A CHARITY devoted to restoring the golden age of steam and reopening the Warcop to Appleby line is using hi-tech methods to raise funds.

The Eden Valley Railway Trust have teamed up with Internet Service Provider CharityDays, to bring leading edge Internet access packages that all donate substantial money to the Warcop-based charity.

Trust secretary Gillian Boyd said: "CharityDays are one of the most technically advanced and reliable ISPs in the UK providing you with a range of over 15 state-of-the-art and feature-packed packages. These include Pay As You Go, Fixed Cost Anytime and the latest ADSL broadband technology, all at some of the cheapest prices in the UK. The added benefit was that CharityDays donated 60 per cent of its telecom revenue and subscription profits to charity.

"All CharityDays accounts give you free web space, unlimited e-mail accounts, online diary and address book and a whole lot more. Also, their award-winning portal will allow you to pole e-mail from just about any other ISP in the UK, meaning you won't lose any of your old e-mail. Technical and sales support is available 24 hours a day through the portal or simply by calling the customer support centre anytime on a local call number."

Members of the public interested in making donations to Eden Valley Railway Trust, and finding out the latests projects can do so via their website at www.evr.org.uk.

The original Eden Valley Railway Company was formed in 1856 at a meeting in Appleby, then the county town of Westmorland, to build the line between Kirkby Stephen and Clifton - just south of Penrith. It opened to passengers on June 7, 1862.

The line carried both goods and passengers for almost 100 years, but was closed as a through route by British Railways, despite strong local objections. The route over Stainmore closed in 1962; British Railways very quickly lifted the track, demolished Belah viaduct and other structures, leaving only the section from Hartley Quarry to Appleby open to carry goods traffic until October 1974. This included a section of the South Durham and Lancashire Union Railway, near Kirkby Stephen. This traffic eventually went onto road transport, and then only the section from Appleby to Warcop was left, carrying goods to the Army training centre. The remaining branch effectively closed on March 16, 1989, but the track was not lifted over this six-mile stretch.

The Eden Valley Railway Society was formed in 1995 with the aim of reopening the remaining six-mile Appleby - Flitholme section, phase one.

Gillian said: "In order to achieve our aims the society formed the Eden Valley Railway Trust, a registered charity, and the Eden Valley Railway Company. At the society's request, a group of members and friends formed Stainmore Properties Ltd., in order to acquire and secure the former Kirkby Stephen East station site in readiness for our eastern extension phase two. The society was incorporated into the Trust on April 1, 2000.

Eden Valley Railway welcomed the first paying passengers for 41 years on the Warcop line last September. It plans to run its first time-tabled service between Warcop and Appleby this year.