A heritage railway in North Yorkshire has made the decision to suspend its steam services after a line side fire on Thursday (May 25).
The North Yorkshire Moors Railway (NYMR) has announced that it is to operate its heritage diesel fleet along the line until there is a change in weather conditions.
Five fire crews tackled a line side fire on yesterday morning in Eller Beck, which was sparked by a passing train.
A North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service spokesperson said the fire spread to open moorland and measured approximately 40,000 square metres.
They said the crews worked with game keepers to dampen down hot spots and the perimeter before handing the incident over to local game keepers and North Yorkshire Moors Railway staff.
Chris Price, CEO of the NYMR, confirmed that the heritage railway's services were affected by the fire.
These included the 12pm service from Pickering, which returned to the station and formed a shuttle from Pickering to Levisham; the 12.35pm service from Whitby, which terminated at Grosmont; and the Moorlander, which ran a revised route from Grosmont to Goathland.
“We apologise to those passengers impacted, the safety of both staff and passengers is always our priority,” he said.
“We would like to thank the North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service for all their assistance."
Following the fire, Mr Price announced that the heritage railway would be operating its diesel fleet instead, which will mean changes to planned timetables.
He said: “Due to the line side fire that took place (Thursday 25th May) we can confirm that we will be operating our heritage diesel fleet along the heritage line until we see a change in weather conditions.
“Due to this there will be changes to our planned timetable, so please check the website in advance of visiting.”
This was the second line side fire in one week, with fire crews also on the scene last Thursday (May 18) in Ellerbeck Bridge.
A North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Services spokesperson said it believed that the cause of the fire last week was sparks from a passing steam train.
The fire was extinguished by crews with help from staff from the North Yorkshire Moors Railway.
An area of approximately 44,000 square metres was damaged in the blaze.
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