At the moment I'm researching a section of the East Coast Mainline between Pilmoor/Sessay and Otterington
It is my understanding that originally the stations on this part of the ECML were:
Sessay
Thirsk
Otterington
Neither Sessay or Otterington appear on any maps I have seen of the LNER line, or the NER line(most of the NER maps I have seen are late on, just before the grouping) this leads me to believe they may have closed quite early.
I also found there was a Sessay Wood junction, which I believe was later named Pilmoor Junction. This was the junction onto the thirsk and malton Railway, along with Bishophouse Junction and Sunbeck Junction. This info I got from a book titled 'Railway memories(No19): York to Scarborough, Whitby and Ryedale. Pg 109 states:
The tiny station at Husthwaite Gate was the last one on the Thirsk & Malton before it joined the East Coast main line just south of Pilmoor.
I'm no expert and finding track beds on google maps, but it looks promising to me. Just south of Pilmoor. Anyone have any thoughts on it? And if anyone has any info on the area and/or the junction, that would be greatly appreciated.
So again, looking at google maps, I found this, which I believe could be the old Sessay station site. I did somewhere something saying the platform was on the west side of the line. I've been trying to work out what the layout could have been from the photo. ANyone think they can help?
matt-dude: I know that you are some distance, away but places such as the archives at 'Head of Steam' Darlington North Road and the NRM York are likely to be the most helpful in your searches, particularly the Ken Hoole collection ,books, papers, track diagrams,photographs, housed at the former. There is also the North Eastern Railway Association (NERA) who have many very expert people on the subject of the NER. Many of the stations and structures between Northallerton and York were reconstructed in the 1930s as widening and modernisation took place. Otterington, closed to passengers 1958, and goods a few years later, is still basically intact on its eastern side and at Sessay four miles south of Thirsk there is a dwelling on the western side of the line which appears ex -railway.
Hi Stembok. Thanks for your reply. I'd love to visit those places, but I don't have the time or the money at the moment. I have sent an email to the place at Darlington about the Ken Hoole collection. I know now what it is exactly i want to model(all this research is geared towards modelling something along this section) It will be Sessay that I model, rather than the junction. If I can't find much on it, then I'll use what I've got and be creative.
If it's of any interest there's a model of Pilmoor Junction in the National Trust property at Ormesby Hall on the edge of Middlesbrough. It's open every Saturday, Sunday and Bank Holiday from March-October.
I think most of the research for that was done at the Ken Hoole Centre.
matt_dude wrote:So again, looking at google maps, I found this, which I believe could be the old Sessay station site. I did somewhere something saying the platform was on the west side of the line. I've been trying to work out what the layout could have been from the photo. ANyone think they can help?
The section between Thirsk and Northallerton was quadrupled in 1932 leading to the Art Deco type buildings at Otterington, but the section through Sessay from Pilmoor Thirsk was not quadrupled until 1942 at the height of the war leading to an Air Raid Precaution Box being built at Sessay. The excellent book Triumph and Beyond The ECML 1939 to 1959 Part 1 by BWL BROOKSBANK and published by Challenger Publications has a better photograph of the 1942 Sessay Box on page 164.
Prior to the improvements carried out under the Development Act of 1929. there were four track sections between Otterington and Thirsk and further south between Beningbrough and Alne, but the stations mentioned were excluded and the only station on a four track section was Tollerton, between Alne and Beningbrough.The 1930s scheme meant the extension of of the Alne-Beningbrough section southwards to Skelton Bridge on the outskirts of York on both sides of the line and northwards to Pilmoor but on the down side only.This meant new buildings at Beningbrough, Alne (down side only) and Raskelf(down side only) Further north a new down slow was constructed from Otterington linking with the Longlands Loop at Northallerton and a new up slow to Otterington also linking with the Longlands Loop. In 1942 new up and down slow lines were built between Thirsk and Pilmoor and in 1959 a new up slow from Pilmoor to Alne, making it four track throughout from Northallerton. In 1958 Beningbrough, Alne.Raskelf,Pilmoor,Sessay and Otterington lost their passenger services with Tollerton following in 1965.
Stembok- There was a lot of adding new tracks at different times. I was under the impression Sessay and Otterington were closed in 1958 to make way for the extension to 4 track. But you say ' In 1942 new up and down slow lines were built between Thirsk and Pilmoor.' So that contradicts. Or am I missing something?
Furthermore. The photos show 2 lines running through Sessay station, but 4 running past the signal box. Did they diverge into 2 to go through teh station and then back to 4? And do you have dates for the photos?
The only section not four track in 1958 was Pilmoor -Alne. this was three track ie up and down fast and down slow, but an up slow was added between these points in 1959. The train service to the stations mentioned as closed in 1958 was pretty sparse which probably accounted for their closure.
The two track photo of Sessay is I imagine from the early years of the 20th century i.e. pre first world war. The four track photo is from the mid fifties from the flat bottom type of track on the fasts. The old two track station will have been completely swept away when the four track section was built between Pilmoor and Thirsk in 1942. What the station looked like after 1942 I have no idea. Otterington station will have been probably similar to Sessay until 1932 when it too will have been swept away under the four tracking and the 1930s art-deco type buildings constructed.
These pictures of Sessay Wood dated from c1935. The route beyond the triangle to the top of the track diagram is the line to Gilling, Malton/Pickering. (In discussion with "Sedgefield") Sessay Wood was renamed Pilmoor when the box at Pilmoor Station (controlling the junction to Boroughbridge and Harrogate) shut and the controls transferred to SW.
Type a name into the search; if you get a lot of alternatives just narrow it down by picking a local name nearby the place you are looking for.
You will normally get a choice of maps to scroll horizontally underneath the main one. These can range from the mid 19th to mid 20th century and provide a useful insight into the history of railway additions/closures in the area.
There are navigation arrows on the map boundaries, to move in various directions, and a zoom in/out feature. When you reach the exact area you require, there is an option to purchase that map.
I must add that I am in no way connected with the site - just a very satisfied customer.
Hi
I maybe able to get some infomation for you as my father lived at Pilmoor station, Otterington station & Flaxton station during the war as his father was Station Master. If i can be of any help you can email me jpr60@live.co.uk and I will speak to my father and try and get your answers for you.
