West Riding rail tour 1964 - was this the best ever?

[Old Yard Dog]

As a kid growing up in Bradford in the 1950's and 1960's, I never got to do most of the lines closed by Dr Beeching and his predecessors (apart from the Pudsey Loop to Leeds Central, Ilkley - Bolton Abbey, Rochdale - Bolton, Hull - Withernsea and Lancaster Green Ayre - Morecambe).

I was always fascinated by the Queensbury lines and the City Road goods branch where I would watch steam-hauled freight trains trundle by, but my knowledge of railway geography was very limited.

Then a letter in the Telegraph & Argus in 1964 mentioned that a "ghost train" had been spotted on Thornton viaduct, a 5-car DMU ram jam full of passengers. The reader wondered if the driver had got lost.

The train was in fact an enthusiasts' special run by the RCTS on Sunday 6th September.

The route was

Bradford Exchange - Mill Lane Jn - St Dunstan's West Jn - Horton Park Jn - Great Horton - Queensbury - Thornton
Thornton - Horton Park Jn
Horton Park Jn - Bradford City Goods station
Bradford City Goods station - Horton Park Jn - St Dunstan's West Jn - St Dunstan's East Jn - Laisterdyke - Broad Lane Jn - Dudley Hill - Adwalton Jn - Batley
double reversal to get from Batley GN to Batley LNW station
Batley LNW - Thornhill LNW Jn - Mirfield - Heaton Lodge Jn - Deighton Jn - Red Doles Jn
Red Doles Jn - Newtown Yard
Newtown Yard - Red Doles Jn
Red Doles Jn - Huddersfield
Huddersfield - Red Doles Jn - Deighton Jn - Kirkburton
Kirkburton - Deighton Jn - Red Doles Jn - Huddersfield - Lockwood - Meltham Branch Jn - Meltham
Meltham - Meltham Branch Jn - Lockwood
Lockwood - Meltham Branch Jn - Brockholes - Holmfirth
Holmfirth - Brockholes
Brockholes - Shepley - Clayton West Jn - Clayton West
Clayton West - Clayton West Jn - Shepley (2)
Shepley - Clayton West Jn - Penistone - Barnsley Exchange Jn - Barnsley
Barnsley - Darton - Crigglestone West Jn - Horbury - Healey Mills - Thornhill Jn - Heckmondwike Jn - Low Moor - Bowling Jn - Laisterdyke - Idle - Shipley - Bradford Forster Square

Source

http://www.sixbellsjunction.co.uk/60s/640906wr.html

Has there ever been a better rail tour for picking up closed/doomed passenger and freight-only lines? Indeed it was the only passenger train ever to get to City Road. If only I had been on it!