[1] In 1997 a company called Stainmore Properties Ltd. was formed, with the intention to convert KSE into an authentic North Eastern Railway focused heritage centre representing the early 1950s.

To commemorate this occasion a series of events were held during 2011, leading up to 'Stainmore 150', a large gala, where Steve Davis, the then-head of the National Railway Museum, drove the first fare-paying passenger train from the station in over 50 years, hauled by ex.

In June 2017 it was announced that a joint Heritage Lottery Fund bid between the Stainmore Railway Company and the Locomotive Conservation and Learning Trust, to restore both LNER J21 65033 and an ex.

As a result of this, work is currently underway to create a vastly more flexible track layout within the station yard, as well as building a new restoration shed and authentic locomotive watering facilities.

Part of the new work means that a short stretch of the former South Durham & Lancashire Union Railway formation across Bridge 149 has been re-instated.