The North Yorkshire Moors Railway (NYMR) is a
heritage railway
A heritage railway or heritage railroad (US usage) is a railway operated as living history to re-create or preserve railway scenes of the past. Heritage railways are often old railway lines preserved in a state depicting a period (or periods) i ...
in
North Yorkshire
North Yorkshire is the largest ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county (lieutenancy area) in England, covering an area of . Around 40% of the county is covered by National parks of the United Kingdom, national parks, including most of ...
,
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
, that runs through the
North York Moors National Park
North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography.
Etymology
The word ''north'' is ...
. First opened in 1836 as the
Whitby and Pickering Railway
The Whitby and Pickering Railway (W&P) was built to halt the gradual decline of the port of Whitby on the east coast of England. Its basic industries—whaling and shipbuilding—had been in decline and it was believed that opening transport l ...
, the railway was planned in 1831 by
George Stephenson
George Stephenson (9 June 1781 – 12 August 1848) was a British civil engineer and mechanical engineer. Renowned as the "Father of Railways", Stephenson was considered by the Victorians a great example of diligent application and thirst for ...
as a means of opening up trade routes inland from the then important seaport of
Whitby
Whitby is a seaside town, port and civil parish in the Scarborough borough of North Yorkshire, England. Situated on the east coast of Yorkshire at the mouth of the River Esk, Whitby has a maritime, mineral and tourist heritage. Its East Clif ...
. The line between and was closed in 1965 and the section between Grosmont and was reopened in 1973 by the North York Moors Historical Railway Trust Ltd. The preserved line is now a tourist attraction and has been awarded several industry accolades.
In 2007, the railway started to run regular services over the section of the
Esk Valley Line north of Grosmont to . In 2014, a second platform was opened at Whitby which allowed the NYMR to run an enhanced service and led to passenger numbers in the same year of nearly 350,000 people.
As of 2020, the railway ran for . It is owned and operated by a charitable trust, with 100 staff who work full time, 50 seasonal staff, and over 550 volunteers. The complement includes 30 engineers. As of 2020, the "NYMR is the UK’s most popular heritage railway" according to a news report.
Overview
The NYMR carries more passengers than any other heritage railway in the UK and may be the busiest steam heritage line in the world, carrying 355,000 passengers in 2010. The
railway is the third-longest standard gauge heritage line in the United Kingdom, after the
West Somerset Railway
The West Somerset Railway (WSR) is a heritage railway line in Somerset, England. The freehold of the line and stations is owned by Somerset County Council; the railway is leased to and operated by West Somerset Railway plc (WSR plc); which is ...
() and the
Wensleydale Railway
The Wensleydale Railway is a heritage railway in Wensleydale and Lower Swaledale in North Yorkshire, England. It was built in stages by different railway companies and originally extended to railway station on the Settle-Carlisle line. Since ...
(), and runs across the
North York Moors
The North York Moors is an upland area in north-eastern Yorkshire, England. It contains one of the largest expanses of Calluna, heather moorland in the United Kingdom. The area was designated as a national parks of England and Wales, National P ...
from
Pickering Pickering may refer to:
Places Antarctica
* Pickering Nunataks, Alexander Island
Australia
* Pickering, South Australia, the original name (1872–1940) of the town of Wool Bay
* Pickering Brook, Western Australia, Australia
Canada
* Pic ...
via
Levisham
Levisham is a small village and civil parish in the Ryedale district of North Yorkshire, England, located within the North York Moors National Park about north of Pickering. At the 2011 Census the population was less than 100. Details are incl ...
,
Newton Dale
Newton Dale is a narrow dale within the North York Moors National Park in North Yorkshire, England. It was created by meltwater from a glacier carving the narrow valley. Water still flows through the dale and is known as Pickering Beck.
The dal ...
,
Goathland
Goathland is a village and civil parish in the Scarborough district of North Yorkshire, England. Historically part of the North Riding of Yorkshire, it is in the North York Moors national park due north of Pickering, off the A169 to Whitby. I ...
and terminating at
Grosmont.
![North Yorkshire Moors Railway 61002](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cc/North_Yorkshire_Moors_Railway_61002.jpg)
Some heritage rail operations continue along the Network Rail tracks to
Whitby
Whitby is a seaside town, port and civil parish in the Scarborough borough of North Yorkshire, England. Situated on the east coast of Yorkshire at the mouth of the River Esk, Whitby has a maritime, mineral and tourist heritage. Its East Clif ...
. The railway is formed from the middle section of the former Whitby, Pickering and Malton Line, which was closed in 1965 as part of the
Beeching cuts.
The NYMR is owned by the North York Moors Historical Railway Trust Ltd, a
charitable trust and accredited museum, and is operated by its wholly owned subsidiary North Yorkshire Moors Railway Enterprises plc. It is mostly operated and staffed by volunteers.
