Pickering railway station
Encyclopedia
Pickering railway station is the southern terminus of the North Yorkshire Moors Railway
and serves the town of Pickering
in North Yorkshire
, England
.
(W&P) engineered by George Stephenson
. The coach shed at the end of the W&P's line stood approximately where the north end of the Y&NM trainshed stands today. The W&P minute books (in The National Archives) also refer to a weighbridge at Pickering but if built its location is unknown.
's York and North Midland Railway
(Y&NM) and the present station was built (to the design of George Townsend Andrews
. The Y&NM converted the line into a double track steam railway and constructed the link from Pickering
to Rillington
Junction on the new line from York
to Scarborough.
As well as the fine station building the York and North Midland Railway also provided other characteristic Andrews
buildings, a stone built goods shed with wooden extension and a gas works - one of the earliest surviving railway gasworks
buildings - occupied the area now known as 'the Ropery', the goods shed was demolished to make way for the new road but the gas works retort and purifier house still stands today adjacent to the new road. It ceased to produce gas when Pickering
got its own Gas and Water company; later the NER
had it converted into a corn warehouse. By the 1960s it had become a tyre retailers and subsequently was well restored for use as a cafe, later becoming a ladies hairdressers. When the adjacent doctor's surgery was being built, the base of the gasometer was discovered and excavated, still smelling of coal gas. It was filled in and sealed off and then built over.
The Y&NM also built a small brick single-road engine shed, large enough for a single locomotive, the shed was extended by the NER in 1867, retaining the same style (they even dismantled and re-erected the end section of the original building, according to the original contract plans held in the NYMR archives). There was a standard Y&NM house built adjacent to the shed. Both buildings are still standing today, incorporated into a joinery works. The shed lost its clerestory roof some time in the 1950s according to surviving photographic evidence but for a building about to become redundant (in 1958) BR surprisingly made the roof good as plain slate. This building is not only a rare (if not the only) surviving example of a G.T.Andrews
engine shed but it is one of very few rural single track engine sheds still standing.
The Y&NM also provided a number of (mainly single storey) gatekeepers cottages next to those road crossings away from the town centre (Haygate Lane, Mill Lane and Newbridge (2 storey)), all of which still survive.
(NER) made various changes at Pickering, they raised the platforms from almost track level to about the present level, in so doing they had to provide two steps down into every room in the station office block. They also extended the platforms beyond the limits of the Y&NM trainshed.
In 1876 the engine shed was extended to take two larger engines rather than one small one, the extension was carefully matched to the original building, apart from a difference in the cast-iron window frames. They even dismantled the original southern end of the shed and re-erected it on the extended shed (instructions on the original tender drawings for the extension, held in the NYMHRT Archives).
The biggest change came with the introduction of block-signalling in 1876. Signal cabins (the NER name) were erected at Mill Lane, Hungate, Bridge Street, High Mill and Newbridge. Later as the branches to Scarborough and Helmsley
were opened, small signal cabins on the branches were opened to control the single to double track junctions, these were Eastgate and Goslip Bridge. Of these seven cabins only Newbridge survives today.
Originally there was a small turntable behind the engine shed but it became too small and inconvenient and was replaced by a 45 ft turntable north of the station near High Mill signal cabin.
It is not known what arrangements were made to provide engines with water at Pickering in earlier times but the NER erected a standard cast-iron panelled tank on a brick base (similar to the one at Goathland
) at the south end of the sidings immediately north of the station. This tank was filled by a pump located in a pump house between the north end of the Y&NM trainshed and the beck, the water being taken from Pickering beck. The tank served three standard NER water columns, on the up and down main lines and on the turntable road. It also supplied water to the engine shed.
's (LNER) twenty-five year reign. A new paint scheme, two tone green and cream replaced the NER's brown and cream but most of the NER's characteristic enamel signs remained in use, although the Running in board
s were painted over during WW2. Although the LNER brought different locomotives, most of the local trains still consisted mainly of NER stock.
At some time in the early BR period (probably at the same time that the overall roof was removed), Pickering lost its characteristic small W.H.Smiths bookstall on the up platform. This bookstall had been there since some time in the NER period, it appears in the background of views taken by local photographer Sidney Smith before and during the first World War, subjects include a local Sunday School outing. It also appears in a photo of a wedding group on the platform in early BR days, a copy of which is held in the NYMR Archives digital image collection.
On 6 April 1959 the engine shed closed and Pickering's engine requirements were supplied by Malton
shed. The turntable was also removed (by then there were no terminating passenger services, both branch lines having closed).
Pickering station carried on as usual until its death knell was sounded in the Beeching Report of 1962 which planned the closure of all railways serving Whitby
. Despite a fierce local campaign of opposition the line between Rillington Junction
and Grosmont
closed on 8 March 1965. The line from
Rillington Junction
as far as Newbridge signal box (about a mile north of the station) remained open for goods for a further year, a solitary signalman being retained at Pickering to work all the cabins needed by the goods train.
