18. Thornhill -23.10-30.10.81

THE ARCHIVE FILES > Archive-1981 > 18. Thornhill -23.10-30.10.81

As we had done for the past few years my family spent the October half-term week at a remote farmhouse on the North Yorkshire Moors near Whitby. Apart from enjoying the area and everything that it had to offer I got down to Whitby station on two occasions, once with colour Kodachrome in the camera and on the second occasion with Ilford FP4. In similar autumn weather the comparisons between the two film types are interesting.

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Images 1-7 of 7 displayed.

Whitby signal box (NER 1876)
The attractive and unusually tall Whitby signal box is seen in the dying afternoon light. The North Eastern Railway stone-built box was opened in 1876 closing a couple of years after this photograph was taken with the Esk Valley line becoming a long token block from Battersby meaning the abolition of all signalling infrastructure between the two. Whitby box was built unusually tall to give the signaller a clear line of sight over the top of the adjacent engine shed.
Keywords: Whitby signal box North Eastern Railway

Whitby station & signal box (NER, 1876)
Before British Rail's dramatic and comprehensive massacre of the signalling and trackwork around Whitby the scene was far more interesting! With this view dominated by Whitby's NER 1876 signal box and its conjoined good shed there were many semaphores and a lot of trackwork with three platforms rail connected. However, in truth by this time at the end of 1981 only platform two was in use witnessed by the rusty railheads nearest to the camera on platform one. Had I known of the impending decimation, I would have taken a few more images during this visit.
Keywords: Whitby station & signal box NER North Eastern Railway

NER tiled map, Whitby station
The NER tiled map at Whitby looks superb in its original location on platform two. Today it is still extant, one of twelve maps left in existence and just one of nine in their original locations. I have images of a number of them, most recently one undergoing restoration at Bridlington station, see....https://www.ontheupfast.com/p/21936chg/30044658350/andy-ner-restored-tiled-map-bridlington
Keywords: NER tiled map Whitby station

DMU, unidentified up working, Larpool viaduct
With the shadow of the impressive Larpool viaduct below the River Esk is seen not far from where it enters the sea through Whitby Harbour. A pair of first-generation DMUs get underway heading towards Grosmont, Battersby and then Middlesborough. The leading DMU is a three-car Class 101 but I am not sure what class the trailing set is. The former rail-connected derelict industrial site to the right is Whitby's former gasworks. Interestingly, from 1960 it was converted to use natural gas that was piped in from an extremely small offshore site. It provided Whitby's gas for some years before closure came in the early 1970s. With no road access, the site remains derelict and very overgrown after becoming the home to the excentric environmentalist campaigner Fif Robinson who died in 2006.
Keywords: DMU unidentified up working Larpool viaduct First generation Class 101 DMU

Class 101 DMU, unidentified working, Whitby station
A Class 101 DMU waits, hopefully, for passengers at Whitby station's platform two, the only one in use at this time. The DMU has crudely had its headcode panel plated over, a situation that would be rectified properly when this class were refurbished in the mid-1980s. Notice that the low platform requires the use of some wooden steps for some passengers. Today, this platform is now extended thus avoiding problems with its sharp curvature and is used for excursions and the regular workings from the North Yorkshire Moors Railway. Notice the spire of St. Hilda's Catholic church dominating the skyline.
Keywords: Class 101 DMU unidentified working Whitby station First generation DMU

Signalling, Whitby station
The scene looking southeast from the platform end of Whitby station prior to the abolition of the mechanical signalling and the comprehensive rationalisation of the trackwork. The starter signal directly in front of the camera is a wooden post that is probably of North Eastern heritage the same as the 1876 signal box. Notice what is locally referred to as Whitby's new road bridge in the background spanning the Esk Valley that was opened a year or so earlier on 21.03.80. Looking into the afternoon autumn light and using Ilford FP4 monochrome film helps create an interesting atmosphere and one that I struggle to replicate on today's far too clever digital equipment!
Keywords: Signalling Whitby station

Class 101 DMU, unidentified working, Whitby station
To take this photograph I was standing on platform two which was to close within a couple of years when a huge rationalisation of the trackwork in and around Whitby was to take place. All traffic was to be moved to platform one with platform two truncated at the end of the building. However, in better times the platform was reinstated, lengthened and straightened out to become the charter platform seeing daily summer services extended from the North Yorkshire Moors Grosmont station. In this 1981 scene, the three-car Class 101 DMU will depart heading along the delightful and winding Esk Valley route to Middlesborough and possibly then on to Darlington.
Keywords: Class 101 DMU unidentified working Whitby station First generation DMU

Images 1-7 of 7 displayed.