Roni
Member
Hi,
Our itinerary for this part:
The videos for this part:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rRTD0wKnTkM&fmt=18
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZoYHSAoRUU&fmt=18
After a hearty breakfast, personally cooked for us, we walked the short distance back to the station on a drizzly morning. This time, however, we took the Yorkshire Coastliner bus towards the coast, as we would have had to make a large detour by rail from York to our current destination. By double decker we hit the narrow, sometimes steep (steeper than in the Alps) and curvy roads of Yorkshire to get to the North Yorkshire Moors Railway Pickering - Grosmont (- Whitby):
http://www.nymr.co.uk
On the upper deck of course the movements of the bus are intensified, some action-filled moments can be watched in the video. Among others we passed a bridge where the road suddenly was narrowed to a single lane - somehow reminded my of a certain night drive by rental car in Cuba. During the second half of the 1 1/2 hour ride to Goathland we reached the North Yorkshire Moors national park and the surroundings became abruptly harsher, a feeling enhanced by dense fog and wind gusts. Next to other cars on the road we only encountered one or two stray sheep. After a round tour on incredibly narrow and hilly roads through the lovely village Goathland, often serving as film set with its historic station, we got off the bus.
Our North Yorkshire Coastliner Volvo double decker continues the tedious trip to Whitby at the North Sea coast
In a small place things have to be combined...
First, we paid the station a visit to get rid of our backpacks. What's only possible in Great Britain at the main stations and with heavy security procedures, is no problem for a museum railway. Finally we could walk without extra weight and felt like astronauts who had just landed on the moon.
As first spot we had chosen a view into the valley and so walked back uphill on the steep road on which we had arrived. Right at that moment the sun was working its way through the fog for the first time!
One of the roadside sheep
A panorama with the 10:50 to Pickering x2 and the great mood of lifting fog
The first train was pulled by 825 - SR Class S15 4-6-0, which was about to take us to Whitby later on
We returned to the station exit and were prepared for a short break.
We didn't get any, Black 5 45212 - LMS Class 5MT 4-6-0 (Armstrong Witworth & Co. Works No. 1253, built 1935) approached single engine and was coupled to the stabled freight cars!
Probably they checked the brakes of the cars. Meanwhile, they were joined by two track workers, one of which I have since gotten to know via YouTube (high visibility vests removed)
The planned meeting of two steamers at 11:50 was converted into a meeting of three, from the distance 63395 - NER Class Q6 0-8-0 (Darlington, built 1918) was arriving hauling the train to Grosmont.
The sun came out punctually
6619 - GWR Class 5600 0-6-2T (Swindon, built 1928), the sister loco of 6695 which we had seen on the South Devon Railway, entered the platform spectacularly on the grade from Grosmont
Still arriving
And the departure, as pan shot
Towards Pickering
Now there was space at the station platform for the Black 5
The fantastic ensemble of Goathland, which for example already had posed as "Hogsmeade". How much better can a steam cloud frame a picture?
At the station the engine crew had to wait until the previous train had reached Grosmont, then they continued with the token. In the meantime it had started to rain heavily
The Black 5 leaving Goathland
Let's assume, for the nostalgic story's sake, the Lord with his hunting dog was watching the loco depart
At 12:50 we wanted to leave ourselves, but since there were two trains meeting once again, we had one more arrival to catch. We were lucky, the train from Grosmont came first, and how! In the still pouring rain (we and the cameras were well protected by umbrella) the over 90-year-old 63395 had to work hard and slipped several times on the steep grade right up to the platform edge
The rain also provided a great, almost painting-like mood
It would be the only heavy rainfall we would have to endure on the whole trip - and even that only for a short time
Now, our train with 825 also arrived, and we could sit down in one of the comfortable British museum compartments. We had it to ourselves, but the railway was still well frequented.
