Scarborough & Whitby Railway
Encyclopedia
The Scarborough & Whitby Railway was a railway line from Scarborough to 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...
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, the line followed a scenic route along the Yorkshire coast.
It fell victim to the Beeching Axe
Beeching Axe
The Beeching Axe or the Beeching Cuts are informal names for the British Government's attempt in the 1960s to reduce the cost of running British Railways, the nationalised railway system in the United Kingdom. The name is that of the main author of The Reshaping of British Railways, Dr Richard...
closing in 1965. The trackbed has been developed into a rail trail
Rail trail
A rail trail is the conversion of a disused railway easement into a multi-use path, typically for walking, cycling and sometimes horse riding. The characteristics of former tracks—flat, long, frequently running through historical areas—are appealing for various development. The term sometimes also...
and now forms part of National Cycle Network
National Cycle Network
The National Cycle Network is a network of cycle routes in the United Kingdom.The National Cycle Network was created by the charity Sustrans , and aided by a £42.5 million National Lottery grant. In 2005 it was used for over 230 million trips.Many routes hope to minimise contact with motor...
Route 1.
Early preservation attempts
The owners of the North Yorkshire Moors RailwayNorth 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...
intended to purchase the line in the 1960s as the Yorkshire Coast Railway, however the cost proved too great so they transferred their attention to the line through the North York Moors.
In 1988, a planning application - number 40270093 - was submitted to the North York Moors National Park Authority to reconstruct Ravenscar station
Ravenscar railway station
Ravenscar was a railway station at the highest point of the Scarborough & Whitby Railway. It opened on 16 July 1885, and served the village of Ravenscar. It closed on 8 March 1965....
and turn it into a railway museum, but the application was refused.
However there remains local hope that the Whitby-Scarborough line could possibly someday re-open as a heritage railway with the Coastal Rail-Trail alongside it, which could be very valuable for the economy of this part of coastal North Yorkshire.
External links
- Rail Trail along former-trackbed: