KLR is a 15” narrow gauge railway set in the South Pennine foothills, only 20 minutes from the centre of Wakefield. It was opened in 1991 as a visitor attraction on the previous Huddersfield to Barnsley railway line that ran until the 1980s! As well as their day to day schedule, they run special events such as Easter Eggspress, Santa Specials, My First Day Out with Thomas and for the adults, The Cocktail Express to name a few. We visited Easter Eggspress in 2019 and loved it … read our review here.
In the school holidays, as well as the train rides, there are craft activities at Shelley Station included in the price of the ticket!
If you haven’t been to KLR for a little while, you’ll be impressed with the recent improvements over the last 6 months:
After booking in for our scheduled train at the ticket office, Mini Mumbler and Grandad checked out the improved Clayton Flyer around the duck pond. This is now running much faster than it did previously and with the added bonus of the extra loop around the duck pond, I think it’s a great improvement! It wasn’t long until our departure time, and we headed to find our seats. In peak season and on event days the carriages are numbered and allocated, but as it was at the start of the season we could sit anywhere! With the steam billowing out of the engine we were soon ready to take the 25 minute, 3.5 mile journey through the scenic countryside passing cows, horses and usually sheep and lambs (but they must have been keeping warm in the sheds!) As you go up the valley you can spot Emley Moor transmitter mast, the tallest freestanding building in the UK and a Grade II listed building!
The railway is a single track so there’s a passing place at Skelmanthorpe. All the children love waving to each other from one train to another as they pass each other! And just before you reach Shelley, you pass through Shelley Woodhouse Tunnel which is the longest tunnel on a 15” narrow gauge line in Britain! It gets pretty dark but don’t worry though, the lights come on in the carriages!!
And before you know it you’re at Shelley with the new playground which is perfectly designed as a train!! The sandpit is slightly smaller then the old one but all the additional new playground features are fantastic and Mini Mumbler enjoyed running, climbing, hiding, crawling and pretending to be a train driver on it!!
Before heading to the playground, you must watch the train turn on the turntable so it can change to the other end of the carriages to pull them back down the track to Clayton West! We usually miss the immediate train ride back and get the next one spending just under an hour at Shelley but in the warmer weather we have spent a lot longer at Shelley and taken our own picnic. There is a large grassy area that houses outdoor games and if you’re lucky the bouncy castle is sometimes out too! There is a small cafe selling hot drinks, snacks and in the summer ice creams at Shelley so if you’re going to be over lunchtime, maybe take a packed lunch with you or eat at The Buffer Stop Cafe at Clayton West.
We took the last train back down to Clayton West and managed to play in the playground at Clayton West too. This astroturf playground is based around a castle theme and has a range of activities, slides and climbing parts for toddlers up to bigger kids. The playground is spacious so even when we have visited in the summer there has been plenty of space!
We love Kirklees Light Railway and have been many times, whether on a special event or normal running day! All the staff and volunteers are very caring, love speaking to kids and adults about the trains and take great pride in their roles at the railway! Due to the frequent scheduling of the trains, there’s always space for the children to play in the playgrounds and I’ve never felt that it was too busy! Kirklees Light Railway is a great day our for the whole family!
For a list of other special events at KLR … CLICK HERE
Park Mill Way, Clayton West, Huddersfield HD8 9XJ
01484 865727
Disclaimer: Mumbler received free tickets for this review. All comments are my own and are an honest and accurate account of our visit to Kirklees Light Railway. We honestly do love KLR and have been loads of times!!