Shortly before reaching Grosmont we passed this stabled diesel
From there we continued to Whitby on the Esk Valley Railway, still used by regular passenger trains and the only connection of the NYMR to the rail network. We followed the River Esk and saw plenty of lovely spots, the river is being crossed on this short leg about five times. For Whitby, however, I already had scouted a spectacular spot.
It was still raining at the terminal of the small town, which was quite overrun with tourists
OK, I know the loco doesn't belong to that region, but Southern and palm trees, that's fitting! ;D
The sun came out!
An ongoing station renovation provided for harsh contrasts and partly surreal scenes
The Blowtorchinator is fighting for Queen and Country! ;D
Out of the station we encountered, like so often, the Railway Station Hotel
Now we climbed in warm sunshine until we had reached our spot on a road bridge across the mouth of the River Esk. During the following waiting period the weather was sometimes darker, but it never rained and the sun came out from time to time.
Gorilla-tripod, improvised
An interesting sailing boat, improvised
Well, if that scene doesn't ask for a "historic" photo... the lighthouse is crooked, by the way. 825 with the 14:45 to Pickering
And voilà: the great view of Whitby (Danish: "White Town"), no wonder, as it lies there with its abbey like an entrée on a Viking menu, garnished by blooming broom
Into the other direction, towards Esk Valley, the view isn't bad either
Now we had plenty of time to test the famous Fisch&Chips of the town. We walked conveniently downhill to the harbour, passing a swing bridge
View towards the abbey
I told you, the lighthouse was crooked, maybe they could convert it into an attraction like in Pisa... on the other hand, the streets were full of tourists as it was!
We reached the recommended café, you even had to queue at 3 p.m. to get a table. But everything was well organized and went fast. We enjoyed our Haddock, fresh from the North Sea, together with nice chips and a local dark beer.
The masts, which we had seen from the distance, belonged to the "Grand Turk", a ten-year-old fully functional replica of a frigate dating from the 18th century. The same century James Cook departed from Whitby on the ship "Endeavour", built in Whitby, on his famous exploration trip to Oceania.
We had to move on ourselves as well, although our trip was just a puddle jump comparatively
A quite full Northern class 156 DMU took us on the slow ride to Middlesbrough along the scenic Esk Valley line, only still in service because of a public campaign.
We continued on a 2 1/2 hour ride to Manchester, from York on territory known from this trip, by TransPennine 185
After a short shopping tour in Manchester we took the first local train to Crewe, again Northern, and who is checking our tickets at the platform? Our "special friend"! However, he didn't recognize us. Which was OK for us, as the hour of sleep inside the Class 323 had to be used.
Again at a station for a short time, again spotted something nice. A rustic Freightliner class 86 takes a short break at Crewe
A Desiro to Liverpool
It started to rain, sadly also the wind blew, so some raindrops landed on our camera lenses even under the platform roof
A Virgin Pendolino lizard creeps out of the dark
Now it became too cold for us outside and we were thankful for the still open "Upper Crust Lounge", a service mainly for passengers of the ScotRail sleeper trains to Scotland. A few people were already waiting and sleeping inside, while a cleaning lady was spreading all the dirt on the floor with an old rug. 15 minutes before departure we had planned to get out on the platform, but at this very moment the train hauled by DB Schenker class 90 electric was already pulling into the station, that's why we have neither photo nor video of it. We asked a conductor, and of course our reclining chair coach to Inverness was the very last of the long train consisting of three parts (to Aberdeen, Fort William and Inverness). We found our reserved seats, together with some sleeping masks, so nothing stood in the way of eight hours undisturbed rest.