During most years, the trains run daily from the beginning of April to the end of October, and on weekends and selected holidays during the winter, with no service from 24 to 27 December. Services are mostly
steam-hauled; however, heritage
diesel
Diesel may refer to:
* Diesel engine, an internal combustion engine where ignition is caused by compression
* Diesel fuel, a liquid fuel used in diesel engines
* Diesel locomotive, a railway locomotive in which the prime mover is a diesel engin ...
power is sometimes used. At the height of the running timetable, trains depart hourly from each station. As well as the normal passenger running, there are dining services on some evenings and weekends. The extension of steam operated services to the seaside town of
Whitby
Whitby is a seaside town, port and civil parish in the Scarborough borough of North Yorkshire, England. Situated on the east coast of Yorkshire at the mouth of the River Esk, Whitby has a maritime, mineral and tourist heritage. Its East Clif ...
has proved popular.
History
The North Yorkshire Moors Railway was first opened in 1836 as the
Whitby and Pickering Railway
The Whitby and Pickering Railway (W&P) was built to halt the gradual decline of the port of Whitby on the east coast of England. Its basic industries—whaling and shipbuilding—had been in decline and it was believed that opening transport l ...
. The railway was planned in 1831 by
George Stephenson
George Stephenson (9 June 1781 – 12 August 1848) was a British civil engineer and mechanical engineer. Renowned as the "Father of Railways", Stephenson was considered by the Victorians a great example of diligent application and thirst for ...
as a means of opening up trade routes inland from the then important seaport of
Whitby
Whitby is a seaside town, port and civil parish in the Scarborough borough of North Yorkshire, England. Situated on the east coast of Yorkshire at the mouth of the River Esk, Whitby has a maritime, mineral and tourist heritage. Its East Clif ...
. The initial railway was designed and built to be used by horse-drawn carriages. Construction was carried out by
navvies
Navvy, a clipping of navigator ( UK) or navigational engineer ( US), is particularly applied to describe the manual labourers working on major civil engineering projects and occasionally (in North America) to refer to mechanical shovels and eart ...
and coordinated by top engineers. Their three main achievements were cutting a
tunnel
A tunnel is an underground passageway, dug through surrounding soil, earth or rock, and enclosed except for the entrance and exit, commonly at each end. A pipeline is not a tunnel, though some recent tunnels have used immersed tube cons ...
through rock at
Grosmont, constructing a rope-worked incline system at
Beck Hole
Beck Hole is a small valley village in the Borough of Scarborough, North Yorkshire, England. The village lies within the Goathland civil parish and the North York Moors national park.
Geography and description
Beck Hole is located at approxima ...
and traversing the marshy and deep
Fen Bog
A fen is a type of peat-accumulating wetland fed by mineral-rich ground or surface water. It is one of the main types of wetlands along with marshes, swamps, and bogs. Bogs and fens, both peat-forming ecosystems, are also known as mires. The ...
using a bed of timber and sheep fleeces. The tunnel is believed to be one of the oldest railway tunnels in England.
In its first year of operation, the railway carried of stone from Grosmont to Whitby, as well as 6,000 passengers, who paid a fare of 1
shilling
The shilling is a historical coin, and the name of a unit of modern currencies formerly used in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, other British Commonwealth countries and Ireland, where they were generally equivalent to 12 pence o ...
to sit on the roof of a coach, or 1
shilling
The shilling is a historical coin, and the name of a unit of modern currencies formerly used in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, other British Commonwealth countries and Ireland, where they were generally equivalent to 12 pence o ...
and 3 pence to sit inside. It took two and a half hours to travel from Whitby to Pickering.
In 1845, the railway was acquired by the
York and North Midland Railway
The York and North Midland Railway (Y&NMR) was an English railway company that opened in 1839 connecting York with the Leeds and Selby Railway, and in 1840 extended this line to meet the North Midland Railway at Normanton near Leeds. Its first c ...
who re-engineered the line to allow the use of
steam locomotives
A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, oil or, rarely, wood) to heat water in the locomot ...
. They also constructed the permanent stations and other structures along the line which still remain today. The Beck Hole incline was re-equipped with a steam powered stationary engine and iron rope. They also added the line south from Pickering so that the line had a connection to
York
York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...
and beyond.
In 1854 the
York and North Midland Railway
The York and North Midland Railway (Y&NMR) was an English railway company that opened in 1839 connecting York with the Leeds and Selby Railway, and in 1840 extended this line to meet the North Midland Railway at Normanton near Leeds. Its first c ...
became part of the
North Eastern Railway. Steam locomotives could not operate on the Beck Hole incline; so in the early 1860s the
North Eastern Railway started construction of an alternative route which opened in 1865 – this is the route which is still in use today. The original route is now a
rail trail
A rail trail is a shared-use path on railway right of way. Rail trails are typically constructed after a railway has been abandoned and the track has been removed, but may also share the right of way with active railways, light rail, or streetcar ...
named the ''Rail Trail''.
In 1923 the
North Eastern Railway was absorbed into the
London and North Eastern Railway
The London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) was the second largest (after LMS) of the " Big Four" railway companies created by the Railways Act 1921 in Britain. It operated from 1 January 1923 until nationalisation on 1 January 1948. At th ...
as a result of the
Railways Act 1921
The Railways Act 1921 (c. 55), also known as the Grouping Act, was an Act of Parliament enacted by the British government and intended to stem the losses being made by many of the country's 120 railway companies, by "grouping" them into four la ...
