The LNER Encyclopedia

Hallo
Whilst on holiday last year up in North Yorkshire. For the first time, we found the bridge over quite a deep cutting. East of Sinnington station. It was incredible that the remains of the trackbed can be seen so clearly heading towards Pickering, over 55 years since the line closed.
The photo I took was quite poignant.. You could almost hear and see a G5 steaming along through an early morning mist.!!
Anyway. What i'm enquiring about is. Can one of my learned NER experts out there. Point me in the direction of a good comprehensive book, on the NER Branchlines in North Yorkshire. Including this line??
Many thanks
IAN

Ian,

Not a book but the disused stations website has some interesting information on stations/lines in North Yorkshire & elsewhere.
follow this link:
http://www.disused-stations.org.uk/

Graham

As far as I know the best history of the line can be found in:-

RAILWAYS OF RYEDALE AND THE VALE OF MOWBRAY
(ISBN: 0860671119 / 0-86067-111-9)
by
Patrick Howat

I can also recommend Patrick Howat's book. It can be obtained directly from the publisher, Martin Bairstow, & may save you a pound or two. I will PM you Martin's home number or write to him at -

53, Kirklees Drive, Farnley, Leeds, LS28 5TD.

The companion book "The Malton & Driffield Junction Railway" by Warwick Burton is also worth reading. Martin will send you a list of his publications many of which cover North & East Yorkshire.

Ian,
I have these:
LNER/North Eastern Steam in Yorkshire by Donald Binns Wyvern Publications
North Eastern Branchlines since 1925 by K Hoole Pblshd by Ian Allan
LNER Lines in the Yorkshire Ridings by Peter Cookson and John E Farline Pblshd by Booklaw.

I can just remember as a very small boy seeing what I now imagine to have been a G5 crossing the viaduct over the river near St Gregory's Minster.

Colombo

You can almost always trace the route of old railways on Google maps - even after 50 odd years the majority of the length of most lines is still quite clear. Even where the line has been ploughed up, at the right degree of enlargement the photographs show the different soil colour where the trackbed was. The line usually only vanishes where it has been built on - but if you know the approximate direction you can pick it up again. With practise you can follow most lines - as a non railway person I was astonished at just how many lines there were - indeed still are - there are a lot of freight lines still in existance that I was not aware of.

Mike Cook ( of York Model Railway Exhibition fame) built an 4mm EM Gauge model of Sinnington Station which featured in a number of Railway Modeller articles in 1991. A little while ago I acquired the station building and coal drops which were on that model and have incorporated them into my own layout ( not based on Sinnington but representative of that general area) which I will have at the Darlington Model Railway Exhibition in December. Even after nearly 20 years the buildings and coal drops are in "fine fettle". A sure testimony to the builder!

Colombo wrote: I can just remember as a very small boy seeing what I now imagine to have been a G5 crossing the viaduct over the river near St Gregory's Minster.

Colombo

I absailed of that viaduct many a time!

silver fox wrote:

I absailed off that viaduct many a time!

Sounds very dangerous, young man. If you were to fall to your doom, who would we have as our cameraman in York?

If memory serves me, Marsden Rail do/did a videao/DVD that included some of the line.
No 7 Brake van to Whitby. Included is some of the last trip from Malton to Gilling and then onto Kirkby Moorside.

Andy

"Railways Of The North York Moors" compiled by Michael Blakemore (Atlantic Publishing 2001) has excellent historic photos of the stations on the line.

Can one of my learned NER experts out there. Point me in the direction of a good comprehensive book, on the NER Branchlines in North Yorkshire. Including this line??

I have been trawling through my books and I have to say that I think it unlikely that a single book will cover all North Yorkshire branches comprehensively. That is if you include the NY Moors, the Dales and the vales in between.

However, I am sure that the books mentioned so far will be interesting for you; I must get the Railways of the NY Moors for myself.

There are a few other suggestions for you.

"Forgotten Railways - North East England" by Ken Hoole has a several chapters on North Yorkshire. Ken Hoole also published a book covering the "Whitby, Redcar & Middlesborough Union Railway".
"The Scarborough & Whitby Railway" & "The Forge Valley Railway" both by Robin Lidster focus in more specifically on those lines.
"Railways around Whitby" by Martin Bairstow includes the lines from Malton, Saltburn & Scarborough but I do not possess this so I am not absolutely sure of the content.

It seems that many/most of the NY branch lines do have an individual title covering them.

I can confirm that the Marsden Rail DVD of the brake van ride to Whitby also includes Malton - Gilling.

Also this site - http://www.disused-stations.org.uk/ has a photographic survey of all the stations on the line.

There is also a booklet on the Rosedale Railway available.
Can't remember publisher and the book is not to hand at the moment.

Good afternoon

Can I thank you ALL for your fountain of Information, on the North Yorkshire branches. This is most useful.
I think we'll have to "DO" the route when we're Oop North, in September and get some more piccies..

Thanks again

Ian
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