IT’S NOW definitely beginning to feel a bit like you know what!

After the success of the Winter Steam Gala and the Beer and Music Festival in October, and then supporting the Steampunk weekend in November, there's been no time to relax because Santa and his Pixies are here.

We had already enjoyed a flurry of snow and so were feeling a bit Christmassy, but as soon as Santa joins us on the first Santa Specials of the year, we know it's not long until the big day.

Whilst all the Santa trains are sold out, we will be running our heritage diesel service on each of the weekends between now and Christmas. Local residents’ passes can be used on the diesel service, so you can still enjoy the festive feel of the railway even if you weren't able to book on the Santa Specials.

Normal steam service is resumed on Boxing Day when our Mince Pie Specials commence, running every day until January 2. All the times and details are on the website.

Helping us feel even more festive, we're very excited to announce that we've received an early Christmas present with confirmation from the National Railway Museum that the iconic Flying Scotsman will be visiting the railway from April 1 to 9 next year.

Now that the visit is confirmed, we are finalising details, timetables and fares for this special and popular visitor.

We are one of only three heritage railways to be chosen for a visit during 2017, so it will be a very special occasion and we are extremely proud to be successful in securing the visit.

All trains hauled by the nation's favourite locomotive will need to be pre-booked and we will let you know when the booking system is open via Facebook, Twitter and on kwvr.co.uk/flyingscotsman.

We are reflecting on a very busy 2016, and the huge effort by our volunteers and staff to stage a wide range of increasingly popular events during the year. It's been a year that's involved a huge amount of work to keep the wheels turning.

As an example of this, usually the maintenance work goes unnoticed because it's largely behind the scenes and hidden from view, so it's especially encouraging for the Civil Maintenance team to have received high praise for the quality of their work on improvements to Oakworth Crossing.

Projects like this are a reminder of how much effort goes into running the railway, so if you are able to spare even a few days a month to help, please do get in touch to find out more about the range of volunteer opportunities on offer.

• Have you missed any of Matt Stroh’s previous articles about life and work on the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway, one of the country’s longest-established heritage railways? They can all be found on our website, so simply visit keighleynews.co.uk, click on What’s On then Out & About. And don’t forget to catch Matt's column every four weeks in the Keighley News.