. In 1948 nationalisation meant that
British Railways
British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most of the overground rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the Big Four British rai ...
took control. During this time, little changed on the line. However, in his controversial report
Dr Beeching
Richard Beeching, Baron Beeching (21 April 1913 – 23 March 1985), commonly known as Dr Beeching, was a physicist and engineer who for a short but very notable time was chairman of British Railways. He became a household name in Britain in the ...
declared that the Whitby-Pickering line was uneconomic and listed it for closure; the last passenger service ran on 6 March 1965 with freight continuing until July 1966. The line was used in June 1965 to house the Royal Train for the Duke of Edinburgh's visit to the
RAF Fylingdales
Royal Air Force Fylingdales or more simply RAF Fylingdales is a Royal Air Force station on Snod Hill in the North York Moors, England. Its motto is "Vigilamus" (translates to "We are watching"). It is a radar base and is also part of the Ball ...
early warning station.
![N YORKS MOORS preservation society 1968](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/18/N_YORKS_MOORS_preservation_society_1968.jpg)
In 1967, the NYMR Preservation Society was formed, and negotiations began for the purchase of the line. After running various open weekends and steam galas during the early 1970s (by permission of
British Railways
British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most of the overground rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the Big Four British rai ...
) the NYMRPS transformed itself into a
charitable trust to ensure the future of the railway, and became The North York Moors Historical Railway Trust Ltd in 1972. Purchase of the line was completed and the necessary
Light Railway Order
The Light Railways Act 1896 (59 & 60 Vict. c.48) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.
History
Before the Act each new railway line built in the country required a specific Act of Parliament to be ob ...
obtained, giving powers to operate the railway. The railway was able to reopen for running in 1973 as the North Yorkshire Moors Railway, with much of the traction provided by the
North Eastern Locomotive Preservation Group
The North Eastern Locomotive Preservation Group (NELPG) was formed in 1966 with the intention of preserving some of the steam locomotives then still working on regular goods or passenger trains in North East England. At the time of its formation, ...
.
Services to Whitby were also mooted as a possibility; one of the first was in 1987 when ''
92220 Evening Star'' worked a service between Pickering and Whitby. Since then, services ran sporadically with third party operators (such as the West Coast Railway Company in the early 2000s) as the NYMR was not a licensed company authorised to operate over Network Rail metals. From 2007, regular trains operated over the Esk Valley Line from Grosmont to Whitby, thus providing a service over the entire length of the original Whitby and Pickering Railway. Services were further improved in 2014 by the re-opening of a second platform at Whitby to enable services to increase from three out and back workings a day to five. After a year of operation, the NMYR stated that 120,000 people had travelled over the new operating section to Whitby and that overall in 2014, the railway had attracted nearly 350,000 visitors.
The preserved line is now a tourist attraction and has been awarded several tourist industry and heritage accolades.
In 2017, the NYMR received one half of a planned £9.2 million grant from the
National Lottery Heritage Fund
The National Lottery Heritage Fund, formerly the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), distributes a share of National Lottery funding, supporting a wide range of heritage projects across the United Kingdom.
History
The fund's predecessor bodies were ...
. The balance was paid in May 2019 and was to be used towards the renewal of iron bridges at railway station and a new carriage shed at . A report in February 2021 said that the railway had received a £1.9 million grant from the government's Culture Recovery Fund.
The restrictions and lockdowns necessitated by the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
in 2020, and into 2021, required the railway to cease operations for months. A crisis appeal was successful in raising over £400,000 in donations by September; that had increased to £440,000 by January 2021.
The 2020 season was postponed by four months and events were cancelled due to the pandemic. The railway has received £295,000 in support funding from the Culture Recovery Fund.
A new carriage stabling facility was opened in September 2021, with space for 40 carriages.
Stations
![Goathland station](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/14/Goathland_station.jpg)
*
Pickering railway station
Pickering railway station is the southern terminus of the North Yorkshire Moors Railway and serves the town of Pickering in North Yorkshire, England. The first railway arrived in Pickering from the north in 1836, however, it wasn't until the ...
is the current terminus of the railway and serves the market town of Pickering. The station has been restored to its 1937 condition with help from the
Heritage Lottery Fund
The National Lottery Heritage Fund, formerly the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), distributes a share of National Lottery funding, supporting a wide range of heritage projects across the United Kingdom.
History
The fund's predecessor bodies were ...
. Original fixtures and fittings have been installed in the booking office and parcels office, as well as in the tea room. A park-and-ride service is provided to keep traffic out of the town during busy periods. The station is home to the railway's carriage workshops, and there is also a
turntable
A phonograph, in its later forms also called a gramophone (as a trademark since 1887, as a generic name in the UK since 1910) or since the 1940s called a record player, or more recently a turntable, is a device for the mechanical and analogu ...
. Originally Pickering station had an overall roof designed by the architect
G.T. Andrews
George Townsend Andrews (19 December 1804 – 29 December 1855) was an English architect born in Exeter. He is noted for his buildings designed for George Hudson's railways, especially the York and North Midland Railway. Andrews' architect's ...
