Pickering Station

From todays York Press:

North Yorkshire Moors Railway' Pickering station plan

AN ambitious scheme by the North Yorkshire Moors Railway to build a visitor and education centre is underway.

Railway bosses said it will boost Pickering’s economy and add a new dimension to the attraction.

Spokesman Phil Bustard said much of the £1.7 million funding was now in place, thanks to a £1 million Lottery grant and £125,000 from Yorkshire Forward.

He said: “We shall have to raise the balance ourselves. But we are certain the money will be found because the railway is such an asset to the tourist industry over a wide area.”

One of the main features will be the replacement of the roof of the Victorian station, which was removed in 1952.

Mr Bustard said “The education centre will be a key part of our future working with schools because the history of the railway and its social benefits to the Pickering area and the moors, will be useful in their curriculum work, while the visitor centre will enable us to promote the railway to passengers and tourists.”

Another feature of the scheme will be the creation of an outdoor picnic area and a heritage signal box.

 

it will be nice to see the roof back on

 

Link to basically the same Article in the Malton Gazette and Herald.

http://www.gazetteherald.co.uk/search/4 ... tion_plan/

For those of a nervous disposition, I should warn you that this link includes a picture of members of NYMR Management. I should also point out it is not planned that the full sized roof can do what Phil Bustard is demonstratiing, although some think it might be a nice idea!

 

So the NYMR are appealing for £500,000+ for Pickering station and according to Steam Railway another £500,000 to £750,000 for renewing a bridge at Water Ark and a further £250,000 for the wheels and overhaul of 80135.

Hasn't the recession reached North Yorkshire yet?

 

We will tell you in a few months!

Seriously, if these matters were under the total control of the NYMR, we would not have even wanted to have all these projects going on at once, let alone it all taking place during a recession. However, that is the way that the life of Bridge 30, the boiler ticket of 80135 and the programme for the Lottery project worked out. Obtaining large grants from the Lottery and other bodies requires (necessarily and absolutely correctly) vast amounts of work "proving" the case, and is an interactive process with the Lottery and other funders. This work has been ongoing for months and involved a small number of people in hundreds of hours of work. The timescale was dictated by when the submissions were complete and approvals received.

The main focus of the Appeal is as shown by Steam Railway, which is a little overdramatic and contains some factual errors but is essentially spot on - if Bridge 30 isn't replaced this winter, it will have weight restrictions by next year and be unusable very soon after. Funds would be gratefully received for the Pickering project and the team are working on other grant applications (which can be made more possible once the major funding is in place), whilst money left to the Railway has also been allocated to this project. All funds are gratefully received for either of these 3 main "challenges" facing the NYMR.