A SENTIMENTAL JOURNEY (WHITBY - SCARBOROUGH) (1966)

[@sku70]

A historically important film clip, That railway line was the lifeblood of generations of my family living and farming in that area. Such a tragic, short sighted waste of infrastructure, engineering and history. Walk it, or cycle it if you can...then I bid you not to feel sorrow for its loss, and how beautiful it could be as a heritage railway today...

[@shona1578]

That was heart wrenching to watch, like footage of some despicable crime. This all happened years before I was born, but I live in Whitby and would just love to go to Scarborough on the train. 😢

[@taxidude]

Other interests were at work in the 60s sadly as motorways ripped the heart out of the landscape and our communities. Thank God for NYMR and others for preserving our heritage.

[@joycetunley5258]

YOU sound as though you are on the SAME °°WAVELENGTH as ME !

[@johnhealy8513]

The removal of this particular line was despicable vandalism. Had it managed to survive another ten years or so what a wonderful tourist line it could have made.

[@neiloflongbeck5705]

It was lucky to gave survived that long. This line made no more for the original builders who sold the line to the NER for half of what it cost to build. It was the only line I know of that could be closed by a little sea mist.

[@davidcousins3508]

@@neiloflongbeck5705I think the point being made was of it’s value as a heritage line ,similar to the north York moors line ..I can imagine people paying to travel on it .. of course in the mid 60s this was probably harder to visualise.

[@neiloflongbeck5705]

@@davidcousins3508 in the 1930s the LNER looked at these lines as during the summer they lived up to the Late and Never Early Railway nickname with trains needing to call twice at each station. They worked out what would need to be done and found that the costs outweighed the benefits, especially as a report on the lines around Whitby commissioned by the LNER and compiled by Leeds University found these lines to have little commercial viability. The line from Loftus to Whitby with equally scenic views of the North Sea ever even made it to the Beeching era. By 1964 the value of such lines was appreciated for tourist lines, but only if they could find a buyer. The bad news was that the northern terminus for this line as a tourist line would not be Whitby but Robin Hood's Bay as the line to Hawsker was to be retained by BR for the planned potash mine close to Hawsker (close to where they are currently digging for potash/polyhydrite) reducing it's attractiveness. And at the southern end the line would go no further than just north of Gallow's Close carriage sidings as BR retained them until the 1980s further reducing the attractiveness of the line. Contrasting this with what became the NYMR with 2 stations at the terminii of the line, one connected to the last remaining line into Whitby and which had people wanting to buy the line including a single track through out the line from shortly after its closure to freight traffic in 1966 (negotiations starting in 1967). They could have chosen the old Scarborough and Whitby Railway's line which closed around the same time, but with the provisos detailed above they didn't.

[@jimboBFC1]

​@@davidcousins3508 Well said 👍

[@angelsone-five7912]

Very well put together. It seems that every time I watch a railway history video, past or present, sooner or later I hear that dreaded phrase "housing estate".

[@KempSimon]

or a "Tesco's Supermarket">

[@Mr223P]

Incredible footage. Spent many a holiday as a lad around whitby/scarborough/robin hoods bay. What a beautiful heritage line that could have been.......

[@Nyctophora]

Thank you for sharing and helping to preserve history!

[@larciabella]

What a lovely vintage film.Thank -you.

[@ReynardWrecce]

Thank you for this wonderful bittersweet film.

[@northyorkmoors]

Back to the time when the 'Cinder Track' between Scarborough and Whitby was a living, breathing railway. This lovely film shows a journey along what must have been one of the UK's most scenic rail lines, through parts of the North York Moors National Park - still accessible today on foot or by bike and horseback, but sadly no longer by train.

[@johnjephcote7636]

I could say the same for the Somerset and Dorset Railway or the Matlock to Buxton line.

[@joycetunley5258]

MORE'S the PITY. If IT could be made OPERATIONAL AGAIN ▪︎▪︎▪︎ IT would certainly REDUCE ● GRIDLOCK ● & PROVIDE an ESSENTIAL lifeline Between ALL OUTLYING VILLAGES Etc & COASTAL AREAS , ( ESPECIALLY in ADVERSE WEATHER CONDITIONS. ) But THAT'S far TOO •▪︎• SIMPLE •▪︎•FOR POLITICIANS !!

[@DS-cf1zc]

What a lovely memory, and one I had not found until tonight. I must confess I had never truly appreciated the true scale of the line, or its loss. I first walked around the Hawsker section in the mid to late 70's with my late Grandfather. I have written about walking the now Cinder Track at Macfilos as a travelling camera article - It was more about the camera I carry, rather than the old railway line. I have long hoped that some maverick had found a way to resurrect either part or all of the line between Whitby West station to where ever it was capable to get too. But this video shows clearly the infrastructure ripped out to make good on those old financial cuts. A sad indictment of the meddling of man.

