How long is the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway?

The operator gives it as just over 4 1/2 miles on its stations page and as five miles on its home page, from Keighley to Oxenhope.

Where was The Railway Children filmed?

At Oakworth station on the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway, which the operator says appears throughout the 1970 film. The 2022 sequel used the railyard there too.

When did the Worth Valley line reopen?

On 29 June 1968, after British Railways closed it to passengers in December 1961 and to goods in June 1962.

Where is the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway?

In West Yorkshire. It starts at Keighley and runs up the valley through Ingrow West, Damems, Oakworth and Haworth to Oxenhope (KWVR stations page).

Keighley and Worth Valley Railway: Haworth Line

The line and its six stations

The stations, from the main-line end, are Keighley, Ingrow West, Damems, Oakworth, Haworth and Oxenhope (KWVR stations page). The operator gives its length two ways: “just over 4 1/2 miles long” on the stations page and five miles on its home page. Keighley shares its station with National Rail, with trains to Leeds and Bradford every 30 minutes Monday to Saturday (getting here).

A steam locomotive running into Oakworth station past the yard, green hills behind. — Photo: ARG_Flickr, CC BY 2.0

1867, 1962 and 1968

The line opened on 15 April 1867. British Railways closed the branch to passengers in December 1961 and to goods in June 1962, and the railway reopened on 29 June 1968 (our history). The operator makes a claim for the sale itself: “the first privatisation of any part of British Railways”.

The small stone station building at Oakworth with arched windows and flower tubs — Oakworth station, the film set of The Railway Children. Photo: Anthony Foster, CC BY-SA 2.0

Oakworth and The Railway Children

Oakworth station is listed Grade II, its entry describing a “railway station. 1867 with later addition” (list entry). It is the station the 1970 film of The Railway Children used, “seen throughout the film for a variety of events”, and the 2022 sequel, The Railway Children Return, used the railyard at Oakworth Station too (KWVR, The Railway Children).

Haworth and the sheds

Haworth is the busy middle of the line, and its station is also listed Grade II (list entry). The steam and diesel fleet is based there, and guided tours let you get close up to what the operator calls its giants of steam (Haworth station page).

Engines, sheds and access

No. 51218, built at Horwich in 1901, arrived by road at Haworth in January 1965 (KWVR), and Black Five No. 45212 welcomed in the New Year as part of Railway 200 (KWVR home page). The exhibition shed at Oxenhope will reopen in January 2027 (same page). Ramps are available at every station except Damems (accessibility page), and dogs are welcome on normal timetabled trains but not allowed onto carriage seats (fares page).

A curving platform at Haworth with a stone station building, red lamps and a chimney on the hill — Haworth, looking up the valley. Photo: Tim Green from Bradford, CC BY 2.0

A cow, a strike and a whole branch line

The line exists because of Charlotte Brontë. In 1861 a civil engineer, John McLandsborough, came to Haworth to pay tribute to her and was surprised to find the village had no railway. Building it was meant to take about a year. It took nearly two, thanks to land purchases, engineering problems and, near Oakworth, a cow that ate the plans.

The reopening has a good story too. On 29 June 1968 the first train from Keighley to Oxenhope was the one train running anywhere on the network that day, because of a national rail strike. Today more than 100,000 passengers a year ride a branch that’s still complete from end to end (Wikipedia).

Planning the day

A Rover ticket was listed at £24.00, for “unlimited travel for the whole day on all trains running”, and a full-line return at £18.00 (fares). Haworth has a large pay and display car park (getting here). It’s worth checking the events page before a winter visit.

Photographing the line

The Worth Valley doesn’t publish lineside rules that we could find, so the stations are your viewpoints, and Oakworth has the film-set platform. For a gala crowd and lots of engines in steam, the events page already lists a Steam Gala and a Diesel Gala for 2027.

Sources: KWVR events (checked 21 October 2026).

Your own photograph can go on the wall as it is, or try the five studio styles on it first.

Written by Craig Fearn, Trackside Prints. Last updated 23 October 2026.

The Keighley and Worth Valley Railway, Keighley to Oxenhope.