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Kirklees Light Railway rebranding: now "Whistlestop Valley"

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61653 HTAFC

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Couldn't find any mention of this elsewhere, apologies if I missed something.

This narrow gauge line on the trackbed of the former Clayton West branch has (with seemingly little publicity) rebranded itself in the last few weeks. Indeed despite living near to one of the intermediate stops the first I heard of this rebrand was the maps on the inside of a Team Pennine bus!

I had previously grumbled about the previous name, as "Kirklees" is an invented name for the local authority rather than anything locals actually use to describe the geographic area. Indeed the name comes from Kirklees Hall which is actually in neighbouring Calderdale. However they've managed to come up with something even more cringeworthy than the previous name!

Website here.
 
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alexl92

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That is absolutely horrific. I’ve never been but had hoped to one day. This might just put me off altogether as it sounds like an Americanised kids tourist attraction
 

61653 HTAFC

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That is absolutely horrific. I’ve never been but had hoped to one day. This might just put me off altogether as it sounds like an Americanised kids tourist attraction
I suppose their main market is families with young children, so to an extent I can understand it... but I'd rather something geographically relevant for sure. "Upper Dearne Valley Light Railway" for example.
 

Roast Veg

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Visited KLR as was already - very pleasant and a good size. There's not a lot of history to the line, and being "small trains" kid branding is a must. My only complaint about the new branding is "whistlestop" actually under-eggs its length!

Otherwise probably a smart move. Couple it with a good social media team and the families will flock.
 

Calthrop

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I suppose their main market is families with young children, so to an extent I can understand it... but I'd rather something geographically relevant for sure. "Upper Dearne Valley Light Railway" for example.

I definitely prefer railways -- "heritage" or otherwise -- to bear geographical names; as has generally been the case worldwide, ever since there have been railways. (I've found the name of the Bluebell Railway, ever since its inception, somewhat off-putting; wish that its founders had seen fit to choose something less infantile, and "geographical" instead.) However; as responders imply: "punters", and their offspring -- the latter, a lot of the potential market -- unfortunately tend to relish, what the likes of us regard as crass name-giving. I'm with @alexl92, in regretting the American flavour (particularly in irrelevant isolation): "whistle stop" and its variations have never been British rail-speak: always peculiar to American same: that for me, fine -- and nicely characteristic -- in America, but let it stay there !
 
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NorthernSpirit

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Couldn't find any mention of this elsewhere, apologies if I missed something.

This narrow gauge line on the trackbed of the former Clayton West branch has (with seemingly little publicity) rebranded itself in the last few weeks. Indeed despite living near to one of the intermediate stops the first I heard of this rebrand was the maps on the inside of a Team Pennine bus!

I had previously grumbled about the previous name, as "Kirklees" is an invented name for the local authority rather than anything locals actually use to describe the geographic area. Indeed the name comes from Kirklees Hall which is actually in neighbouring Calderdale. However they've managed to come up with something even more cringeworthy than the previous name!

Website here.
The hall and gatehouse are in Calderdale but Kirklees Park does stretch into Kirklees and Robin Hoods Grave is on the boundary, but back to KLR and its rather acidy-trippy-greens-blues-purples Whistlestop Valley rebranding. The name sounds cheap, sounds that its more aimed at three year olds with an americanised marketing skew. Personally I would have kept it as Kirklees Light Railway or simply renamed it Clayton West Line (before West Yorkshire Combined Authority gets their greasey mitts on it)
 

Alanko

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I see a railway trying to attract customers rather than appease purists. Good grief, even their website looks half decent.

Where is the Austerity tank engine pushing a faded Mk1 up half a mile of disused freight line with a geographically pin-sharp name?
 

61653 HTAFC

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The hall and gatehouse are in Calderdale but Kirklees Park does stretch into Kirklees and Robin Hoods Grave is on the boundary, but back to KLR and its rather acidy-trippy-greens-blues-purples Whistlestop Valley rebranding. The name sounds cheap, sounds that its more aimed at three year olds with an americanised marketing skew. Personally I would have kept it as Kirklees Light Railway or simply renamed it Clayton West Line (before West Yorkshire Combined Authority gets their greasey mitts on it)
My objection to the old name was that it was geographically irrelevant to the railway (it was chosen as the name of the LA to avoid showing favouritism to Huddersfield, but that's another story), and I'd take the "Robin Hood's Grave" claims with a Jupiter-sized lump of salt given that (a) there's no definitive evidence that Robin Hood was real; and (b) it certainly isn't the only claim to his final resting place (it isn't even the only one in the immediate area, the one I heard as a kid was that it was behind what was then the Three Nuns pub at Cooper Bridge!).

