Wensleydale Railway has revealed the new livery of its class 142 diesel multiple unit passenger train - ‘Northern Spirit’. The Northern Spirit livery was a distinctive turquoise and lime green paint scheme introduced in 1998 for the Regional Railways North East franchise operated by Merseyside Transport Limited. MTL was bought by Arriva in 2000, and the franchise rebranded as Arriva Trains Northern in 2001.

The class 142 diesel unit, number 142060, arrived at Wensleydale Railway in 2020. Since then, it has regularly carried passengers on their Leeming Bar to Leyburn services. The unit was moved into the Leeming Bar engineering shed in May of this year and a small team of volunteers and staff carried out cosmetic bodywork repairs and then repainting. It will operate its first passenger service in its new livery on Saturday 17th October.

George Stephens, Operations Assistant at Wensleydale Railway said: “I qualified to drive this unit in 2025 and thoroughly enjoyed being part of this project. It’s great to be able to give the unit a new lease of life and as far as I know, this is the only preserved train in Northern Spirit livery on a heritage railway.”

Nick Keegan, Marketing and Fundraising Manager at Wensleydale Railway said: “We’d like to thank everyone who supported this project. It’s another example of the excellent work that our small team of volunteers and staff do and we’re very grateful to them. In the last couple of years, our engineering team have completed various projects including the refurbishment and repainting of passenger coaches and the bodywork repairs and repainting of 3 diesel locomotives. As a result, they have developed quite a reputation within the railway enthusiasts’ community for their high-quality work.”

He added: “There’s no shortage of on-going maintenance work required to keep our locomotives and rolling stock in top condition. If you fancy working on interesting projects like this, please come and volunteer with us!”

Further information on volunteering at Wensleydale Railway can be found on their website: https://wensleydale-railway.co.uk/volunteer/