Photo of Pickering's south level crossing and signal box before track was lifted.
and thus to Malton
, with connections for York
. The Malton - Whitby service was axed by Dr Beeching in 1965. Just south of the town was a double junction (at Mill Lane) with the Forge Valley branch
turning east for Scarborough. This line closed in 1950 except for a freight only service to Thornton Dale
which succumbed in 1963. A second branch headed west for Kirbymoorside, Helmsley
, Gilling
and eventually Pilmoor on the East Coast Main Line
. This line provided Pickering's through passenger service to York
but was closed in 1953. A bus service, operated by Yorkshire Coastliner
, now replaces the railway line to Malton
and York
, which is advertised along with railway services on the station's departure boards.
North Yorkshire Moors Railway
The North Yorkshire Moors Railway is a heritage railway in North Yorkshire, England. First opened in 1836 as the Whitby and Pickering Railway, the railway was planned in 1831 by George Stephenson as a means of opening up trade routes inland from the then important seaport of Whitby. The line...
and serves the town of Pickering
Pickering, North Yorkshire
Pickering is an ancient market town and civil parish in the Ryedale district of the county of North Yorkshire, England, on the border of the North York Moors National Park. It sits at the foot of the Moors, overlooking the Vale of Pickering to the south...
in North Yorkshire
North Yorkshire
North Yorkshire is a non-metropolitan or shire county located in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England, and a ceremonial county primarily in that region but partly in North East England. Created in 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972 it covers an area of , making it the largest...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
.
Whitby and Pickering Railway (1836 to 1845)
Originally, from 1836, Pickering was the southern terminus of the horse worked Whitby and Pickering RailwayWhitby and Pickering Railway
The Whitby and Pickering Railway was built as the culmination of attempts to halt the gradual decline of the port of Whitby on the east coast of the United Kingdom...
(W&P) engineered by George Stephenson
George Stephenson
George Stephenson was an English civil engineer and mechanical engineer who built the first public railway line in the world to use steam locomotives...
. The coach shed at the end of the W&P's line stood approximately where the north end of the Y&NM trainshed stands today. The W&P minute books (in The National Archives) also refer to a weighbridge at Pickering but if built its location is unknown.
York and North Midland Railway (1845 to 1854)
In 1845 the W&P was taken over by George HudsonGeorge Hudson
George Hudson , English railway financier, known as "The Railway King", was born, the fifth son of a farmer, in Howsham, in the parish of Scrayingham in the East Riding of Yorkshire, north of Stamford Bridge, east of York. He is buried in Scrayingham...
's York and North Midland Railway
York and North Midland Railway
The York and North Midland Railway was a railway company in the United Kingdom which opened in 1839, connecting York, with the Leeds and Selby Railway and in 1840 with the North Midland Railway at Normanton near Leeds.-Origins:...
(Y&NM) and the present station was built (to the design of George Townsend Andrews
George Townsend Andrews
George Townsend Andrews 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...
. The Y&NM converted the line into a double track steam railway and constructed the link from Pickering
Pickering, North Yorkshire
Pickering is an ancient market town and civil parish in the Ryedale district of the county of North Yorkshire, England, on the border of the North York Moors National Park. It sits at the foot of the Moors, overlooking the Vale of Pickering to the south...
to Rillington
Rillington railway station
Rillington railway station was a railway station serving the village of Rillington on the York to Scarborough Line. It was also the junction station for the line to Whitby and was opened on 5 July 1845 by the York and North Midland Railway. It closed to normal passenger traffic on 22 September...
Junction on the new line from York
York
York is a walled city, situated at the confluence of the Rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. The city has a rich heritage and has provided the backdrop to major political events throughout much of its two millennia of existence...
to Scarborough.
As well as the fine station building the York and North Midland Railway also provided other characteristic Andrews
George Townsend Andrews
George Townsend Andrews 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...
buildings, a stone built goods shed with wooden extension and a gas works - one of the earliest surviving railway gasworks
Gasworks
A gasworks or gas house is a factory for the manufacture of gas. The use of natural gas has made many redundant in the developed world, however they are often still used for storage.- Early gasworks :...
buildings - occupied the area now known as 'the Ropery', the goods shed was demolished to make way for the new road but the gas works retort and purifier house still stands today adjacent to the new road. It ceased to produce gas when Pickering
Pickering, North Yorkshire
Pickering is an ancient market town and civil parish in the Ryedale district of the county of North Yorkshire, England, on the border of the North York Moors National Park. It sits at the foot of the Moors, overlooking the Vale of Pickering to the south...
got its own Gas and Water company; later the NER
North Eastern Railway (UK)
The North Eastern Railway , was an English railway company. It was incorporated in 1854, when four existing companies were combined, and was absorbed into the London and North Eastern Railway at the Grouping in 1923...
had it converted into a corn warehouse. By the 1960s it had become a tyre retailers and subsequently was well restored for use as a cafe, later becoming a ladies hairdressers. When the adjacent doctor's surgery was being built, the base of the gasometer was discovered and excavated, still smelling of coal gas. It was filled in and sealed off and then built over.
