Sandsend railway station

Sandsend railway station was a railway station on the Whitby, Redcar and Middlesbrough Union Railway. It was opened on 3 December 1883, and served the villages of Sandsend and Lythe. It closed on 5 May 1958.^[1] The station building is now a private residence.^[2] It was the only station between Whitby and Loftus not to possess a passing loop.

Sandsend
The former station in 1981
General information
Location	Sandsend, Scarborough England
Coordinates	54.504200°N 0.674000°W / 54.504200; -0.674000
Grid reference	NZ859129
Platforms	1
Other information
Status	Disused
History
Original company	WR&MUR
Pre-grouping	North Eastern Railway
Key dates
December 1883	Opened
May 1958	Closed
Location

History

Sandsend railway station was located on the Whitby, Middlesbrough and Redcar Union Railway, some 4 miles 2 chains (6.5 km) north west of Whitby West Cliff and 12 miles 64 chains (20.6 km) south east of Loftus.^[3] It had a single platform, a brick station building which included the stationmaster's house, and a single siding serving coal drops (now converted into garages) behind the station.^[4] Camping coaches were stationed on the siding in later years.^[5][6]

A passing loop was never added because of the extensive works it would have required. This made Sandsend, the only one of the seven stations between, and including Whitby and Loftus, which did not have a passing loop.^[4][7] A small goods yard with a warehouse and a 2-tonne (2.2-ton) crane was situated 0.5 miles (0.8 km) from the station at East Row, towards Whitby.^[2][8] This yard also had space for camping coaches, with three being normally located there.^[9]

Sandsend Viaduct was sited immediately south of the station. A pillbox which was built in the Second World War to defend the viaduct is still in place.^[2]

In October 2020 the Mulgrave Estate, owners of the land that the station covered, successfully applied to site railway coaches on the platform as holiday accommodation. The two railway vehicles will sit on the platform on a short section of track. One is a former passenger-carrying coach whilst the second is a converted freight wagon.^[10][11]

Services

Originally, the services on the line were worked only as far as Whitby West Cliff, until the opening of the line southwards through Robin Hood's Bay to Scarborough. Between 1910 and 1922, services in the summer consisted of six daily trains each way. This had risen by 1938 to 14 each way, though in winter, the number of services could be as low as three.^[12]

In popular culture

In the 1947 British comedy drama Holiday Camp, the opening shots of a train arriving at a seaside cliff-top station and passengers boarding buses outside the station were filmed at Sandsend.^[13][14]

References

1. Quick, Michael (2022) [2001]. Railway passenger stations in Great Britain: a chronology (PDF). version 5.04. Railway & Canal Historical Society. p. 401. Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 November 2022.
2. Ken Mell. "Sandsend Railway Station". Disused Stations. Retrieved 11 June 2017.
3. Hoole 1983, p. 57.
4. Chapman, Stephen (2007). Cleveland & Whitby. Todmorden: Bellcode Books. p. 88. ISBN 9781871233186.
5. McRae, Andrew (1997). British Railway Camping Coach Holidays: The 1930s & British Railways (London Midland Region). Vol. Scenes from the Past: 30 (Part One). Foxline. p. 10. ISBN 1-870119-48-7.
6. McRae, Andrew (1998). British Railways Camping Coach Holidays: A Tour of Britain in the 1950s and 1960s. Vol. Scenes from the Past: 30 (Part Two). Foxline. pp. 38–43. ISBN 1-870119-53-3.
7. Bairstow 2008, p. 32.
8. Hoole, K. (1985). Railway stations of the North East. Newton Abbot: David & Charles. p. 186. ISBN 0-7153-8527-5.
9. Bairstow 2008, p. 4.
10. Gavaghan, Carl (9 October 2020). "Tourists to sleep in old railway carriages". Darlington & Stockton Times. No. 41–2020. p. 64. ISSN 2516-5348.
11. Craft, Jackie (28 April 2023). "Yorkshire estate recognised for restoration of station". Darlington & Stockton Times. No. 17–2023. p. 63. ISSN 2516-5348.
12. Bairstow 2008, pp. 81–82.
13. "Holiday Camp". REELSTREETS. Retrieved 29 November 2018.
14. Horton, Glyn (2009). Horton's Guide to Britain's Railways in Feature Films. Kettering: Silver Link Pub. pp. 89–90. ISBN 9781857943344.

Sources

• Bairstow, Martin (2008). Railways Around Whitby, Volume 1. Farsley: Bairstow. ISBN 978-1-871944-34-1.
• Hoole, Ken (1983). Railways of the North York Moors. Clapham: Dalesman. ISBN 0-85206-731-3.

Further reading

• Butt, R.V.J. (1995). The Directory Of Railway Stations. Patrick Stephens Limited. ISBN 1-85260-508-1.
• Williams, Michael Aufrère (2010). 'A more spectacular example of a loss-making branch would be hard to find.' A financial history of the Whitby-Loftus line 1871-1958 (M.A. thesis). University of York.

External links

• Sandsend station on navigable 1955 O. S. map

Preceding station		Disused railways		Following station
Kettleness Line and station closed		North Eastern Railway WR&MU		Whitby West Cliff Line and station closed