A POPULAR tourist railway may have to shut if £650,000 can not be found to replace a 173-year-old bridge.

The North Yorkshire Moors Railway needs the funding to replace an iron bridge.

The single-track bridge, over a tributary of the River Esk, carries 24 trains a day on the railway, from Pickering to Whitby.

The bridge is still in use, but repairs cannot be carried out. Later this year, drivers may have to be ordered to cross the bridge slowly because of their weight, potentially causing timetable problems.

Railway volunteers hope to have a new bridge in place for the start of the 2010 season.

Volunteer Phil Bustard said: “The bridge is about 173 years old and it has reached the end of its life.

“In the next 12 months or so, we need to replace it, and our engineers reckon that will cost us in the region of £650,000.

“It was built in around 1836 and it has a lot of history but, unfortunately, it needs to be renewed and that is not going to be cheap.

“It has also got lead paint on it, and so we have to careful that none of that gets into the water below.

“If we do not get the bridge replaced, then we will not have a railway and that is a worrying feeling, not just for us, but for the local community, too.

“We bring in about 300,000 visitors and about £18m to the local economy a year.

“We are looking for support and any grants we can get. We approached our 1,800 life members and they have raised £50,000.”

The bridge dates from the era of George Stephenson, who planned a line across the moors from Pickering to Whitby.

Volunteers are also looking for £350,000 to repair a former British Rail locomotive for the railway.