. This roof was removed by
British Railways
British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most of the overground rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the Big Four British rai ...
in 1952 due to corrosion. A replacement roof was fitted to the station between January - April 2011, as part of the NYMR's Train of Thought project. Other work includes a learning centre and a visitor centre behind the down platform. Originally, the line continued south of Pickering to join the
Malton to
Scarborough Scarborough or Scarboro may refer to:
People
* Scarborough (surname)
* Earl of Scarbrough
Places Australia
* Scarborough, Western Australia, suburb of Perth
* Scarborough, New South Wales, suburb of Wollongong
* Scarborough, Queensland, sub ...
Line at
Rillington Junction but this track has since been lifted with the last trip to Malton running on 1 July 1966, the day the freight services were withdrawn.
*Farwath railway station (or Farworth) was a small railway halt located between both Pickering and Levisham, however the halt was subsequently closed and demolished. Railway-built cottages still exist in this location. There is some doubt as to whether or not there were actually any station buildings here. There was a signal box, which closed when the line was singled between Levisham and Pickering in the First World War. Additionally, there was a public delivery siding, but mapping from 1913 does not list Farworth as being a station, though it does show a gravel siding.
*
Levisham railway station
Levisham railway station is a station on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway and serves the village of Levisham in the North York Moors National Park, North Yorkshire, England.
History
Origins (1836–1845)
The railway serving Levisham Station ...
is a small countryside station set in the Newton Dale valley. The location of the station is notable, as it is nearly from the village which it serves, and whose name it takes. The area is used for walking and a variety of
wildlife
Wildlife refers to domestication, undomesticated animal species (biology), species, but has come to include all organisms that grow or live wilderness, wild in an area without being species, introduced by humans. Wildlife was also synonymous ...
and
flowers
A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants (plants of the division Angiospermae). The biological function of a flower is to facilitate reproduction, usually by providing a mechani ...
can be found within a short distance of the station. Levisham Station has been renovated and preserved to represent a small
NER NER may refer to:
* New European Recordings, a record label
* ISO 3166-1 three letter code for Niger
* Named entity recognition, a text processing task that identifies certain words as belonging to one class or another
* Northeast Regional, an Amtr ...
country station, . The station has a traditional
camping coach
Camping coaches were holiday accommodation offered by many railway companies in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland from the 1930s. The coaches were old passenger vehicles no longer suitable for use in trains, which were converted to ...
, which is let for holidays. Since 2007, the North Yorkshire Moors Railway's artist in residence, Christopher Ware, has used a studio at the station.
*
Newton Dale Halt is a remote walkers' request stop in Cropton Forest. There are forest walks of varying lengths.
*
Goathland railway station
Goathland railway station is a station on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway and serves the village of Goathland in the North York Moors National Park, North Yorkshire, England. It has also been used in numerous television and film productions ( ...
is almost unchanged since its construction in 1865. The station has been restored to represent an NER country station post-First World War, . The station is popular with tourists due to its appearances in Yorkshire TV's ''
Heartbeat
A heartbeat is one cardiac cycle of the heart.
Heartbeat, heart beat, heartbeats, and heart beats may refer to:
Computing
*Heartbeat (computing), a periodic signal to indicate normal operation or to synchronize parts of a system
*Heartbeat, clus ...
'' and the first of the ''
Harry Potter
''Harry Potter'' is a series of seven fantasy literature, fantasy novels written by British author J. K. Rowling. The novels chronicle the lives of a young Magician (fantasy), wizard, Harry Potter (character), Harry Potter, and his friends ...
'' films (see below). The station has a newly refurbished tea room which is inside a goods warehouse. The station also has a traditional
camping coach
Camping coaches were holiday accommodation offered by many railway companies in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland from the 1930s. The coaches were old passenger vehicles no longer suitable for use in trains, which were converted to ...
, which is let for holidays.
*
Grosmont railway station
Grosmont is a railway station on the Esk Valley Line, which runs between Middlesbrough and Whitby via Nunthorpe. The station, situated west of Whitby, serves the village of Grosmont, in the Borough of Scarborough, North Yorkshire, England. I ...
was the railway's permanent northern terminus until 2007, when trains began operating into Whitby on a regular basis. The locomotive sheds are situated here, just south of the tunnel through which trains run en route for Goathland and beyond. The station itself has been restored to the
British Railways
British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most of the overground rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the Big Four British rai ...
style . It has full facilities including a shop, café serving cooked meals, toilets including disabled, a ticket office and a waiting room. The shed area has facilities to provide water and coal for the engines, as well as stabling. The running shed is usually open to public access at one end, where stationary engines can be viewed. These are usually either operational but not in service that day, or undergoing light repair work. Also open to the public is the deviation shed which houses locomotives and stock owned by NELPG as well as a small display about the history of the organisation. A number of other sheds not available for public access are used for the maintenance and overhaul of the engines. At Grosmont, the line connects with the
Network Rail
Network Rail Limited is the owner (via its subsidiary Network Rail Infrastructure Limited, which was known as Railtrack plc before 2002) and infrastructure manager of most of the railway network in Great Britain. Network Rail is an "arm's leng ...
operated
Esk Valley Line, where passengers may change trains to travel to the coast at
Whitby
Whitby is a seaside town, port and civil parish in the Scarborough borough of North Yorkshire, England. Situated on the east coast of Yorkshire at the mouth of the River Esk, Whitby has a maritime, mineral and tourist heritage. Its East Clif ...