The Y&NM also built a small brick single-road engine shed, large enough for a single locomotive, the shed was extended by the NER in 1867, retaining the same style (they even dismantled and re-erected the end section of the original building, according to the original contract plans held in the NYMR archives). There was a standard Y&NM house built adjacent to the shed. Both buildings are still standing today, incorporated into a joinery works. The shed lost its clerestory roof some time in the 1950s according to surviving photographic evidence but for a building about to become redundant (in 1958) BR surprisingly made the roof good as plain slate. This building is not only a rare (if not the only) surviving example of a G.T.Andrews
George Townsend Andrews
George Townsend Andrews 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...
engine shed but it is one of very few rural single track engine sheds still standing.
The Y&NM also provided a number of (mainly single storey) gatekeepers cottages next to those road crossings away from the town centre (Haygate Lane, Mill Lane and Newbridge (2 storey)), all of which still survive.
North Eastern Railway (1854 to 1922)
The North Eastern RailwayNorth Eastern Railway (UK)
The North Eastern Railway , was an English railway company. It was incorporated in 1854, when four existing companies were combined, and was absorbed into the London and North Eastern Railway at the Grouping in 1923...
(NER) made various changes at Pickering, they raised the platforms from almost track level to about the present level, in so doing they had to provide two steps down into every room in the station office block. They also extended the platforms beyond the limits of the Y&NM trainshed.
In 1876 the engine shed was extended to take two larger engines rather than one small one, the extension was carefully matched to the original building, apart from a difference in the cast-iron window frames. They even dismantled the original southern end of the shed and re-erected it on the extended shed (instructions on the original tender drawings for the extension, held in the NYMHRT Archives).
The biggest change came with the introduction of block-signalling in 1876. Signal cabins (the NER name) were erected at Mill Lane, Hungate, Bridge Street, High Mill and Newbridge. Later as the branches to Scarborough and Helmsley
Helmsley
Helmsley is a market town and civil parish in the Ryedale district of North Yorkshire, England. The town is located at the point where the valleys of Bilsdale and Ryedale leave the higher moorland and join the flat Vale of Pickering. It is situated on the River Rye and lies on the A170 road, east...
were opened, small signal cabins on the branches were opened to control the single to double track junctions, these were Eastgate and Goslip Bridge. Of these seven cabins only Newbridge survives today.
Originally there was a small turntable behind the engine shed but it became too small and inconvenient and was replaced by a 45 ft turntable north of the station near High Mill signal cabin.
It is not known what arrangements were made to provide engines with water at Pickering in earlier times but the NER erected a standard cast-iron panelled tank on a brick base (similar to the one at Goathland
Goathland railway station
Goathland railway station is a station on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway and serves the village of Goathland in North Yorkshire, England. It is famous for appearing in the television series Heartbeat and as Hogsmeade station the Hogwarts Express stop at in the Harry Potter films...
) at the south end of the sidings immediately north of the station. This tank was filled by a pump located in a pump house between the north end of the Y&NM trainshed and the beck, the water being taken from Pickering beck. The tank served three standard NER water columns, on the up and down main lines and on the turntable road. It also supplied water to the engine shed.
London and North Eastern Railway (1923 to 1947)
Very little changed at Pickering during the London and North Eastern RailwayLondon and North Eastern Railway
The London and North Eastern Railway was the second-largest of the "Big Four" railway companies created by the Railways Act 1921 in Britain...
's (LNER) twenty-five year reign. A new paint scheme, two tone green and cream replaced the NER's brown and cream but most of the NER's characteristic enamel signs remained in use, although the Running in board
Running in board
A running in board is a large sign showing the name of the railway station on which it is found. The signs are intended to help passengers discover their location when on a train entering the station, possibly while still moving at speed....
s were painted over during WW2. Although the LNER brought different locomotives, most of the local trains still consisted mainly of NER stock.
British Railways (1948 to 1965)
Under British Railways (BR) the present station lost its characteristic overall roof in 1952 as an economy measure, the roof being replaced by the awings shown in the image. The NYMR have been granted HLF funding for a number of schemes at Pickering station which includes reinstatement of the 1845 designed roof, which should be complete by 2010.At some time in the early BR period (probably at the same time that the overall roof was removed), Pickering lost its characteristic small W.H.Smiths bookstall on the up platform. This bookstall had been there since some time in the NER period, it appears in the background of views taken by local photographer Sidney Smith before and during the first World War, subjects include a local Sunday School outing. It also appears in a photo of a wedding group on the platform in early BR days, a copy of which is held in the NYMR Archives digital image collection.
