Sessay,East Coast Mainline,Yorkshire: Information and intro

[matt_dude]

Hi all,

This is my first post here To shed a little light, I'm a 19 year old student.(at Canterbury Christ Church studying American Studies) I've always been into 'choo choo trains' and the good old hornby model railways. In my teen years though, my interest has become a lot more serious and deeper. I'm planning in the summer to make my first 'proper' model railway, and am conducting a bit of research.

Yorkshire has always been a kind of second home to me. I have family up there(in Thirsk and Huddersfield, Huddersfield would often be a day visit while staying in Thirsk), and throughout my life I've visited there, and had many memories. Most times I am there, I visit the North Yorkshire Moors Railway. Just a couple of weeks ago I was there, and came home with a book titled 'Railway Memories(No19): York to Scarborough, Whitby and Ryedale' which of course covers what is now the NYMR. This time I only visited the one station, Goathland, and got speaking to the station master, who kindly took me into the office(I felt special!), drew a diagram of what the station used to be like, and explained it to me. I had been asking about a track plan as I was thinking about building my model based on Goathland station.

Looking through the book I bought, and looking online, I started to think aboout moddeling one of the other stations in the area. The thing with me though, is I can never decide. I'm never happy with it. So I stood back and thought, what do I want in it? What can I fit? What interests me? I also need it to be interesting enough when I'm running it. Being my first layout, I guess I'd keep it simple. It was always going to be LNER, as the LNER is what I'm most familiar with. I've wanted to have it set in Yorkshire, as thats like a childhood memory to me. While I also have memories of the Southern area(Bluebell Railway, and a couple of other very small ones), Yorkshire and the north has more interest to me because of the industry and geography.

So now I'm certain about the area in which I want to set the model, I set about looking at track plans online of various stations, and then also junctions and sidings, but I just can't find something I like. Heres a quick rundown of how much space I have and what I would like in the model:

- No more than 12ft long scenic section, by no more than 4ft but keeping it down to 2/2 and a half is preferable


Musts
- a couple of sidings, ability to shunt
- ability to run passenger trains
- Scenic, I would like to incorporate a good amount of scenic section.

Would like but not essential
- a goods shed/small yard
- level crossing
- Signal box
- A junction, ability to run smaller trains from a branch/smaller line.
- For it to be based on the Main Line(I'd like to run a few long trains, including the Mallard that I have.)


- Obviously this is going to be in the steam, LNER era mainly, but what I would like to try and do is model it in a way that it could be any other time just by changing the trains etc that I run. I don't mind using some of m y 'creative licence' to add bits in/take bits out. I want it to be believable mor ethan anything though. For example, I don't want to add a siding in and say I just wanted the layout to be a bit more interesting, I want there to be an explanation for it.

Here are a few ideas I played with:

- Prospect Hill Junction
- Ampleforth College Siding and Gilling station
- Ruswarp station and sneaton siding.

A station isn't neccessary to me.

One other memory I have is of staying at a cottage, and standing at the top of the field at a fence, watching the trains go by. Theres a photo, from behind, of me standing on the fence with my dad. After speaking to him today he told me this was at Sessay. I've tried but can't find anything on the internest about Sessay. All I know is that there was a Sessay station, the stop before Thirsk station, that it was closed, and that there was a Sessay Wood Junction. Does anybody know anything about these, have any photos, maps, plans etc? I would be grateful if anyone has any information, and also any input or ideas for me.

If theres anything/has been anything of interest to model at Sessay I would love to base it there, and recreate that scene of me and my dad.

ps. Sorry, I had this post planned out to have it neat and tidy, then I started to ramble

[matt_dude]

So, I did some reseacrh on Thirsk railway station, as I though it might help me find some stuff on Sessay.

I found this map of the Leeds & Thirsk Railway(which bcame the Leeds Northern Railway in 1849, joining the NER in 1854)

http://www.railbrit.co.uk/Leeds_and_Thi ... /frame.htm

Theres no Sessay on there anywhere near Thirsk.

I found out that Sessay Wood junction was renamed Pilmoor Junction. I'm guessing thats at the place called 'Pilmoor' just above York. I am utterly confused now, caught up in different dates and railway companies.

[matt_dude]

So now my understanding is that Sessay was the station before Thirsk on the original East Coast Mainline, built by the North British Railway, North Eastern Railway and Great Northern Railway, and finished as a through route in 1871. Does anyone have any maps of the route(s) from around that time, or know where I can find any?

[CVR1865]

Hi,

If you go to the National Railway musuem they have a detail tiled map of the NER and there is also one at Yourk station. I think these will give you the details. I will have a look at home as i think I have 1923 railway atlas so that should have a map like the one you are looking for.

I really like the idea of changing times. For my own layout I want that same feel of 1920s then changing it by replacing a few details and rolling stock. The only problem being I want to run 1920s steam and then 21st century electrics with OHLE.

Good luck with the research and i will let you know if I find anything.

Simon

[52D]

Hi,

If you go to the National Railway musuem they have a detail tiled map of the NER and there is also one at Yourk station. I think these will give you the details. I will have a look at home as i think I have 1923 railway atlas so that should have a map like the one you are looking for.

I really like the idea of changing times. For my own layout I want that same feel of 1920s then changing it by replacing a few details and rolling stock. The only problem being I want to run 1920s steam and then 21st century electrics with OHLE.

Good luck with the research and i will let you know if I find anything.

Simon

Or Alternately look here viewtopic.php?f=5&t=1282

[matt_dude]

Thanks Simon! From what I know, Sessay may have closed quite early on. Before the grouping into the LNER by the looks of it. Some maps I have found do not have Sessay on. I did find one with the station that used to be after Thirsk though. If I can find anything that used to be there, I may do 'how it could of been if it hadn't closed' layout

[matt_dude]

52D, thanks for that. Unfortunately I can't make out the station names when I zoom in, but I can see there are more stations between York and Thirsk, and Thirsk and Northallerton than most other maps I've seen have shown. I will try and get a look at one some day.

Also they talkedabout a branch line that was never built. Might try and research this, as building a layout based on a branch line that was never built is something that interests me.

[Bill Bedford]

Thanks Simon! From what I know, Sessay may have closed quite early on. Before the grouping into the LNER by the looks of it. Some maps I have found do not have Sessay on. I did find one with the station that used to be after Thirsk though. If I can find anything that used to be there, I may do 'how it could of been if it hadn't closed' layout

You can find old OS maps here http://www.old-maps.co.uk/maps.html. There is a station at Sessay on the the earliest 1852 map but it seems to have gone by 1892

[PinzaC55]

I have a photo of Sessay station in 1977 here - http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3659/367 ... 2ce4_b.jpg .

There's a photo of the signalbox circa 1959 in the Ken Appleby book "British Rail Supercentres -York" and a Peak passing the remains of the station , also in 1977. The station closed on 15th September 1958 and the signalbox the next year.

[Bryan]

My suggestion would be Gilling in Ryedale.
Junction of the Malton - Thirsk and the Gilling - Pickering lines.

http://www.disused-stations.org.uk/g/gi ... ndex.shtml

[w41tzer]

remains of sessay woods are still there beside todays main line, people live in it, they have a station sign, one of those enamel totem things at the end of ever such a long drive, cycled down it a few times and nosed about, think it goes to more than 1 house , there is platform edging and i think he even has a miniature railway in garden, it was at end of rydale? branch?