The Penistone line – there's another strange name – is as pleasing to the eye today as it was when the above was written by Thomas Normington in 1884.
Train driver Neil Bentley never tires of the view from his cab during the uphill trek from Huddersfield to Penistone, one of England's highest market towns at 750ft above sea level (and reputedly England's coldest railway station).
A speed limit of 50mph allows him time to appreciate the view. "My favourite is from Honley over the Pennines. After Denby Dale you can see all the way to Wakefield and the power stations."
He also marvels at the massive viaducts, deep cuttings and the 1,631-yard Thurstonland Tunnel. "A lot of lines follow the contours but this one just cuts straight through."
Mr Bentley is chairman of the Penistone Line Partnership, a group that adopted the line 10 years ago and created what has been described as "Britain's number one fun railway".
Regular events aboard trains include folk, jazz and blues bands, 'Santa trains', pub crawls and guided walks.
Mainly thanks to the partnership, the trains are now busy and the service is the most frequent ever – although, like many services, delays are not uncommon.
Yesterday, this reporter caught three trains on the Penistone line – one was about 30 minutes late, the other two about 15 minutes overdue. All three trains were about half-full and included elderly people, students and commuters.
Regular passengers said that delays came with the territory.
Alistair Tock, 23, who was travelling yesterday from Manchester to his home near Penistone, said: "There are problems on the line, it is sometimes 20-30 minutes late. But there are delays everywhere. If you work in Sheffield or Huddersfield then it's a good service. I live in a very rural area – bus services are very poor."
Jillian Riddle, who lives at Shepley, near Huddersfield, uses the train once a week to go shopping. "It's better than a bus," she said.
But one woman who lives at Berry Brow, which saw its station re-open in 1989, said local bus services were much more reliable than the trains.
"It's a good service for people to get to Meadowhall (shopping centre) or Barnsley market," she added.
Despite the timetabling
issues, the line's future appears to be secure. Partnership members are now looking at new ideas to get more people out of their cars. This could mean the creation of a railway development company which would lease its own trains and decide on services.
Mr Bentley says there is plenty of scope to reduce costs on branch lines while maintaining safety and services.
He and his colleagues do not see the plans as handing over the branch lines to a "Dad's Army" nor do they believe a "Beeching Mark 2" is in the offing, as some people have predicted.
"Around 150 years ago they went to great lengths to build this railway – let's make use of it," said Mr Bentley. "This line is not going to disappear."
andrew.robinson@ypn.co.uk