Derwent Valley Light Railway

Derwent Valley Light Railway
The Blackberry Line
Train shunting on the DVLR
Locale	England
Terminus	Murton
Coordinates	53°57′46″N 1°00′35″W / 53.9629°N 1.0096°W / 53.9629; -1.0096Coordinates: 53°57′46″N 1°00′35″W / 53.9629°N 1.0096°W / 53.9629; -1.0096
Commercial operations
Name	Derwent Valley Light Railway
Built by	Derwent Valley Light Railway (DVLR)
Original gauge	4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Preserved operations
Operated by	Derwent Valley Light Railway Society
Stations	1
Length	1⁄2 mile (0.80 km)
Preserved gauge	4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Commercial history
Opened	1912–1913
Closed	27 September 1981
Preservation history
1985	Light Railway Order transferred to Murton section of line
1990	Great Yorkshire Preservation Society moves to Murton
1991	Wheldrake station obtained
1992	Railway converted to Sustrans cycle track between York and Osbaldwick
1993	Railway reopens
2013	DVLR marks 100 years of original full route opening

[ ] Derwent Valley Light Railway
East Coast Main Line to Scarborough York Rowntree's chocolate factory Foss Islands Road depot Layerthorpe Osbaldwick Current limit of operation A64 (York by-pass) Yorkshire Museum of Farming Murton Lane Dunnington Halt Dunnington (for Kexby) Elvington Wheldrake Cottingwith Thorganby Skipwith to Market Weighton Cliffe Common to Hull to York Selby

The Derwent Valley Light Railway (DVLR) (also known as The Blackberry Line) was a privately owned standard-gauge railway in North Yorkshire, England, and was unusual in that it was never nationalised, remaining as a private operation all its life. It ran between Layerthorpe on the outskirts of York to Cliffe Common near Selby. It opened in two stages, in 1912 and 1913, and closed in sections between 1965 and 1981. Between 1977 and 1979, passenger steam trains operated between Layerthorpe and Dunnington — the entire length of track at that time. In 1993 a small section was re-opened as part of the Yorkshire Museum of Farming at Murton.

The line gained its nickname of The Blackberry Line in the days when it used to transport blackberries to markets in Yorkshire and London.

The south end of the railway, from Wheldrake to Cliffe Common, was opened on 29 October 1912, with the remainder of the line opening on 19 July 1913. Although it was constructed primarily as a freight line, passenger trains were introduced from 1913, and during the First World War it was used as a diversionary route by the North Eastern Railway between York and Selby. Passenger services ended in 1926, though freight traffic prospered through the Second World War.

In 1923, most British railway companies were grouped into four large companies, with the nearby North Eastern Railway becoming part of the London and North Eastern Railway. However, the DVLR remained independent, and continued to do so even after nationalisation in 1948. In 1964, British Railways closed the Selby to Driffield Line, meaning that the junction at Cliffe Common became redundant. With the connection to Selby now gone, the DVLR was left isolated at its southern end. The line was subsequently run from the Layerthorpe end but traffic generated by the southern section of the track was light so the decision was taken to close the line between Wheldrake and Cliffe Common in 1965. The section between Wheldrake and Elvington followed in 1968. Elvington was closed in 1973, leaving only approximately 4 miles (6.4 km) of track between Layerthorpe and Dunnington on the outskirts of York.