On 6 April 1959 the engine shed closed and Pickering's engine requirements were supplied by Malton
Malton, North Yorkshire
Malton is a market town and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England. The town is the location of the offices of Ryedale District Council and has a population of around 4,000 people....
shed. The turntable was also removed (by then there were no terminating passenger services, both branch lines having closed).
Pickering station carried on as usual until its death knell was sounded in the Beeching Report of 1962 which planned the closure of all railways serving Whitby
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 combined maritime, mineral and tourist heritage, and is home to the ruins of Whitby Abbey where Caedmon, the...
. Despite a fierce local campaign of opposition the line between Rillington Junction
Rillington railway station
Rillington railway station was a railway station serving the village of Rillington on the York to Scarborough Line. It was also the junction station for the line to Whitby and was opened on 5 July 1845 by the York and North Midland Railway. It closed to normal passenger traffic on 22 September...
and Grosmont
Grosmont railway station
Grosmont railway station serves the village of Grosmont in North Yorkshire, England. It is located on the Esk Valley Line which serves one platform and is operated by Northern Rail who provide the station's passenger services...
closed on 8 March 1965. The line from
Rillington Junction
Rillington railway station
Rillington railway station was a railway station serving the village of Rillington on the York to Scarborough Line. It was also the junction station for the line to Whitby and was opened on 5 July 1845 by the York and North Midland Railway. It closed to normal passenger traffic on 22 September...
as far as Newbridge signal box (about a mile north of the station) remained open for goods for a further year, a solitary signalman being retained at Pickering to work all the cabins needed by the goods train.
Photo of Pickering's south level crossing and signal box before track was lifted.
Pickering's closed railway lines
In pre-preservation days Pickering was not a terminus; the main line continued south to Rillington JunctionRillington railway station
Rillington railway station was a railway station serving the village of Rillington on the York to Scarborough Line. It was also the junction station for the line to Whitby and was opened on 5 July 1845 by the York and North Midland Railway. It closed to normal passenger traffic on 22 September...
and thus to Malton
Malton, North Yorkshire
Malton is a market town and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England. The town is the location of the offices of Ryedale District Council and has a population of around 4,000 people....
, with connections for York
York
York is a walled city, situated at the confluence of the Rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. The city has a rich heritage and has provided the backdrop to major political events throughout much of its two millennia of existence...
. The Malton - Whitby service was axed by Dr Beeching in 1965. Just south of the town was a double junction (at Mill Lane) with the Forge Valley branch
Forge Valley Line
The Forge Valley Line was a 16 mile long branch of the North Eastern Railway between Seamer and Pickering. The line was intended to link Scarborough with Pickering...
turning east for Scarborough. This line closed in 1950 except for a freight only service to Thornton Dale
Thornton Dale railway station
Thornton Dale railway station was situated on the North Eastern Railway's Pickering to Seamer branch line. It served the village of Thornton-le-Dale in North Yorkshire, England. The station opened to passenger traffic on 1 May 1882, and closed on 3 June 1950....
which succumbed in 1963. A second branch headed west for Kirbymoorside, Helmsley
Helmsley
Helmsley is a market town and civil parish in the Ryedale district of North Yorkshire, England. The town is located at the point where the valleys of Bilsdale and Ryedale leave the higher moorland and join the flat Vale of Pickering. It is situated on the River Rye and lies on the A170 road, east...
, Gilling
Gilling East
Gilling East is a village and civil parish in the Ryedale district of North Yorkshire, England. It lies on the main B1363 road between York and Helmsley and two miles south of Oswaldkirk...
and eventually Pilmoor on the East Coast Main Line
East Coast Main Line
The East Coast Main Line is a long electrified high-speed railway link between London, Peterborough, Doncaster, Wakefield, Leeds, York, Darlington, Newcastle and Edinburgh...
. This line provided Pickering's through passenger service to York
York
York is a walled city, situated at the confluence of the Rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. The city has a rich heritage and has provided the backdrop to major political events throughout much of its two millennia of existence...
but was closed in 1953. A bus service, operated by Yorkshire Coastliner
Yorkshire Coastliner
Yorkshire Coastliner is a bus operator based in Malton in North Yorkshire, England. It is owned by the Blazefield Group who also own, amongst others, Harrogate & District and Keighley & District in Yorkshire....
, now replaces the railway line to Malton
Malton, North Yorkshire
Malton is a market town and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England. The town is the location of the offices of Ryedale District Council and has a population of around 4,000 people....
and York
York
York is a walled city, situated at the confluence of the Rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. The city has a rich heritage and has provided the backdrop to major political events throughout much of its two millennia of existence...
, which is advertised along with railway services on the station's departure boards.