WHILST it’s now nearly a month since the iconic Flying Scotsman departed, we are still receiving compliments about the locomotive’s visit from passengers who enjoyed the opulence of the Pullman Cream Tea service.

Also from those who had the opportunity to get on the footplate and to use the corridor in the tender at the ‘Flying Scotsman Experience’ days, and from those that had the pleasure of joining us on the special train that marked the reopening of the Settle to Carlisle line.

It was a great occasion for the railway and for the area.

The day after the visit was the start of the Easter school holiday, so had we had a fortnight of operating days before we could draw breath and return to weekend-only operations through May (apart from the bank holidays).

Of course, it’s only a matter of weeks before we run every day from Saturday May 27 through to September for the summer season.

The volunteer effort, supported by our small team of paid staff, over the past few weeks has been immense and has shown the railway at its very best.

I’m sure you will join me in thanking all my fellow volunteers and the staff for their contribution.

It really is an amazing team, and I do hope that you will consider joining us for whatever time you can spare. We offer full training and support for a variety of roles, so do please visit the website and follow the ‘get involved’ link to find out more.

If being a passenger is more your thing, we have plenty going on over the coming months.

The ever-popular Haworth Haddock and Keighley Korma trains are running again this year, combining an evening of a meal on board and live music at Keighley station during the evening.

We don’t only run steam-hauled services, but also use heritage diesel traction, which is running on special Diesel and Ale Days on the last Saturday of each month from April to September.

We also have Pullman Afternoon Tea trains on selected Sundays and the Bank Holidays during spring and summer, which gives you the opportunity to travel in our sumptuous Pullman carriages.

We haven’t overlooked our younger visitors, and for them we have Chase and Marshall from Paw Patrol joining us on May 31 and June 1.

For the slightly older passenger (!) we have the return of the two-day Steam and Ale Trail, which sees a bar from a different Yorkshire brewery set up on each station.

You can find details of these events, as well as our regular timetable and information on how to get more involved in the workings of the railway, on our website by visiting kwvr.co.uk.