, or inland to
Middlesbrough
Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area.
Until the early 1800s, the a ...
and the rest of the national network. Thus, platform one of the station is served by Northern Rail services, whilst platforms two, three and four are used by the NYMR.
*
Whitby railway station
Whitby is a railway station at the head of the Esk Valley Line, which runs between Middlesbrough and Whitby via Nunthorpe. The station, situated east of Grosmont, serves the seaside town of Whitby, Borough of Scarborough in North Yorkshire, E ...
is, on many operating days, the railway's northern terminus. All but two of the various timetables see steam trains operating through from Pickering, including daily throughout July and August except on Sundays. When NYMR trains terminate at Grosmont rather than Whitby at off-peak times, connecting trains with Northern Rail are usually available at Grosmont, allowing passengers to begin their journey at Whitby and board a steam-hauled train at Grosmont through to Goathland or Pickering. Facilities available at Whitby station include ticket office and shop. National Rail tickets & Railcards are also available to purchase. In August 2014 a second platform was opened at the station to cater for the railway's trains.
Locomotives
Future and possibility of expansion
The possibility of reopening the missing section between Malton via
Rillington Junction (on the York – Malton – Scarborough Line) and Pickering has often been discussed. It is included in a list of rail lines, where campaigns exist for reopening, issued by the
Campaign for Better Transport.
This might allow the running of steam services from York to Whitby again. To achieve this would require considerable engineering work, as the former trackbed has been built upon with houses and a supermarket.
Reinstating this missing rail link was adopted as a policy objective by the
North Yorkshire County Council
North Yorkshire County Council (NYCC) is the county council governing the non-metropolitan county of North Yorkshire; an area composing most of North Yorkshire in England. The council currently consists of 90 councillors. The council is current ...
some years ago; the NYMHRT board agreed to support this policy in principle, whilst having reservations about its implementation as they believed the necessary upgrade works were costly and that it would harm their business stating that they had concerns about "the effect on the railway".
Hopes for this have been dampened as of October 2014 with reports that the managing director of the NYMR stating that they did not support any trains running along their tracks.
Bridge and wheels appeal
In March 2009, the railway announced that bridge 30 over the Eller Beck at Darnholme near
Goathland
Goathland is a village and civil parish in the Scarborough district of North Yorkshire, England. Historically part of the North Riding of Yorkshire, it is in the North York Moors national park due north of Pickering, off the A169 to Whitby. I ...
needed to be repaired/replaced over the winter of 2009/2010, otherwise the railway would be forced to close. The railway therefore launched an appeal to raise £1 million to cover the costs of the bridge work with any excess raised going towards the restoration of locomotive 80135. £610,000 was raised in time, and the bridge was replaced over the winter-Christmas/new year period of 2009/2010, with the first trains crossing over the new bridge in March 2010. The bridge was formally opened by
Pete Waterman
Peter Alan Waterman, (born 15 January 1947) is an English record producer, songwriter, radio and club DJ, television presenter, president of Coventry Bears rugby league club and a keen railway enthusiast. As a member of the Stock Aitken Waterm ...
on 27 March 2010.
Yorkshire's 'magnificent journey' appeal
During 2017, the NYMR announced it was applying to the Heritage Lottery Fund, as part of a new appeal to keep the whole preserved railway running for the next 50 years. The bid attracted £4.4 million in HLF funding and the appeal also donations from other funding streams such as the Rural Payments Agency, which donated £1.97 million.
The aim of this appeal includes a series of individual projects such as,
# The renewal and repair of a total of three bridges around Goathland.
# Provide fuss free access for accommodation aboard every passenger train.
# The construction of a carriage shed (accommodating up to 40 carriages) at Pickering.
# A dedicated education carriage at Goathland.
# The creation of a new volunteer hostel at Grosmont.
# A volunteering development programme, recruiting new generations of volunteers in the foreseeable future.
# Railway apprenticeship schemes, with offers of training in engineering.
# A lineside conservation initiative, raising the awareness of conservation issues.
In early 2021, the project benefitted from £296,000 from the Culture Recovery Fund.
As of 11 January 2020, bridge 27 at Goathland was removed; work to replace it was underway in March 2020. Bridges 24 & 25 were scheduled for replacement in early 2022.
Special events
The NYMR runs several special events through the year, usually revolving around a particular theme.
![North york moors ww2 weekend](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ec/North_york_moors_ww2_weekend.jpg)
* Steam and diesel galas are weekend events, sometimes extended to Friday and/or Monday, are popular with heritage railway enthusiasts. On these days, a full timetabled service is run alongside extra trains, such as local shuttle services and demonstration
freight train
Rail freight transport is the use of railroads and trains to transport cargo as opposed to human passengers.
A freight train, cargo train, or goods train is a group of freight cars (US) or goods wagons (International Union of Railways) haul ...
s. The LNER gala in April 2008 featured all three of the UK's operational
Gresley A4 Pacifics, and attracted thousands of visitors.
