The line is now more widely used than it was when it was under the threat of closure in the 80s. This is mainly to do with the fact that it's been well marketed as a tourist attraction. It's a great way to see the western Yorkshire Dales...
This map shows the stations all the way from Leeds as captured by GPS along the route... (Just got geeky new phone which does that...)
The journey takes about three hours, heading up the Ribble Valley to Ribblehead where the famous viaduct is...
..and where we stopped for a look round. There's a great restored station with a very knowledgable live-in railway enthusiast station master. You can buy a postcard and other paraphernalia...
The viaduct is really huge. You only get how huge it is if you're standing underneath it, or when you see a train going over the top...
The line then goes to through Blea Moor Tunnel, into Cumbria and to Dent Station, which is at the head of Dentdale and the highest mainland station in England, and then past Ais Gill, which is the highest point on the line.
As you might expect, the views are spectacular all the way... the three peaks of Pen-y-Ghent, Ingleborough and Whernside, many more viaducts other than (but none as big as) Ribblehead, beautiful dales and villages, plunging waterfalls and raging rivers, and the forests in the Eden Valley.
And then you get to see the other side on the way home!
I might become a trainspotter yet.
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