A special guest tried her hand behind the controls of a train when she visited a heritage railway yesterday.
 
Caroline Gardener, a former high sheriff of North Yorkshire, took the controls at the launch of a driver experience scheme by Wensleydale Railway at Leeming Bar station, near Northallerton, North Yorkshire.
 
Mrs. Gardener, who is more accustomed to sitting on a magistrates' bench, found the cab of a refurbished 45-year-old diesel multiple unit less spacious as she took the train a few hundred yards along the track under the watchful eye of qualified driver Peter Guy.
 
Wensleydale Railway, which runs scheduled passenger services between Leeming Bar and Redmire, near Leyburn, is offering visitors the chance to become drivers for a day, while gaining an insight into the daily operation of the line that was saved from closure after it lost its last freight customer in 1992.
 
Driver experience days will operate separately from scheduled service trains and must be booked, with no more than four people taking part on any one day.
 
They are due to start on 9 Jan 2007 and will give visitors two sessions of driving experience on 18 minute journeys over a six mile stretch of track between Bedale and Finghall, near Leyburn.
 
The £225 cost includes breakfast, lunch, and a souvenir certificate.
 
There is a £25 discount for Wensleydale Railway Association members.
 
Aspiring drivers will undergo a compulsory safety and technical briefing, and will have to complete a self assessment form concerning any illnesses or medication, before taking out the train at a maximum of 25 mph under strict supervision.
 
The experience scheme was proposed and developed by Mr. Guy and his colleagues.
 
He reported that there had already been 20 inquiries and said, "It's really a way of earning more revenue for the railway, especially during the quieter winter months. Most heritage railways already do this kind of thing. We have chosen the Bedale to Finghall section because it is a more interesting piece of line. We would like to think that people who try it and enjoy it may volunteer to train as drivers for us."
 
Wensleydale Railway chairman Ruth Annison said, "It's a great idea for a present or a prize because a gift token can be bought for Christmas, a birthday, or another special occasion and used when it suits the recipient."
 
Author unknown.