A NORTH YORKSHIRE Heritage Railway has cancelled their steam engine services after several lineside fires were sparked from the locomotives last night (August 11).
North Yorkshire Moors Railway (NYMR) has taken the decision to remove the steam engines from timetables until further notice.
Fire services were called to lineside fires in the Grosmont and Goathland area yesterday.
Crews from Whitby were first called to a lineside fire sparked by a steam engine in Esk Valley, Grosmont, 6.01pm.
Local residents extinguished the fire before firefighters arrived.
Shortly afterwards, firefighters were called to a series of fires in the Goathland area.
At 6.09pm, crews attended a lineside fire in Beck Hole, Goathland, which had been caused by sparks from a steam engine.
A spokesperson for North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service said firefighters used a specialist appliance called an ‘Argocat’ to help extinguish the fire.
Eleven minutes later, crews from Lythe were called to a lineside fire in Moorgates, Goathland at 6.20pm, where another lineside fire had been caused by sparks off a passing steam engine.
Locals had extinguished the fire prior to the arrival of the fire service.
Later last night, Lythe crews were back out at a fire in Goathland at 8.33pm.
Firefighters extinguished a fire to an area of lineside scrubland measuring 15m by 5m, caused by sparks from a steam engine.
A spokesperson for North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service said crews put out the fire using a hose reel jet.
Chris Price, CEO of the NYMR, said: “In these unprecedented times the NYMR is trying to keep its business open to protect livelihoods, and its very existence post Covid-19.
“There is no doubt that we are considerably less sustainable running our trains with diesel locomotives.
“A decision was made following the recent rain to try and run a limited steam service to meet the wants of our customers whilst mitigating the risk by employing a third-party fire service company to patrol the most vulnerable areas of our lineside.
“We apologise to those impacted and have today made the decision to totally remove steam from our timetable until further notice.
“The heritage railway is doing everything it can to fully cooperate with the emergency services, taking every precaution to ensure the safety of both staff and passengers, which is always our priority.
“We would like to thank the North Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Service and our local gamekeepers for all their assistance.”
As reported by the Gazette and Herald before this announcement, the NYMR returned to full service on Monday, August 8.
The heritage railway operator had been running a reduced service due to concerns over passing steam trains causing lineside fires during the dry weather.
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