Our itinerary for this part:
Code:
NYMR = North Yorkshire Moors Railway
TP = First TransPennine
------------------------------
4/9/2009
York Rail Bus Station Stop C dep 8:18 Bus 840 -> Whitby
Goathland arr 10:16
Goathland dep 12:50 NYMR Southern S15 #825 -> Whitby
Whitby arr 13:35
Whitby dep 16:05 Northern 156 -> Middlesbrough
Middlesbrough arr 17:35
Middlesbrough dep 17:50 TP 185 -> Manchester Airport
Manchester Piccadilly arr 20:33
Manchester Piccadilly dep 21:04 Northern 323 -> Crewe
Crewe arr 22:01
Crewe dep 23:54 First ScotRail DBS 90/67 -> Inverness
-------------------------------The videos for this part:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rRTD0wKnTkM&fmt=18
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZoYHSAoRUU&fmt=18
After a hearty breakfast, personally cooked for us, we walked the short distance back to the station on a drizzly morning. This time, however, we took the Yorkshire Coastliner bus towards the coast, as we would have had to make a large detour by rail from York to our current destination. By double decker we hit the narrow, sometimes steep (steeper than in the Alps) and curvy roads of Yorkshire to get to the North Yorkshire Moors Railway Pickering - Grosmont (- Whitby):
http://www.nymr.co.uk
On the upper deck of course the movements of the bus are intensified, some action-filled moments can be watched in the video. Among others we passed a bridge where the road suddenly was narrowed to a single lane - somehow reminded my of a certain night drive by rental car in Cuba. During the second half of the 1 1/2 hour ride to Goathland we reached the North Yorkshire Moors national park and the surroundings became abruptly harsher, a feeling enhanced by dense fog and wind gusts. Next to other cars on the road we only encountered one or two stray sheep. After a round tour on incredibly narrow and hilly roads through the lovely village Goathland, often serving as film set with its historic station, we got off the bus.
Our North Yorkshire Coastliner Volvo double decker continues the tedious trip to Whitby at the North Sea coast
In a small place things have to be combined...
First, we paid the station a visit to get rid of our backpacks. What's only possible in Great Britain at the main stations and with heavy security procedures, is no problem for a museum railway. Finally we could walk without extra weight and felt like astronauts who had just landed on the moon.
As first spot we had chosen a view into the valley and so walked back uphill on the steep road on which we had arrived. Right at that moment the sun was working its way through the fog for the first time!
One of the roadside sheep
A panorama with the 10:50 to Pickering x2 and the great mood of lifting fog
The first train was pulled by 825 - SR Class S15 4-6-0, which was about to take us to Whitby later on
We returned to the station exit and were prepared for a short break.
We didn't get any, Black 5 45212 - LMS Class 5MT 4-6-0 (Armstrong Witworth & Co. Works No. 1253, built 1935) approached single engine and was coupled to the stabled freight cars!
Probably they checked the brakes of the cars. Meanwhile, they were joined by two track workers, one of which I have since gotten to know via YouTube (high visibility vests removed)
The planned meeting of two steamers at 11:50 was converted into a meeting of three, from the distance 63395 - NER Class Q6 0-8-0 (Darlington, built 1918) was arriving hauling the train to Grosmont.
The sun came out punctually
6619 - GWR Class 5600 0-6-2T (Swindon, built 1928), the sister loco of 6695 which we had seen on the South Devon Railway, entered the platform spectacularly on the grade from Grosmont
Still arriving
And the departure, as pan shot
Towards Pickering
Now there was space at the station platform for the Black 5
The fantastic ensemble of Goathland, which for example already had posed as "Hogsmeade". How much better can a steam cloud frame a picture?
At the station the engine crew had to wait until the previous train had reached Grosmont, then they continued with the token. In the meantime it had started to rain heavily
The Black 5 leaving Goathland
Let's assume, for the nostalgic story's sake, the Lord with his hunting dog was watching the loco depart
At 12:50 we wanted to leave ourselves, but since there were two trains meeting once again, we had one more arrival to catch. We were lucky, the train from Grosmont came first, and how! In the still pouring rain (we and the cameras were well protected by umbrella) the over 90-year-old 63395 had to work hard and slipped several times on the steep grade right up to the platform edge
The rain also provided a great, almost painting-like mood
It would be the only heavy rainfall we would have to endure on the whole trip - and even that only for a short time
Now, our train with 825 also arrived, and we could sit down in one of the comfortable British museum compartments. We had it to ourselves, but the railway was still well frequented.
