Sleights is a railway station on the Esk Valley Line, which runs between

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

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 ...

via

Nunthorpe Nunthorpe is a village and civil parish in the Borough of Middlesbrough in North Yorkshire, England. It is part of the historic county of Yorkshire, North Riding. It is near to the village of Great Ayton and formerly part of the Ayton ancient ...

. The station, situated south-west of Whitby, serves the villages of

Briggswath Briggswath is a village in the Scarborough district of 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 ...

and

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 ...

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, su ...

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. It is owned by

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 ...

and managed by

Northern Trains Northern Trains, branded as Northern, (legally Northern Trains Limited) is a State-owned enterprises of the United Kingdom, publicly owned train operating company in England. It is owned by DfT OLR Holdings for the Department for Transport (DfT) ...

History

Sleights station was on the initial section of 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 ...

between and . Originally just a simple halt, it opened to horse-drawn traffic on 15 May 1835, with a full public service operating from June 1835. The station platforms and the main building, a mock-Tudor design by

George Townsend 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 p ...

, were constructed eleven years later and opened in 1846. The station used to have two platforms for up and down line working, but in common with the other stations between Grosmont and

, this was reduced to single track working in 1984 when the second track was lifted and Sleights signal box closed. Trains now stop at the former Up line platform, where the main station buildings, including the station master's house, are now a

Grade II-listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

private residence. The former down platform used to have a wooden waiting shed and store; this building was recovered by the

North Yorkshire Moors Railway The North Yorkshire Moors Railway (NYMR) is a heritage railway in North Yorkshire, England, that runs through the North York Moors National Park. First opened in 1836 as the Whitby and Pickering Railway, the railway was planned in 1831 by Georg ...

and re-erected on the extended down platform at Grosmont. Behind the down platform was a small goods yard with a single siding. The Up line platform is currently managed and maintained by Northern Trains and Esk Valley Railway, whilst the down platform and derelict signal box are the responsibility of Network Rail. At one end of the platform, a footpath carries passengers over the River Esk to Briggswath on a small box girder bridge, while at the other the

A169 The A169 is an A road in North Yorkshire, England. It runs from the A64 at Malton on the edge of the Yorkshire Wolds through the Vale of Pickering and across the North York Moors to join the A171 just west of Whitby. It is a single carriage ...

towers over the railway and river on a bridge opened on 26 January 1937. The site of the modern day footpath used to be a level crossing carrying the main Whitby-Pickering road to a stone bridge over the Esk, before this was washed away during floods in 1930. Next to the crossing a 19th-century brick built signal box remains, now unused and boarded up.

Services

As of July 2022, the station is served by five trains per day towards

. Heading towards

via

, there are four trains per day. Most trains continue to

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...

, or . All services are operated by

. Rolling stock used: Class 156 ''Super Sprinter'' and Class 158 ''Express Sprinter'' Heritage trains from the North Yorkshire Moors Railway can be seen passing through Sleights Station, however they do not stop.

References

Sources

External links

* * {{Railway stations served by Northern Trains Railway stations in the Borough of Scarborough DfT Category F2 stations Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1846 Northern franchise railway stations Former York and North Midland Railway stations George Townsend Andrews railway stations