The campaign to raise more than £500,000 towards the renewal of bridge 30 along the North Yorkshire Moors Railway has been given a boost, thanks to a group of local thespians.

The Vale Players, based in Snainton, near Pickering, have donated £1,000 towards the appeal.

The actors who staged murders aboard Yorkshire’s answer to the Orient Express, made their donation at Grosmont Station, where they were about to board the railway’s Pullman dining train.

This is the second year the Vale Players have teamed up with the railway to provide two murder mystery themes on board the Saturday evening dining trains which operate between Grosmont and Pickering through this month.

The themes – a Mamma Mia murder mystery and a death of a pirate murder mystery, to be played out tomorrow and a week tomorrow – provide added entertainment to the dining train guests.

As well as enjoying their four-course meal while travelling through the North York Moors National Park in an elegant setting, diners try to solve a whodunnit, after one of the characters in the storyline is mysteriously murdered.

Ann Pearson, a member of the Vale Players, said the thespians were unanimous in their support for the railway’s appeal.

“None of us want to see the railway close in a couple of years, which is highly likely if insufficient funds are found for the renewal of the bridge between Grosmont and Goathland.

“That would have a devastating effect on the local area.

“So we felt the least we could do would be to donate a percentage of our fees from the murder mystery evenings back to the railway, to keep this fantastic attraction on track.”

The railway’s Bridge and Wheels appeal was launched at the end of March and seeks to raise £1 million to fund the renewal of bridge, which is more than 150 years old and the restoration of engine 80135.

The railway has already achieved its first milestone, by raising over £100,000 in public donations. The current funds raised total is £109,000.

The railway has also received a pledge of £300,000 from North Yorkshire County Council towards the costs of renewing the bridge. Find out more at www.nymr.co.uk or by calling (01751) 473799.