Heartbeat, Scripps and the W&PR

[Colombo]

A little bit of trivia to help welcome in the new year.

When the Whitby and Pickering Railway was first opened in 1836 as a horse drawn railway it followed a slightly different route through Goathland than that which we see today when we travel on the NYMR. This is because the NER had to build a diversionary route to avoid the 1500 yard long rope worked 1 in 15 incline between Beckhole and Goathland.
See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whitby_and ... ng_Railway

We know that the old track was left in place for some years after, at least at the northern end because the NER used to run picnic excursions to Beckhole at the foot of the incline using a BTP tank and a Push and Pull Carriage. Also I recall that the 1 in 15 incline was used to test a rack and pinion steam locomotive possibly working on the Fell system.

The route of the old railway can be seen quite clearly on Flash Earth at:
http://www.flashearth.com/?lat=54.40029 ... =0&src=ggl
If you double click on the central panel you will be able to move the map up and down and the route of the old railway can be seen intitially in a field and then as a farm track to the north west and as a tree lined embankment to the south. It is interesting to follow the route of the old railway to the points where the new formation left the old route.

A careful examination of the point where the old railway crossed the main road through Goathland on the level, which road I believe is known as The Common, will reveal a pair of buildings to the north of the road with a row of parked cars, including two red ones. Please note that I am not refering to the public car park which is adjacent to Beckhole Road. The two buildings are a little to the east of that car park. One of these is now a garage.

One can assume that the horses were taken off the "train" at the top of the incline, did not descend with the train, and that there would have been some sort of stabling for them. Also there would have been a rudimentary station, perhaps with a shelter and the usual offices. What more natural position for the station and the stables than there by the main road and the level crossing. Later on with the closure of the railway, that same long thin parcel of railway land probably was occupied by an ostler who may also have used the old railway stables and, with the introduction of the motorcar the site would have made the transition to be a garage and service station.

Now television addicts will know that Goathland is used to depict Adensfield in the long running ITV series "Heartbeat". One of the characters is Bernie Scripps, a loveable garage proprietor, undertaker and taxi operator. The whole point of this little story is that Bernie Scripps' Garage appears to built on the site of the first Whitby and Pickering Railway station at Goathland and regularly takes pride of place on our teles and few if any of us realised what we were looking at.
http://outdoors.webshots.com/photo/1152 ... 1791agGPBf

May I wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Colombo

[Ben]

Hi, as I understand it, the horses were carried in waggons on the train as it decended or acended the incline rather than stabling at Goathland, there were however stables at Grosmont.

P.s. you mention Grosmont several times whern you actually mean Goathland!

[Colombo]

Ben,

Thanks, I have edited out the mistakes.

Do you know how the incline was worked, was it by gravity/water balance or a winding engine?
Did they lay double track on the incline, or was it just single track with a passing loop?
Can you confirm the point about the incline being used for testing a rack and pinion locomotive?

I can believe that horses would have been carried up and down the incline in waggons, just as they once were when descending the Festiniog Railway, but I would have thought that running two coaches a day and exchanging the horses and drivers at Goathland would have been a better way of working the line, not forgetting that they also carried some goods presumably on separate trains.

Colombo

[Bullhead]

Do you know how the incline was worked, was it by gravity/water balance or a winding engine?

I'm pretty sure I read somewhere (possibly on the informative plaque on the remains of the incline itself) that it was a self-balancing arrangement using water tanks.

Can you confirm the point about the incline being used for testing a rack and pinion locomotive?

From The Times of 9th July 1872:
"Mountain Railways - The Fell centre-rail engine, intended for Brazil, to work inclines of 1 in 12 on the Cantogallo Railway, after being tested for several weeks on the old Whitby incline in Goathland, has been reloaded on the North-Eastern 30-ton truck, and removed in charge of Mr.Laws, North-Eastern superinterndent at Whitby, and of the makers, Messrs. Manning, Wardle and Co., Leeds. The experiments have been a wonderful success, the engine, with load attached, having worked curves of 1 in 10 gradient."

I'm still working on the crossword.

[Ben]

I can understand the logic behind the stables at Goathland however it has been established that there was stables at Grosmont station, therefore stables at Goathland aswell would be less likley, but not an impossibility.

