AN UNSEASONABLY cold June wind, whipping the ears and rustling the black-tied flowers fixed to the front of the train, could not wither the warmth of the shared memories.

It seemed that things had come full circle for Walter Hartley, one of the strongest supporters of the 14-year campaign to bring trains back to the scenic area where he was born and had lived all his life.

He could remember the day in 1954 when a similar wreath was attached to a hard-pressed steam engine of pensionable age to mark the passing of passenger trains between Northallerton and Garsdale.

In April, despite strokes which had confined him to a wheelchair, 69-year-old Mr Hartley helped his family to mark the exact anniversary of that historic day by making what must ultimately have been an arduous trip on the remaining Wensleydale line between Northallerton and Redmire.

Now it was the turn of Wensleydale Railway to commemorate the untimely passing of the straight-talking character, whose walking stick became his trademark as well as an aid to mobility, by carrying his coffin on a special train for 12 miles between Leeming Bar and Leyburn.

Driver Norman Ash was at the controls, just as he had been on April 24, but this time his train displayed a poignant floral tribute containing seven sprays of white lilies, one for each decade of Mr Hartley's life.

In their quiet way, the proceedings became an example of integrated transport. The coffin, draped with a Wensleydale Railway flag, was transferred from road to rail at Leeming Bar and back again 40 minutes later at Leyburn for the service at St Peter's and St Paul's Roman Catholic Church.

Among the bearers was professional railway engineer Phil Kirkland, who became a family friend following a chance meeting with Mr Hartley, a founder member of the Wensleydale Railway Association.

In 1996 Mr Kirkland, now area business manager of the Doncaster-based engineering company Grant Rail, was in charge of a £750,000 project to upgrade the surviving 22-mile section of the Wensleydale line for army trains. His work paved the way for the present revival of the branch for passenger services.

Mr Kirkland, a WRA member and a rail engineer for more than 30 years, said: "We had opened a site office at Leyburn and one day there was a tap on the door with a walking stick.

"We opened it and Walter introduced himself and told us how he was going to build this railway. Walter was really our introduction to Wensleydale.

"He volunteered to look after the site office and that was really where the friendship started. We kept in touch throughout that project.

"He knew every inch of the line and could tell us where drainage systems, cables and underground services were. He also found a local sandwich shop for us as well as bed and breakfast places for our lads to stay in.

"It was nice that, when he travelled on the train earlier this year, the Duke of York took time to walk through and meet Walter."

For 22 years, Mr Hartley was a valued volunteer worker on the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway, where The Railway Children was filmed in 1970.

From that West Yorkshire tourist attraction came its vice-president Bill Black, resplendent in something resembling a train guard's uniform complete with watch on a chain.

As the funeral train rattled through Bedale, Mr Black recalled how Mr Hartley worked assiduously to keep the lineside neat and tidy, dealing with encroaching vegetation while closely observing the activities of foxes, butterflies and wasps' nests.

Mr Black, whose daughter lives at Northallerton, said: "He used to come to us on most Saturdays by car, taxi, train or bus. He would have his little pack, his secateurs and his lunch box and he would say: 'Right, boss, where do you want me today?'

"Walter was tireless. His death is a great loss to the Wensleydale Railway."

Colin Cooper, chairman of the Northallerton WRA branch, said: "Walter was certainly a character and when he was around you really knew he was there.

"I think he would have been overjoyed at making his last journey by train. It is a historic event not only from the railway viewpoint but for the memory of a revered member."

And so they played Walter into the little stone-built station at Leyburn, which faces the house where he was born. The town band, sheltering from the rain, had been playing hymns but as the train arrived the musicians broke into two family requests, Danny Boy and If I Were a Rich Man.

A gentle wave to mourners and onlookers from Walter's widow, Joy, and the road cortege took him on the final stage of a journey which began and ended in his beloved Wensleydale.