* The wartime weekend is a demonstration of the operation of railways in the UK during the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. The stations are decorated to appear as they would in war time: sandbags are used around entrances, windows are taped up and station names are covered. Many period
re-enactors attend in military or civilian costume to add to the authenticity. Periodic entertainment takes place, and there are events such as mock air-raids. Usually a period dance and a military parade will take place; also a wreath is laid in memory of those railwaymen who have died in service as a result of war. Levisham railway station is rechristened as ''Le Visham'', a fictional town in occupied France.
*
Santa Special trains are run in the Christmas period, complete with elves,
Santa's grotto
Santa's Workshop is the legendary workshop where Santa Claus and his elves are said to live and make the toys and presents given out at Christmas. The exact "location" of Santa's workshop varies depending upon local culture. There are at least e ...
, presents and mince pies. The winter scenery of the
North York Moors National Park
North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography.
Etymology
The word ''north'' is ...
adds to the charm of these events.
![A1 Peppercorn Class Tornado](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cb/A1_Peppercorn_Class_Tornado.jpg)
Other special events include a vintage vehicle weekend, music on the moors and a wizard weekend.
Television and film appearances
The railway has been seen both on television and in film.
Michael Palin
Sir Michael Edward Palin (; born 5 May 1943) is an English actor, comedian, writer, television presenter, and public speaker. He was a member of the Monty Python comedy group. Since 1980, he has made a number of travel documentaries.
Palin w ...
hosted and produced an episode of the first series of ''
Great Railway Journeys of the World
''Great Railway Journeys'', originally titled ''Great Railway Journeys of the World'', is a recurring series of travel documentary, travel documentaries produced by BBC Television. The premise of each programme is that the presenter, typicall ...
'', titled "Confessions of a Train Spotter". Filmed during late July/early August 1980, it featured a 15-minute segment filmed as he travelled the entire railway and visited the repair shops.
Goathland
Goathland is a village and civil parish in the Scarborough district of North Yorkshire, England. Historically part of the North Riding of Yorkshire, it is in the North York Moors national park due north of Pickering, off the A169 to Whitby. I ...
station has been used as
Hogsmeade
J. K. Rowling's ''Harry Potter'' universe contains numerous settings for the events in her fantasy novels. These locations are categorised as a dwelling, school, shopping district, or government-affiliated locale.
Dwellings
The Burrow
The Wea ...
in the ''
Harry Potter
''Harry Potter'' is a series of seven fantasy literature, fantasy novels written by British author J. K. Rowling. The novels chronicle the lives of a young Magician (fantasy), wizard, Harry Potter (character), Harry Potter, and his friends ...
'' films, the 2016 ''
Dad's Army
''Dad's Army'' is a British television British sitcom, sitcom about the United Kingdom's Home Guard (United Kingdom), Home Guard during the World War II, Second World War. It was written by Jimmy Perry and David Croft (TV producer), David Crof ...
'' film and
Aidensfield
''Heartbeat'' is a British police procedural period drama series, based upon the "Constable" series of novels written by Nicholas Rhea, and produced by ITV Studios (formerly Yorkshire Television until it was merged by ITV) from 1992 until 2010 ...
in the sixties drama ''
Heartbeat
A heartbeat is one cardiac cycle of the heart.
Heartbeat, heart beat, heartbeats, and heart beats may refer to:
Computing
*Heartbeat (computing), a periodic signal to indicate normal operation or to synchronize parts of a system
*Heartbeat, clus ...
''. Pickering station was used in the films ''
Possession
Possession may refer to:
Law
* Dependent territory, an area of land over which another country exercises sovereignty, but which does not have the full right of participation in that country's governance
* Drug possession, a crime
* Ownership
* ...
'', ''
Keeping Mum
''Keeping Mum'' is a 2005 British black comedy film co written and directed by Niall Johnson and starring Rowan Atkinson, Kristin Scott Thomas, Maggie Smith and Patrick Swayze. It was produced by Isle of Man Film, Azure Films and Tusk Production ...
'' and ''
Downton Abbey
''Downton Abbey'' is a British historical drama television series set in the early 20th century, created and co-written by Julian Fellowes. The series first aired in the United Kingdom on ITV on 26 September 2010 and in the United States on P ...
''. Other appearances include ''
Casualty
Casualty may refer to:
*Casualty (person), a person who is killed or rendered unfit for service in a war or natural disaster
**Civilian casualty, a non-combatant killed or injured in warfare
* The emergency department of a hospital, also known as ...
'', ''
Brideshead Revisited
''Brideshead Revisited: The Sacred & Profane Memories of Captain Charles Ryder'' is a novel by English writer Evelyn Waugh, first published in 1945. It follows, from the 1920s to the early 1940s, the life and romances of the protagonist Charles ...
'', ''
All Creatures Great and Small'', ''
The Royal
''The Royal'' is a British period medical drama, produced by Yorkshire Television (later part of ITV Studios), and broadcast on ITV1 from 2003 until its cancellation in 2011. The series is set in the 1960s and focuses on the lives of the st ...
'', ''
Poirot
Hercule Poirot (, ) is a fictional Belgian detective created by British writer Agatha Christie. Poirot is one of Christie's most famous and long-running characters, appearing in 33 novels, two plays ('' Black Coffee'' and ''Alibi''), and more t ...
