Although it was constructed primarily as a freight line, passenger trains were introduced from 1913, and during the First World War it was used as a diversionary route by the North Eastern Railway between York and Selby.

Their photographs and text portrayed a museum piece operating in harmony with staff, timeless practice and local wildlife.

[2] In 1964, British Railways closed the Selby to Driffield Line, meaning that the junction at Cliffe Common became redundant.

Elvington was closed in 1973, leaving only approximately 4 miles (6.4 km) of track between Layerthorpe and Dunnington on the outskirts of York.

[3] In 1976, the owners of the railway decided to operate steam trains between Layerthorpe and Dunnington, which was the entire length of the line at that time.

However, the owners decided that the lack of demand for freight failed to justify any plan of action other than to close the line down.

[4] The Foss Islands Branch Line, to which the Derwent Valley Light Railway connected at Layerthorpe, was subsequently closed in 1989, and lifted in 1992.

[8] The table below lists the locomotives owned by the DVLR Joem was purchased to run the short lived steam train passenger operation.

[10] In 2013, York soprano Rebecca Newman, with the enthusiastic participation of DVLR staff and a cast of children and adults from the theatre company We Are Theatre, with the fixed equipment and rolling stock of the railway, and Maggi the puppy, created her version of the song Wonderful Dream (Holidays are Coming) as a charity Christmas video, on YouTube.