Royston and Notton railway station was opened in 1841 by the North Midland Railway

North Midland Railway

The North Midland Railway was a British railway company, which opened its line from Derby to Rotherham and Leeds in 1840.At Derby it connected with the Birmingham and Derby Junction Railway and the Midland Counties Railway at what became known as the Tri Junct Station...

, near the Yorkshire summit of the line.

The original station was rebuilt, about a mile further south, in 1900 when the lines were quadrupled. Shortly after this the Midland Railway

Midland Railway

The Midland Railway was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1844 to 1922, when it became part of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway....

 built a branch from Royston Junction to the north of the station as part of its plans to reach Bradford

Bradford

Bradford lies at the heart of the City of Bradford, a metropolitan borough of West Yorkshire, in Northern England. It is situated in the foothills of the Pennines, west of Leeds, and northwest of Wakefield. Bradford became a municipal borough in 1847, and received its charter as a city in 1897...

 and the north, avoiding Leeds

Leeds

Leeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. In 2001 Leeds' main urban subdivision had a population of 443,247, while the entire city has a population of 798,800 , making it the 30th-most populous city in the European Union.Leeds is the cultural, financial and commercial...

. In the end the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway

Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway

The Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway was a major British railway company before the 1923 Grouping. It was incorporated in 1847 from an amalgamation of several existing railways...

 gave it running powers and the branch only reached Dewsbury

Dewsbury

Dewsbury is a minster town in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees, in West Yorkshire, England. It is to the west of Wakefield, east of Huddersfield and south of Leeds...

.

It was a large station with four platforms and typical Midland Railway timber buildings although only 2 platforms were used regularly for passenger services. It closed in 1968.

Nearby was Royston engine shed

Motive power depot

Motive power depot, usually abbreviated to MPD, is a name given to places where locomotives are stored when not being used, and also repaired and maintained. They were originally known as "running sheds", "engine sheds", or, for short, just sheds. Facilities are provided for refuelling and...

 built in the early 1930s, code 20C, to provide motive power for trains from the large collieries of the area. Most of its allocation was Stanier and WD 2-8-0s plus the ubiquitous Fowler 4F's

LMS Fowler Class 4F

The London Midland and Scottish Railway Fowler 4F is a class of 0-6-0 steam locomotive designed for medium freight work. They represent the ultimate development of Midland Railway's six coupled tender engines.- Background :...

, but ex LNWR 0-8-0s

LNWR G Class

The London and North Western Railway G Class along with modifications that made them into G1, G2 and G2a classes, is a class of 0-8-0 steam locomotives designed for heavy freight work. They are known to railway enthusiasts as "Super Ds". This is because a large number of G1 class engines were...

 and LMS Garratt

LMS Garratt

The London Midland and Scottish Railway Garratt was a class of Garratt 2-6-0+0-6-2 steam locomotive designed for heavy freight. A total of 33 were built from 1927, making them the most numerous class of Garratt in Britain.-Overview:...

s were not unknown.

(The GCR

Great Central Railway

The Great Central Railway was a railway company in England which came into being when the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway changed its name in 1897 in anticipation of the opening in 1899 of its London Extension . On 1 January 1923, it was grouped into the London and North Eastern...

 had a nearby station called Notton and Royston

Notton and Royston railway station

Notton and Royston railway station was a railway station that served the village of Royston, South Yorkshire, England. It was situated on the Barnsley Coal Railway between Staincross and Mapplewell and Ryhill....

 which closed in 1930. There is another Royston station

Royston railway station

Royston railway station serves the town of Royston in Hertfordshire, England. The station is north east of London Kings Cross and south west of Cambridge on the Hitchin-Cambridge Line...

 built in 1850 on the Hitchin to Royston railway in Hertfordshire)