There's also no danger whatsoever of WYCA getting their "greasy mitts" on the line. Their predecessor organisation refused to support it when the pit closed, and for good reason. Even though they're wasting money on White Rose, Reopening Clayton West would definitely be a leap too far- for one thing it doesn't go near Leeds!
Whatever it calls itself, the little steam railway contributes far more to the local economy than the BR (and predecessors) passenger services ever did.

The new name does grate and sound a bit toytown, but it probably is more suitable given the target demographic of families with young kids. Not overly keen on the American-ness of it but it's not my business. If they had been asking for suggestions I might have offered "The Foxglove Railway" as they grow all over the place and it sounds quaint without being overly cheap-sounding. But we are where we are, it seems a fairly well-run line so I'll leave my reservations aside and let them get on with it.

It's just a shame that Transdev's fancy new buses can't decide which stop is the correct one to announce the railway at. (Pro-tip, it's the one where it calls it by the old name. The stop announced as "Whistlestop Valley" is in the middle of some houses!).
 
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Roast Veg

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I see a railway trying to attract customers rather than appease purists. Good grief, even their website looks half decent.

Where is the Austerity tank engine pushing a faded Mk1 up half a mile of disused freight line with a geographically pin-sharp name?
Indeed. It's a narrow gauge train set, not a historical feature. Let's have it flourish in that market.
 

Townsend Hook

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It’s always struck me as a lovely, friendly little line and I’d recommend their annual gala to any enthusiast. They are completely aware that their main market is families, and that’s the direction they market their business in, so rebranding with a name which designed to appeal more to that market seems totally fairly enough to me.
 

DarloRich

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I see a railway trying to attract customers rather than appease purists. Good grief, even their website looks half decent.

Where is the Austerity tank engine pushing a faded Mk1 up half a mile of disused freight line with a geographically pin-sharp name?

Very much this - so many posters are detached from commercial reality of operations
 

Dave W

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I should think the website's front page gives away the fact their fear of the enthusiasts' wrath is nil. Further, their timeline page suggests they've thought about a lot more than just providing rides on their railway - fun extras for the kids, events spaces, etc. Seems like sensible business decisions to me - and that website is very good.
 

61653 HTAFC

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I should think the website's front page gives away the fact their fear of the enthusiasts' wrath is nil. Further, their timeline page suggests they've thought about a lot more than just providing rides on their railway - fun extras for the kids, events spaces, etc. Seems like sensible business decisions to me - and that website is very good.
As much as I personally find the new name a bit cringeworthy, as a childless bloke pushing 40 I don't think they'll be losing any sleep over it. As I said above, the line seems to be well-run and usually has decent engagement with the local community- which is why is was slightly surprised by the rebrand because there had been no hint that such a change was in the works.
But, at least it no longer gives the false impression that it's run by the local authority (nor gives that authority's name false legitimacy). As much as some of the enthusiast community don't like it, it isn't really "for" us. We can grumble and roll our eyes over it, but I'm not under any false impression that it would (or should) make a difference.

They just need to get on to Alex Hornby to change the inaccurate announcements on his otherwise excellent new buses!
 

Halifaxlad

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There was a short piece on BBC Look North about if I recall correctly!

Although I do feel it would do a lot better attracting people if you could easily get to it from Shepley station, there is about 1.2km between it and the existing terminus.
 

Spartacus

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You'd have thought they might have been able to come up with something that sounded less like a diesel powered, steam outline, circular line at a theme park. While the old name shared the same problems as almost anything with Kirklees on it, and needed improving, didn't it get it because it was set up by the council , so was at least appropriate.
 

47434

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It is a changing market and good on KLR for responding to this. Parents want handholding with what is available - if it isn't on a website, they don't think to call. The better and more interesting said website looks, the more chance they have of grabbing the tourist ££.

Good on them (for the record I am not a fan of the name but hey, it does the job)
 
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