Grosmont Railway Station - History

History

See also: Grosmont, North Yorkshire and Whitby and Pickering Railway

In 1836 a railway was brought to Grosmont by the Whitby and Pickering Railway and its engineer George Stephenson. It was a horse-worked line and opened from Whitby as far as Grosmont (then known as 'Tunnel' from the tunnel required to pass from Grosmont towards Beckhole) in 1835.

Iron ore extraction resulted in the whole area under Grosmont station being mined, on the 'pillar and stall' method; the railway company (the NER) simply bought the ironstone under the station house and the river bridge and made preparations to deal with subsidence elsewhere.

In 1845 the railway was sold to George Hudson's York and North Midland Railway (Y&NMR); additional parliamentary powers were obtained (by the W&P) to make various improvements to its alignment and to permit the introduction of steam power and the line was converted from single into a fully double track steam powered railway. The first steam engine entered Whitby in July 1847. At Grosmont a new wider tunnel and bridge were constructed, probably to designs of John Cass Birkinshaw, and a G.T.Andrews designed railway station was built, creating Grosmont's first true station.

In 1854 the Y&NMR was one of the three railway companies that came together to form the North Eastern Railway (NER). In 1865 a deviation line on the route to Pickering opened, to avoid the cable-worked incline at Beckhole; a new connection was made from Castleton to Grosmont (now part of the Esk Valley Line), making Grosmont into a junction.

The NER built a short terrace of cottages just south of the tunnel; these were demolished by the NYMR to allow extensions to its running shed and workshops.

The Whitby to Pickering line closed in 1965, and was re-opened as the heritage North Yorkshire Moors Railway in 1973. As of 2012 the line between Whitby and Middlesbrough via Castleton and Battersby is operated as the Esk Valley Line under the control of Network Rail.

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