Kirkby Stephen East
  • Home
  • Opening Times & Getting Here
  • Events
  • Easter Fayre and Cumbria Easter Rally
  • Volunteering with SRC
  • Accessibility
    • Autism Friendly Visitor Experience
    • Dementia Friendly Visiting
  • Online Shop
  • Educational Visits
  • Supporting Us & Getting Involved
  • Our Heritage
    • Our Rolling Stock
  • Other Things to Do Locally
  • KIrkby Stephen in 40s

Kirkby Stephen East is a historic station and steam railway, opened in 1861, and now cared for by volunteers of the Stainmore Railway Company. Explore our site to discover our history and ​get information about visiting us. ​

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We are open from Easter - December on Sundays 10am - 4pm with free admission and offer you the chance to experience railway history from Victorian times to the 1950s. Trains operate on special event days and we have some Saturday events including the annual Easter Rally with classic vehicles, 1940's weekend and Railwayana - for more details please check out the ​events page
2025 sees the bicentenary of the Stockton and Darlington Railway (S&DR) and our line was part of this iconic route. The history of the S&DR in the North East of England has been well documented and celebrated over the years but the history of the Western reaches of the line are not well known. Thanks to funding by the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) and dedicated work by volunteers we are hosting a three day gala to celebrate 'West-Side Story' over August Bank Holiday. Our dedicated website give more details about the Gala which has free admission, free bus rides to the Northern Viaduct Trust icons of Podgill, Merrygill and Smardalegill viaducts and charges for train rides in historic rolling stock and steam locomotives.
We are home to a number of historic Victorian and other vintage , carriages and wagons  plus a range of industrial steam and diesel locomotives. You can explore our station, which was built in 1861 and served the community here for 100 years, visit the 1930s buffet car (when trains are running) for light refreshments and wander around our small museum. We also offer tours of our maintenance shed and workshop which houses a wide range of historic railway locomotives and rolling stock (subject to volunteer availability).

We are open to the public at weekends From Easter to December



Updated 09/04/2025
We are open on Sundays 10am - 4pm from Easter to December
Admission is FREE and trains only operate on event days
(Charges apply for train rides)
Our next train operating event is Easter Saturday & Sunday 2025

See our events programme  page for 2025 season dates

LATEST NEWS - We will reopen to the public at Easter as part of the Cumbria Easter Rally. Trains will be operating Saturday and Sunday and there is a free vintage bus service each day between all the sites in the rally. There is an Fayre on Easter Saturday with a wide range of exhibits.


Saturdays opening 10am - 4pm is for special events. Additional days will be subject to volunteer availability
Vounteer working parties are on site on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and weekends if  you want to be part of our  volunteer team please contact us via our volunteer email
Our Facebook Page showcases our current projects  and gives up to date information about opening times.

We also offer bespoke private events on Saturdays (subject to volunteer availability). If you would like to book a private event please contact us.

We have a tripadvisor page on which you can see reviews from our visitors and are highly rated
  • TripAdvisor
  • TripAdvisor
  • TripAdvisor

Support Stainmore Railway Company with a purchase in our online shop.
The shop is currently undergoing maintenance so please contact us via email for more details

Online Shop

Featured Vehicle - North Eastern Clerestory 818

This exquisite example of a Victorian designed Clerestory Coach has been lovingly restored at Kirkby Stephen East was re-launched into passenger service in May 2024. No.818 is a 'composite' clerestory coach (having compartments for both passengers and the train's guard) absolutely typical of the kind of vehicle used for passenger trains over Stainmore between 1900 and 1945. It was built at York in 1902. The vehicle was sold by British Railways to the National Coal Board in 1949 for use by miners commuting to work at Ashington Colliery. It was rescued and restored by the Beamish Living Museum of the North and is on long term loan to SRC.
LEARN MORE ABOUT OUR OTHER ROLLING STOCK
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Thank You

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We're saying 'Thank You' to players of the National Lottery as we are current recipients of two grants from the fund.
'The Victorian Locomotive Experience' grant was awarded to enable us to restore NER stores van No 2, the last remaining C Class J21 60533, develop our education facilties and run steam gala events once the restorations are complete.
'West-side Story' grant will culminate in a gala event for the Stockton & Darlington 200th anniversary celebration. We are also delivering autism, dementia and carer group activities in addition to working with local schools and other community organisations. We are rebuilding the 1861 Stockton & Darlington Signal box at KSE which will be the oldest working signal box in the world. To learn more about work on this grant check out the facebook page and the blog about the grant.

How to Support Us

Kirkby Stephen East has been developed since1997 through the dedication of volunteers and the goodwill of the community.

We are currently undertaking transformational projects to improve our educational offer and visitor experience. 

You can help us in several ways, including becoming a shareholder of Stainmore Railway Company for just £10.  
More Details
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Location

Check our Tripadvisor page for latest reviews  link

Excellent
Just so lovely you want to take the whole place and people home with you
A place full of charm. Such lovely warm and friendly volunteer staff, deeply knowledgeable, and kind. We had a shed tour too which was frankly awesome and a great behind the scenes insight. If you enjoy smaller calmer railways rich in story and heritage you should go for a visit.''

​Written 21 June 2022

Contact Us

Telephone :  017683 71700
(answerphone & manned at weekends)


Mail: The East Station, South Road,
Kirkby Stephen Cumbria CA17 4LA


  • Home
  • Opening Times & Getting Here
  • Events
  • Easter Fayre and Cumbria Easter Rally
  • Volunteering with SRC
  • Accessibility
    • Autism Friendly Visitor Experience
    • Dementia Friendly Visiting
  • Online Shop
  • Educational Visits
  • Supporting Us & Getting Involved
  • Our Heritage
    • Our Rolling Stock
  • Other Things to Do Locally
  • KIrkby Stephen in 40s