Shortly before reaching Grosmont we passed this stabled diesel
From there we continued to Whitby on the Esk Valley Railway, still used by regular passenger trains and the only connection of the NYMR to the rail network. We followed the River Esk and saw plenty of lovely spots, the river is being crossed on this short leg about five times. For Whitby, however, I already had scouted a spectacular spot.
It was still raining at the terminal of the small town, which was quite overrun with tourists
OK, I know the loco doesn't belong to that region, but Southern and palm trees, that's fitting! ;D
The sun came out!
An ongoing station renovation provided for harsh contrasts and partly surreal scenes
The Blowtorchinator is fighting for Queen and Country! ;D
Out of the station we encountered, like so often, the Railway Station Hotel
Now we climbed in warm sunshine until we had reached our spot on a road bridge across the mouth of the River Esk. During the following waiting period the weather was sometimes darker, but it never rained and the sun came out from time to time.
Gorilla-tripod, improvised
An interesting sailing boat, improvised
Well, if that scene doesn't ask for a "historic" photo... the lighthouse is crooked, by the way. 825 with the 14:45 to Pickering
And voilà: the great view of Whitby (Danish: "White Town"), no wonder, as it lies there with its abbey like an entrée on a Viking menu, garnished by blooming broom
Into the other direction, towards Esk Valley, the view isn't bad either
Now we had plenty of time to test the famous Fisch&Chips of the town. We walked conveniently downhill to the harbour, passing a swing bridge
View towards the abbey
I told you, the lighthouse was crooked, maybe they could convert it into an attraction like in Pisa... on the other hand, the streets were full of tourists as it was!
We reached the recommended café, you even had to queue at 3 p.m. to get a table. But everything was well organized and went fast. We enjoyed our Haddock, fresh from the North Sea, together with nice chips and a local dark beer.
The masts, which we had seen from the distance, belonged to the "Grand Turk", a ten-year-old fully functional replica of a frigate dating from the 18th century. The same century James Cook departed from Whitby on the ship "Endeavour", built in Whitby, on his famous exploration trip to Oceania.
We had to move on ourselves as well, although our trip was just a puddle jump comparatively
A quite full Northern class 156 DMU took us on the slow ride to Middlesbrough along the scenic Esk Valley line, only still in service because of a public campaign.
We continued on a 2 1/2 hour ride to Manchester, from York on territory known from this trip, by TransPennine 185
After a short shopping tour in Manchester we took the first local train to Crewe, again Northern, and who is checking our tickets at the platform? Our "special friend"! However, he didn't recognize us. Which was OK for us, as the hour of sleep inside the Class 323 had to be used.
Again at a station for a short time, again spotted something nice. A rustic Freightliner class 86 takes a short break at Crewe
A Desiro to Liverpool
It started to rain, sadly also the wind blew, so some raindrops landed on our camera lenses even under the platform roof
A Virgin Pendolino lizard creeps out of the dark
Now it became too cold for us outside and we were thankful for the still open "Upper Crust Lounge", a service mainly for passengers of the ScotRail sleeper trains to Scotland. A few people were already waiting and sleeping inside, while a cleaning lady was spreading all the dirt on the floor with an old rug. 15 minutes before departure we had planned to get out on the platform, but at this very moment the train hauled by DB Schenker class 90 electric was already pulling into the station, that's why we have neither photo nor video of it. We asked a conductor, and of course our reclining chair coach to Inverness was the very last of the long train consisting of three parts (to Aberdeen, Fort William and Inverness). We found our reserved seats, together with some sleeping masks, so nothing stood in the way of eight hours undisturbed rest.
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