Goathland (Incline Top) railway station
| Goathland | |
|---|---|
| Location | |
| Place | Goathland |
| Area | Scarborough |
| Coordinates | 54°24′10″N 0°43′11″W / 54.402789°N 0.719715°WCoordinates: 54°24′10″N 0°43′11″W / 54.402789°N 0.719715°W |
| Grid reference | NZ831015 |
| Operations | |
| Original company | Whitby and Pickering Railway |
| History | |
| 26 May 1836 | Opened |
| 1 July 1865 | Closed |
| Disused railway stations in the United Kingdom | |
| Closed railway stations in Britain A B C D–F G H–J K–L M–O P–R S T–V W–Z |
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Goathland (Incline Top) railway station was a short lived, early, railway station in Goathland, North Yorkshire, England. The actual station was known simply as Goathland but this article is so named to distinguish it from the later Goathland railway station. The station at the top of the Beckhole Incline (sometimes referred to as the Goathland incline) was opened with the opening throughout of the Whitby and Pickering Railway on Thursday 26 May 1836. The station closed with the opening of the NER's Deviation line (which bypassed the by then anachronistic cable worked incline) on 1 July 1865. Thus the station had a life of less than thirty years. A new Goathland station (initially called Goathland Mill to distinguish it from the earlier station) was opened on the deviation line.
Little is known about what facilities the horse-worked W&P provided at Goathland, they did build an 'overseers cottage' at the head of the incline, that cottage survives, now known as 'Ash Tree Cottage', it is probably the only surviving inhabited W&P structure.
The incline built to the design of the W&P's Engineer George Stephenson was self-acting with the descending traffic hauling up the ascending traffic. The descending coach or wagons was given additional weight by means of a wheeled water butt, which was filled before descending, then drained at the bottom and returned to the top with the next ascending load. The machinery for working the inclined plane was obtained from Robert Stephenson at a cost of £135 14s 6d. The original rope for the incline manufactured by Mr. Henry Simpson was 1,500 yards long and 5.5 inches in circumference.
The W&P built a stable 'at the top of Goathland Inclined Plane', the directors accepting a tender from a Mr. Langdale of £230.
At a first glance the unattuned observer would hardly realise that there had been a railway, never mind a station on the site of Goathland's first station. However the presence of a 'Historic Rail Trail' following the original alignment gives away the one-time presence of a railway. In the adjacent image the worn track on the grass roughly follows the track alignment. In the distance can be seen the Y&NM terrace (with three distinctive chimney stacks), one (modern) house beyond that stands 'Ash Tree Cottage', the W&P's cottage at the head of the incline. The incline itself starts just out of sight, about where the path disappears.
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Wikipedia