North Yorkshire Moors Railway General Discussion

Thanks, that may work for me, but less so for my wife, and since our October trip is our honeymoon, we must ensure that we both have fun. The good news is, the NYMR/Whitby Trip as part of our vacation has won approval as part of the trip, in no small part thanks to Goathland being Hogsmede Station in the Potter movies.

Will likely be at the NYMR October 21 or 22nd. I'm sure i will be checking in before then for any updates or other thoughts on our day.

Thanks again for the many helpful responses.

Stephen

 

Make sure you visit the Atkins Shed (alonside the car park at Pickering) to see the LNER coaches under restoration. If the shed is open it is quite likely that you'llbe given a guided tour.

 

My latest NYMR visit.

75029 has made something of a miraculous recovery and is in full action along the whole line, including Whitby. It now faces Pickering, so I think 29 is now the only loco facing towards Grosmont. 63395 has not been quite right since its return and only lasts a day or two before being removed from duty.

The Green TT was more enjoyable than my Gold visit. Some trains are still well loaded, but the crush conditions of August have gone. In theory, the railway is better able to resource Green too. Loco reliability remains a challenge though and this week has, in addition to 63395, 44806 and 45428 under repair so 37264 is offering an early diesel gala! If staying in Grosmont the Green TT is a challenge if the 37 is out, as you cannot get south to feed into 0930 Pickering, then 1100 might be diesel, so it is the 1200 Pickering that is the first train you can get going north (which is the same set as the first train south ex Grosmont). Time keeping remains erratic so do not rely on tight public transport connections onward.

Other events catch you out. Last Thu 45428 was at Goathland all day to star (?) in a film that as being shot (feature film, not railway), so D7628 had to cover one Whitby duty!

I was able to enjoy the full steam atmosphere of the NYMR on a couple of days though. Such as the three engine meets: the crossing of the Whitby trains in Grosmont and one may change engines. Last Weds at Grosmont around 1300 for 45 minutes saw 75029 to Whitby, 45428 arrive ex Whitby and the Black 5 was then used to shunt the saloon (private party) off the diner to the train, then off to shed, allowing 60007 to couple up and the train departed to Pickering. The changes can often be B1 to A4 (or other way round). These three engine events are now regular so long as the 37 isn't out.

Then 61264 on the 8 coach diner late on Saturday night on the 1 in 49, beer in hand, the moon glowing through the mist of Newtondale .... joy!

For 2014 this is remarkable steam action.

One other snippet. I did some walking on this visit and I was surprised to see that the footbridge over the Murk Esk, on the bridleway from Green End, that has been missing for some years is being rebuilt. This crosses the line not too far south of Grosmont shed. I need to think on, but this should offer easier access walking to the bottom of the bank via the Rail Trail. Also walked Grosmont - Whitby for the first time and there are some high views of the railway that I don't think I've seen posted on Internet. Sea mist was a problem on my visit for photters though.

David

 

The Green T/T is meant to be all steam, except for the last train to Pickering on Saturday and first train from Pickering on Monday. Grosmont is, as ever, a hive of activity and, as you say, there is lots to see early afternoon when the train from Pickering arrives at 14.08 and is re-engined before the train from Whitby arrives at 14.25. Diagrams are for four steam locos each day, sometimes five when locos are swapped, so every day is a gala day! For example, last Friday saw 29, 45428, 60007, 63395 & 75029 out on trains.
75029 is running to Whitby but is generally being kept on the G2 diagram, which only does two trips Grosmont - Whitby and return, spending the rest of the day as standby/pilot, to eke out its tyre life to the end of the season (or till 76079 is back in traffic).
63395 has suffered a broken spring hanger plus a few snagging jobs. It has also needed an early washout; inevitable when a boiler has been 'in works', due to all the oil and contaminants that get inside.

 

But the NYMR moves in mysterious ways! NYMR people I chatted to underlined the above and we were all surprised that 75029 was often on the other, high mileage, diagram rather than, say 61264. Perhaps just an oddity of my week at Grosmont?

 

Only mysterious for those looking in from the outside! There's a reason for everything, often not obvious to people, me included, at times. The B1 has been on washout and having a few jobs done.

 

I had my first visit for 5 years on Friday and enjoyed it the Whitby battersby service was great and at a much better price. The only probley was a late running northern rail service.
The new roof at pickering looks great first time I had seen that but realy enjoyed it and will go back sooner

 

What is the situation re 3814?
Photos now 7 years old show the bottom end of the loco near complete but it seems to have disappeared below the radar recently.

 

I think sat in the headshunt at grosmont when I was there no boiler in the frames the cab looked to have been painted

 

Stagnant, I'm afraid.

 

Yes the NYMR is one of my favourite trips out and you can often find my pictures from there on my blog at
http://steammemories.blogspot.co.uk/2014/09/north-yorks-moors-railway.html

 

I photographed a B1 at Pickering earlier this years and was told it was posing as 'Chiru' Pictures here
http://steammemories.blogspot.co.uk/2014/09/lner-chiru-departs-pickering-for.html
http://steammemories.blogspot.co.uk/2014/08/thompson-b1-chiru.html

 

Visited the NYMR on Sunday which just happened to be a diesel gala day. It remains one of the best heritage railways but a couple of quibbles. The first service from Whitby was not until 11.36 (I think), which appears to be an hour or so later than the normal timetable service, and coupled with a fairly early-ish last return to Whitby (4-ish) meant doing it from the Whitby end (where we happened to be staying) gave limited time to stop off en route - so we drove to Grosmont (which means a slightly cheaper Rover). It was also rather counter-intuitive that you have to pay more for a day when no steam is running.

 

Still four locos in steam daily most days until the end of October - how many other lines can say the same?

First rain from Whitby is normally 10.00 on the green timetable, which is the normal one at the moment.

 

The NYMR service from/to Whitby is constrained by the Northern timetable. The Northern Sunday service is different from the weekday service and doesn't allow an earlier NYMR departure (unless it has one at 09.15)

 

[QUOTE="

First rain from Whitby is normally 10.00 on the green timetable, which is the normal one at the moment.[/QUOTE]

Oops freudian slip! I believe the weather has actually been very good throughout September! I'm hearing reports of traffic 25% up on last year for September.

 

Thanks Steve. That at least explains the timing constraint. I would still be interested to know why the management expects the visitors to pay more for a no steam day though.

 

As it was a diesel gala, special fares apply.

Full fare chart on website

http://www.nymr.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/140114-2014-Public-Farechart-in-Word-14-01-14.pdf

All lines do this to cover costs of bringing in visiting locos

 

IMHO, traffic levels have been excellent. In fact, there are rumours of Bean Counter smiling. It has been a bit embarrassing at times, with far more people wanting to travel than there were seats for. If it continues, some serious thinking will need to be done on the subject of Whitby running. Eight coach trains really need locos with 27,000lb+ T.E. and we haven't exactly got any of those, at the moment, apart from a big blue thingy.

 

And that's banned from Grosmont to Whitby section of course.