Just in case there are any steam enthusiasts out there I thought I'd show you a little more of the North York Moors Railway. As you can see many of the trips between Pickering and Grosmont are hauled with the locomotive travelling in reverse.
This is one of several old advertising hoardings on Pickering Station. The numbers are the prices before decimalisation in the UK so this dates before 1970. 6D is 2.5 pence (sorry can't convert that to dollars but it's about 5cents I think).
If you want to get off here at Goathland Station you need to be in one of the first four carriages as the platform is short. The photograph above is looking back down the track in the direction of Pickering. There is something fascinating about railway water towers (the red topped building in the photograph). I think maybe it's the patterns on the water tank and the different textures of the metal and the brick. Maybe even it's the solid square shape.
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The village of Goathland is where the TV show "Heartbeat" is filmed. It is also, of course, the famous "Hogsmeade station" in the Harry Potter movies where the pupils arrive aboard the Hogwarts Express.
The village of Goathland is where the TV show "Heartbeat" is filmed. It is also, of course, the famous "Hogsmeade station" in the Harry Potter movies where the pupils arrive aboard the Hogwarts Express.
I rather like this photograph which was taken from the train with the shadow of the train and smoke in view.
As you can see we were lucky with a lovely sunny day. (more carriage shadows in the foreground).
This is the end of the line, Grosmont Station where you can tour the engine sheds and view the Sir Nigel Gresley engine. Grosmont is a small village but is busy when the trains are running and has a good pub with home cooked food and also the Jazz Cafe and Gallery. If you're into walking there are lots of walks from this village onto the Moors.
Just a flavour of the colours along the lineside and a lovely drystone wall.
On our particular return journey to Pickering, we were treated to some excitement when our train pulled up and the crew tackled a trackside blaze. One of the perils of running steam trains is the sparks which can set light to dry vegetation. This fire took 4 men about 20 minutes to quell with buckets of water and beaters. The passengers all heroically stayed put on the train and watched and took pictures! (I don't think they'd have let us get off anyway). All I could think of was "Who's looking after the engine? I hope it's got good brakes!" Not helped by our friend saying "Wouldn't it be a laugh if the train started rolling back while they're fighting the fire?!" Haha! Very funny!!! :))