Wayfaring 194

January 10, 2026 Saturday

We’re up fairly early so that we could catch a bus around 8:15. We caught the bus and walked over to the train station where we caught the 9:01 train to Keighley. The train made a connection in Leeds where we switched from the Trans Pennine Express to a Northern Railway train. It was an easy and simple connection but it helped we had just been there a couple of days before. We were in Keighley around 10:00 and walked to the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway ticket office and picked up our tickets. We had nearly an hour before the 11:00 steam train would be leaving so we had breakfast at The Old Parcels Office. David had a traditional style English breakfast while Amy went for the pancakes with raspberries and blackberries. By the time we had eaten all we could it was almost time for the train. As we were walking back down to the platform the train was pulling into the station.

The engine was pulling the train in the reverse direction which meant that it would be pulling the train in its forward direction of the way back to Worth.

We watched the steam loco puff through the tunnel, switch tracks and then puff through the tunnel headed for the other end of the train. We were able to get some splendid videos and pics before we had to board the train.

This railroad is a true vintage working railroad. Although the distance is only 5 miles the train makes stops at three other stations on its way to Worth. Each station is an old stone station with a wood burning fireplace inside. Those fires are a welcome benefit considering how cold it was outside. It was actually above freezing but the benches still had frost on them even though it was a sunny day. The vintage carriages are of a few different interiors. One has a small snack bar but we opted for a car with cushioned benches on each side of a shared table. The volunteers who work the railroad are friendly and helpful adding to the enjoyment of the ride and working railroad experience.

Once we reached worth we exited and bought a drink. Seeing how there was not much to do here we decided to get back on the train and then get off at Ingrow where the museums are located. Unfortunately we did not figure out how to get off the train in Ingrow before the train took off again. This meant staying on the train and returning to Ingrow from Keighley. Ingrow is the first stop so it wasn’t a big deal. The tickets you purchase are tickets for the day so you can get on and off as much as you like. So we rode back to Ingrow and this time we were off the train and enjoying the fire inside the station in no time.

At Ingrow there are two museums. One is for the locomotives and the other is for the carriages. The two museums are actually very well done with an amazing assortment of equipment. You can walk into or through the beautifully restored carriages of various styles and time periods. Some have motion sensing devices that trigger an oration given by historical characters. The museums are included in the ticket price and should not be missed.

We had thought we would catch the little diesel doodlebug train back to Keighley but the timing was such that we rode the steam train back to Keighley. At Keighley we walked over the bridge to the train platform and caught the train back to Leeds. At Leeds the connection was simple again even though it was from platform 2 to platform 16. There was a moment of confusion when the train from Manchester turned out to be the train to Manchester as well. It threw us off to get on a train that was travelling the wrong direction when it pulled into the station.

The train ride back to Huddersfield was over quickly and we walked to the bus station to find a bus. We decided to take a bus to the Huddersfield clock tower so that we could get a couple of things at the grocery store. It’s only a slightly longer walk from the store to the house than from the X1 Bus stop to the house. We spent the remainder of the day with our dog and cat and preparing for our hosts arrival. We tried to eat as much of the food we had purchased. We threw away some of the perishables. We also kept some that we thought they might want. We tried to clean up any area that we used while we were here. The hosts were not due until very late so we went to bed long before they were home, feeling quite satisfied with how we spent our final full day in Huddersfield.