A 3,000-image photo archive from the National Railway Museum is to be used by the Wensleydale railway as a unique resource for historians and enthusiasts.

Coupled with the Wensleydale railway's own archive, the new additions will see the line setting up its own gallery at Finghall Lane Halt, which once featured as Rainby halt in the TV series All Creatures Great and Small.

Guy Loveridge, Chairman of Wensleydale Railway plc said: “We are delighted to have been granted custody by the Science Museum Group of over 3,000 images from the NRM photographic archive."

He added: “ Many of these images, some dating back into the early 1900s, have never been shown publicly in this way.

"There is a wealth of material, and we already have plans for an exhibition in 2022 themed 'Royalty on the Rails' which will utilise a selection of the newly arrived collection."

The Wensleydale line runs from Leeming Bar to Redmire and volunteers have refurbished the former station waiting room at Finghall Halt, which will be the location of the new Richard King Gallery.

The archive of photographs will shortly benefit from the attention of two Teesside University history students who are joining the railway as interns.

They will undertake cataloguing and digital scanning to allow the creation of a reference archive.

Mr Loveridge said: “It is a great honour for the Wensleydale Railway to become custodians of the archive and enthusiasts will be able to purchase duplicate photographs of certain images from the archive with all the proceeds going to the railway.”