KWVR @ 40

All aboard with BBC Radio Leeds' Steve Bailey!

As the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway (KWVR) celebrates 40 years of making the trains run on time here in West Yorkshire, the story would not be complete without passengers. Now we are asking YOU to share your stories and memories about the line.

BBC Radio Leeds presenter Steve Bailey says its one of his favourite places, so much so that he's planning to present his 'drivetime' programme from the line itself on Wednesday June 25th 2008. Just tune in to BBC Radio Leeds between 4pm and 7pm. If you are taking a ride on the railway, you might just see Steve hopping on and off the train!

For Steve, a ride on the heritage railway is a trip back in time: "Nothing's changed here, it's still exactly the same. It's a great family day out, isn't it? It's not a smooth ride, it's proper ricketty and gets you all nostalgic and excited. And to see kids' faces, they love it! You can see the fireman and the driver shovelling the coal in. You can only really experience this with books and pictures, very rarely in real life. But here you can!"

An icon of the age of steam: The Flying Scotsman!

And it's not just 40 years since the KWVR's trains started to roll through the Worth Valley. Just a few months later the final steam locomotive to run regularly on the British mainline hauled its last train. The Oliver Cromwell (as it was named) went into retirement on August 11th, 1968.

If you've got memories of the days of steam, fond or otherwise, then we also want to hear from you. Perhaps you've been lucky enough to see the Mallard - the world's fastest steam locomotive - or the green Flying Scotsman speed by. But your memories may not be so romantic - big stations like Bradford Exchange could be noisy, smoky and sometimes frightening places.

And now it's over to you! Share your memories of steam travel on the the Keighley and Worthy Railway and beyond with Memoryshare, and find out what others are saying...

...and remember you'll be doing your bit to build the BBC Memoryshare archive of hundreds of memories from across the UK since 1900 until the present day!

[You can catch Steve Bailey's drivetime mix of news and entertainment every weekday evening from 4pm by listening to BBC Radio Leeds on 92.4 & 95.3 FM and on 774 AM]