'', the ''
Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes () is a fictional detective created by British author Arthur Conan Doyle. Referring to himself as a " consulting detective" in the stories, Holmes is known for his proficiency with observation, deduction, forensic science and ...
'' television series, and the films ''
Testament of Youth
''Testament of Youth'' is the first instalment, covering 1900–1925, in the memoir of Vera Brittain (1893–1970). It was published in 1933. Brittain's memoir continues with ''Testament of Experience'', published in 1957, and encompassing th ...
'', ''
Phantom Thread
''Phantom Thread'' is a 2017 American historical drama film written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, and starring Daniel Day-Lewis, Vicky Krieps and Lesley Manville. Set in 1950s London, it stars Day-Lewis as an haute couture dressmaker who ...
'' and ''
The Runaways
The Runaways were an all-female American rock band who recorded and performed from 1975 to 1979. The band released four studio albums and one live album during its run. Among their best-known songs are "Cherry Bomb", " Hollywood", "Queens of N ...
''.
The railway has also featured in the documentary ''Yorkshire Steam'', which ran for two series on local television; in the second series of ''
Great British Railway Journeys
''Great British Railway Journeys'' is a 2010-2021 BBC documentary series presented by Michael Portillo, a former Conservative MP and Cabinet Minister who was instrumental in saving the Settle to Carlisle line from closure in 1989. The documen ...
''; and in the
Channel 5 documentary ''The Yorkshire Steam Railway: All Aboard'', with series three being aired during February and March 2020. Goathland station features in the 1985 music video for
Simply Red
Simply Red are a British soul and pop band formed in Manchester in 1985. The lead vocalist of the band is singer and songwriter Mick Hucknall, who, by the time the band initially disbanded in 2010, was the only original member left. Since the ...
's ''
Holding Back the Years
"Holding Back the Years" is a song by British soul and pop band Simply Red, released as the third single from their debut studio album, ''Picture Book'' (1985). It reached number one on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and number two on the UK Sin ...
'', along with BR Standard Class 4MT Tank No. 80135. The railway has also appeared in a series of ''
Thomas & Friends
''Thomas & Friends'' (originally known as ''Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends'' and later ''Thomas & Friends: Big World! Big Adventures!'') is a British children's television series that aired across 24 series from 1984 to 2021. Based on ''The ...
'' learning segments, with LNER Class A4 ''
60007 Sir Nigel Gresley''.
The production of ''
Downton Abbey
''Downton Abbey'' is a British historical drama television series set in the early 20th century, created and co-written by Julian Fellowes. The series first aired in the United Kingdom on ITV on 26 September 2010 and in the United States on P ...
'' film used Pickering station on the railway in its opening scene; the train is shown travelling through several communities.
In April 2021, scenes for the film ''
Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One'', were filmed on the railway, at Levisham. Filming for
an upcoming Indiana Jones movie also took place on 9 June 2021 in the village of Grosmont.
Accidents and incidents
*On 21 May 2012, a steam locomotive pushing carriages was accidentally started in the wrong direction at Grosmont and killed a volunteer guard, Bob Lund, who was uncoupling carriages.
*On 21 September 2021,
Class 20 diesel locomotive
A diesel locomotive is a type of railway locomotive in which the prime mover is a diesel engine. Several types of diesel locomotives have been developed, differing mainly in the means by which mechanical power is conveyed to the driving whee ...
20 189 collided with a rake of carriages at Grosmont. Five passengers were injured. A
Rail Accident Investigation Branch
The Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) is a British government agency that independently investigates rail accidents in the United Kingdom and the Channel Tunnel in order to find a cause, not to lay blame. Created in 2005, it is required by ...
investigation revealed that the NYMR could not prove that the traction inspector in charge of the locomotive at the time of the accident was qualified to drive that class of locomotive. Consequently, the
Office of Rail and Road
The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) is a non-ministerial government department responsible for the economic and safety regulation of Britain's railways, and the economic monitoring of National Highways.
ORR regulates Network Rail by setting its ...
issued the NYMR with an improvement notice.
Awards
*1990 Ian Allan Railway Heritage Awards, Commendation for the wooden waiting room and booking office, re-located from
Sleights
Sleights is a village in North Yorkshire, England. Located in the Esk Valley in the postal region of Whitby, the village is part of the civil parish of Eskdaleside cum Ugglebarnby and the borough of Scarborough (borough), Scarborough. Sleights l ...
to the extended down platform at
Grosmont.
*1995 Visitor Attraction of the Year (Yorkshire and Humberside Tourist Board)
*1999 National Railway Heritage Awards, Railway World category, Commendation for the renovation, almost amounting to rebuilding, of
Levisham
Levisham is a small village and civil parish in the Ryedale district of North Yorkshire, England, located within the North York Moors National Park about north of Pickering. At the 2011 Census the population was less than 100. Details are incl ...
waiting and ladies room, including the provision of a completely new period interior with in-style ladies' toilets
*2000 National Railway Heritage Awards, Ian Allan Publishing Award, for the renovation of the goods shed and the coal and lime cells at
Goathland
Goathland is a village and civil parish in the Scarborough district of North Yorkshire, England. Historically part of the North Riding of Yorkshire, it is in the North York Moors national park due north of Pickering, off the A169 to Whitby. I ...
in 1999, including the conversion of the goods shed into a café using restored open wagons to provide seating.
