once our footbridge is installed at its new home.
It will be wonderful to cross the footbridge and board a steam-hauled train of heritage carriages.
1 comment:
It makes me wonder why, if the bridge was not beyond reasonable repair to start off with, it was expensively replaced by the new structure and will probably see far greater use where it is going than it did in Brigg.
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