As Bullhead has said, the incline was worked using a water tank system, I am however unsure as to wheather the incline was double track or not.

For those that dont know, the incline was closed due to the increasing traffic, and saftey concerns after several accidents on the incline, one of the more famous of which is of a Fish Train that ran out of control after the rope snapped, reports say it left a lingering aroma in the valley for several days!

[wehf100]

Interesting, but not knowing the line that well I don't quite understand. Are you saying that line was the original and the present line replaced it? If so, when was that? Are you also saying that what is now the garage was the original station, or buildings associated with the railway?

I love flashearth- its a great way to waste an afternoon. In one of my more dull moments I actuallly traced the line of the GC London extension all the way from Annesley to Marylebone. Great fun!, espeically working out how it crossed Nottingham and Leicester.

[Bullhead]

Are you saying that line was the original and the present line replaced it?

Yes - the "new" line runs from Deviation (hence the name) adjacent to the current locomotive sheds at Grosmont, and rejoins the original route to the south of Goathland. The trackbed of the original route is quite a pleasant walk from Goathland back down to Grosmont.

[Colombo]

Quote:
"If so, when was that? Are you also saying that what is now the garage was the original station, or buildings associated with the railway?"
The Wikipedia reference gives the history of the line.
The garage seems to be built on the likely site of a station or railway buildings at the point where the old railway crossed the road. I am not sure exactly what a country station on a horse drawn railway would have looked like in the 1830s and 40s.

I am glad that you appreciated the link to flashearth.
Colombo

[f4kphantom]

It makes sense now, I always thought that Deviation Junction was a pun for a bit of a laugh

[wehf100]

yeah, thanks for that Colombo. I only asked because I too don't really know what a rural 1830's station would have looked like, so it would have been exciting if that garage was it. Looking at the photos of it, it can't be though- looks later C19th farm outbuilding to me, maybe even early 20th.


interesting stuff! I find it very interesting that the trackbed is still quite marked. A lot of these very early wagon/tramways are completely ploughed out now with only the odd boundry line at a wierd angle to suggest anything ever broke the peace of the countryside.

Will

[Colombo]

Apparently this building near the top of the incline was the old booking office.

http://www.mylearning.org/image-zoom.as ... 61&picid=3

Quoting My Learning:
Route of the old railway
The route of the old railway cuts right through the village. It can be seen (as a muddy track only) coming out opposite Scripps Garage, where it crossed over and continued past the garage building. The house on the other side of the old track (just past the garage) is thought to be either the crossing keeper's house or the waiting room.

The course of the old railway is next to be seen a bit further round, past the car park and toilets. There is a wooden sign saying 'Footpath Grosmont Rail Trail' and the path sets off down the slope. A bit further on the slope becomes much steeper. This was where the incline once was. The coaches were originally hauled up by attaching them to ropes with huge containers of water on, which weighed more than the carriages. The water containers sank down the slope with their weight, thus pulling the carriages up. Eventually this method was replaced by a steam hauled system using wire instead of rope.

In February 1864, the last passenger coach of the day careered down the incline out of control all the way to Beck Hole! Two passengers were killed and thirteen were injured. A year later the new deviation line and Goathland Mill Station was opened.

Some of the houses at the top of the incline were once railway buildings.


Its good to know that they teach kids something useful these days.

[Bryan]

It is an excellent walk from Goathland to Grosmont down the incline and following the old route all the way to Deviation, taking a short diversion into Beckhole to have a pint at the pub, then return to the path to Grosmont (finishing up walking through the original Tunnel if you visit the shed). and ride the train back to Goathland (less effort required walking downhill).

The level route from the incline foot actually remained in use upto WW1 in 1914 using a loco and autocoach to a halt at Beckhole. Possibly also surviving due to the numerous private sidings that were along the branch.
Especially the ones serving the Iron ore industry even after the Beck Hole iron furnaces had shut down.
The 1860 - 61 land plan for the construction of the deviation only shows the original line as single throughout. But also does not show sidings etc.
The probability is that the incline was of 3 rail construction with a 4th rail added at a midpoint passing loop.
There are 6 buildings shown on the plan with the words stationary engine printed between the 4th and 5th just into the curve from the incline top.
The 6th building is at the road crossing to the NW corner of the crossing. No other buildings shown.