*2001 National Railway Heritage Awards, Westinghouse Signalling Award, for the new
signal box
In signal processing, a signal is a function that conveys information about a phenomenon. Any quantity that can vary over space or time can be used as a signal to share messages between observers. The ''IEEE Transactions on Signal Processing'' ...
at
Grosmont built to an 1870s design.
*2006 National Railway Heritage Award, for the provision of staff, public and disabled toilet facilities adjacent to
Goathland
Goathland is a village and civil parish in the Scarborough district of North Yorkshire, England. Historically part of the North Riding of Yorkshire, it is in the North York Moors national park due north of Pickering, off the A169 to Whitby. I ...
goods shed in a converted goods van; thus providing these essential facilities in a manner that blended in with their surroundings.
*2007 Best Visitor Attraction of 2007 (in the 50,000 visitors and over category), awarded by the Yorkshire Moors & Coast Tourism Partnership – a consortium of tourism expertise from across the districts of
Hambleton,
Ryedale
Ryedale is a non-metropolitan district in North Yorkshire, England. It is in the Vale of Pickering, a low-lying flat area of land drained by the River Derwent. The Vale's landscape is rural with scattered villages and towns. It has been inha ...
and
Scarborough Scarborough or Scarboro may refer to:
People
* Scarborough (surname)
* Earl of Scarbrough
Places Australia
* Scarborough, Western Australia, suburb of Perth
* Scarborough, New South Wales, suburb of Wollongong
* Scarborough, Queensland, sub ...
. "What really impressed the judges was the consistently high standard of customer service which was in evidence when his members carried out ‘
mystery shopping
Mystery shopping (related terms: mystery shopper, mystery consumer, mystery research, secret shopper and secret shopping and auditor) is a method used by marketing research companies and organizations that wish to measure quality of sales and s ...
’ visits during the year".
*2007 Large Railway of the Year, awarded by members of the
Heritage Railway Association
Heritage Railway Association (HRA) is an umbrella organisation representing the majority of the heritage and tourist railways, railway museums, steam centres and railway preservation groups in the UK and Ireland.
Groups and individuals involved ...
, the umbrella body for over 250 heritage railways and museums from across the United Kingdom. 'The association praised NYMR for the way in which it successfully pioneered the operation of regular steam-hauled services on
Network Rail
Network Rail Limited is the owner (via its subsidiary Network Rail Infrastructure Limited, which was known as Railtrack plc before 2002) and infrastructure manager of most of the railway network in Great Britain. Network Rail is an "arm's leng ...
’s
Esk Valley route between
Grosmont and
Whitby
Whitby is a seaside town, port and civil parish in the Scarborough borough of North Yorkshire, England. Situated on the east coast of Yorkshire at the mouth of the River Esk, Whitby has a maritime, mineral and tourist heritage. Its East Clif ...
, using volunteer crews. The judges also acknowledged the contribution (in excess of £15,000) made by the railway following the holding of a gala in support of the
Severn Valley Railway
The Severn Valley Railway is a heritage railway in Shropshire and Worcestershire, England. The heritage line runs along the Severn Valley from Bridgnorth to Kidderminster, following the course of the River Severn for much of its route, and c ...
following their devastating flood damage, especially as the NYMR also suffered from flooding but not to the same degree'.
*2009 Best Visitor Attraction of 2009 (in the 50,000 visitors and over category), awarded by the Yorkshire Moors & Coast Tourism Partnership – a consortium of tourism expertise from across the districts of
Hambleton,
Ryedale
Ryedale is a non-metropolitan district in North Yorkshire, England. It is in the Vale of Pickering, a low-lying flat area of land drained by the River Derwent. The Vale's landscape is rural with scattered villages and towns. It has been inha ...
and
Scarborough Scarborough or Scarboro may refer to:
People
* Scarborough (surname)
* Earl of Scarbrough
Places Australia
* Scarborough, Western Australia, suburb of Perth
* Scarborough, New South Wales, suburb of Wollongong
* Scarborough, Queensland, sub ...
. This award was jointly won by the NYMR and
Eden Camp
Eden Camp Modern History Museum is a large Second World War-related museum near Malton in North Yorkshire in England.
It occupies a former Second World War prisoner-of-war camp of 33 huts. After the prisoners left, the camp was used for stora ...
.
*2010 Marketing Campaign of the Year awarded by
Visit York.
*2014 National Railway Heritage Awards, Best Small Project Award, for renovating the lamp room at station which burnt down in the 1960s.
*2015 National Railway Heritage Awards, Siemens Signalling Award, Grosmont north end signalling.
*2015 National Railway Heritage Awards, Modern Traction Award, awarded to the railway after keeping its diesel fleet active during a shortage of steam locomotives.
Gallery
References
Sources
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Further reading
*
External links
North Yorkshire Moors Railway websiteNYMR Diesels websiteP-Way including York Area Group of the NYMR
{{authority control
Heritage railways in Yorkshire
Tourist attractions in North Yorkshire
Museums in North Yorkshire
Railway museums in England
North York Moors