Cattal is a stop on the Harrogate Line in North Yorkshire between Knaresborough and Hammerton.
Information
Type:
National Rail
(Harrogate Line)
Station code:
CTL
Opened:
1848
Platforms:
2
The station was opened in 1848 by the East & West Yorkshire Junction Railway, later becoming part of the North Eastern Railway. The station is at the Western end of a stretch of double track from Hammerton. The line being single track until Knaresborough.
A level crossing next to the station still has manually operated gates though apart from the crossing keeper the station is now unstaffed and the station buildings are privately owned. The station is managed by Northern, who also operate all services which stop at the station.
Picton was a stop on the Northallerton to Eaglescliffe line in North Yorkshire between Yarm and West Rounton Gates.
A train passes Picton signalbox in 1954 (KD collection)
Information
Type:
National Rail
(Northallerton to Eaglescliffe Line)
Opened:
1852
Closed:
1960
Platforms:
2
The station was opened by the Leeds Northern Railway in 1852. The station was the junction of what became the Picton-Battersby Line which opened in stages from 1857 (the next station on the line from Picton was Trenholme Bar).
The line to Battersby closed in 1954 after a long decline. Picton station remained open for a few more years for services on the Northallerton to Eaglescliffe Line. The station was closed to passengers in 1960, the goods yard remained open until 1964. The only remnant of Picton that now survives is the former stationmaster's house and some traces of a platform. The former goods yard is now used by a stone merchant.
The station was to the North of a level crossing which was controlled by Picton signalbox. The signalbox remained operational until 1997 when the line was resignaled.
York is about half way between London Kings Cross and Edinburgh on the East Coast Main Line and is a major junction and railway hub in the North East. It is also next to the National Railway Museum (see below).
Information
Type:
National Rail
(East Coast Main Line)
Station code:
YRK
Opened:
1877
Platforms:
11
York's first railway station opened in 1839 on a different site, followed by another station inside the city walls in 1841. The current York station opened in 1877 just outside the city walls as a through station and was the largest station in the world when it was built.
Most platforms are covered by a long curving roof. The station was extensively damaged in the Second World War by bombing but was repaired in 1947 and is now Grade II* listed.
York once had fifteen platforms though some have been removed due to remodelling, a major example taking place in 1988 as part of the East Coast Main Line's electrification. The station was renovated in 2009. York is currently managed by London Northeastern Railway (LNER) and is also served by Cross Country, East Midlands Trains, Northern, Hull Trains, Trans Pennine Express and Grand Central.
Virgin Trains East Coast 43 305 pauses with a ECML express
A Northern Pacer in one of the bay platforms
TPE 185 123 under the curved roof
Northern 142 023 in one the bays, a former platform is to the right
A Class 800 Azuma, the future of traction at York
National Railway Museum
The National Railway Museum is home to much of the National Collection of rolling stock and other preserved items. The museum was opened on the site of a former roundhouse next to the ECML (and York station) in 1975. Exhibits include Mallard, Flying Scotsman and the first Modernisation Plan diesel locomotive D8000 (below).
Harrogate, on the Harrogate Line between Leeds and York, was opened by the North Eastern Railway in 1862. However it isn't the town's first station, Brunswick was opened by the York & North Midland Railway in 1848 though was less central than the new Harrogate station. Brunswick was closed when Harrogate opened.
The current station buildings date from a complete rebuild in the mid-1960s with the footbridge and the station frontage being replaced in the 2000s. Although Harrogate has a platform 1 and 3. Platform 2, a bay platform, is no longer used.
Northern 142 021 stands at Harrogate on a service from York
Footbridge with another bridge part of an adjoining complex now above it