[@markbaxter8310]

Just like everyone else, I think it's a great tragedy this line is no longer there-what a heritage railway it would make today, don't get me started on Beeching!

[@jamieadamson9780]

Such a shame it’s not still running, what lovely footage. We spent many a childhood holiday staying at Robin hoods Bay in the 90s, with really happy memories. Just recently walked from Robin Hoods Bay to Ravenscar on the cinder trail, with my girlfriend. I can imagine it being a hard railway to maintain due to its steep gradient and being on the coast.

[@garybrown8152]

The second half of this excellent film is heartbreaking... Also, just consider how long it takes to get from Scarborough to Whitby now, something in the region of FOUR hours. A stain on our country's history.

[@SMILEVIDEOTRAINS]

Excellent footage ,thank you

[@supercare1]

Many thanks for this. I lived in Scarborough for 14 years leaving in 2002. I used to walk and cycle from Scarborough to Whitby on a regular basis and it always struck me that if their was a railway line from any part of the route, Ravenscar to Robins Hood Bay and Whitby especially it would have been one of the most scenic routes in the Uk, even better if hauled by steam trains. If I ever win Euromillions........................................................Thanks again.

[@jennyhann4473]

While walking the track from Ravenscar to Robin Hood's Bay last year, (2013) we encountered an elderly couple stood looking at the view. Engaging in conversation we found the man had worked in the 60's with Beeching and had in fact been responsible for selecting to close the Whitby to Scarborough branch line. When asked why he had chosen to close such a beautiful and useful section of line his reply was ' I think with hindsight I made a mistake', and when pressed to explain he uncomfortably admitted, that this was his first visit to Ravenscar, and that he had signed the closure order all those years ago, without ever having seen or visited the area. It seems it was just one more careless and ill- informed civil service blunder!

[@KempSimon]

I wonder if that was Mr. John Edser, who appeared on television quite a lot around the 50th anniversary of the publication of the first Beeching Report in March, 1963? In a way, Whitby was lucky to be left with any rail links whatsoever, given the amount of taxpayers' money that British Railways was losing in the mid-1960's. I believe that the Transport Users' Consultative Committee reported that closure of the Scarborough to Whitby Railway would cause "severe hardship" to the inhabitants of Ravenscar and Robin Hood's Bay, but even that plea failed to keep the line open.

[@neildahlgaard-sigsworth3819]

Jenny Hann twaddle, pure twaddle. Even the LNER knew that none of the lines going to Whitby were viable, financially. It was only the need to move school children that kept Whitby on the national network in an era when winters were routinely harsher than today. Services to Goathland were reinstated during the winter of 1964 when snow closed the moorland roads. But as soon as the snow was gone the trains were withdrawn.

[@paulbroderick8438]

Typical of these treacherous creatures. A "We know better than thee' mentality all the way.

[@paulrimmer2853]

Live by the State,die by the State.

[@danielbrownf1]

To be quite honest, i have been wondering who the person who killed the line is and wanted badly to punch them in the face. Glad to know there's a slim chance i still may get to. My words to him would not have been kind ones.

[@soundnicetome]

Great piece of railway history...all now a past memory...all thanks to our thoughless and greedy politicians of the day. If ever a line that could have made a `profit` this is it? Instead of mothballing it,we destroyed what was once a very beautiful line...and for what?.......money and greed...and the old chestnut...`progress`. Ah well ,thats `progress`.....but at what cost to us? Thanks for putting this fascinating piece of film up.

[@neildahlgaard-sigsworth3819]

soundnicetome these lines were all built to make money, the LNER knew that none of the lines to Whitby made money and they would have liked to have closed at least some of the stations, as they did on the York-Scarborough line, if they couldn't close the lines themselves. To travel directly from Whitby Town station to Scarborough you needed to time consuming and expensive reversals, as you were limited to 2 coaches when proppelling a passenger trains, with the leading vehicle when being propelled being a brake. DMUs speeded this process up, but still took time.

[@mikeemerson9832]

In fact this line never made a penny in profit.

[@DaveSuperThomas]

As this fascinating film clip so graphically illustrates, the disused Whitby to Scarborough railway line was indeed "mothballed" by British Railways for two years, between closure in 1964 and track lifting in 1966. During this period, as the film clip again illustrates, the infrastructure had deteriorated due to factors such as vandal attacks and weed growth. Is "soundnicetome" suggesting that a cash-strapped British Rail, desperate to fund important infrastructure projects such as the Preston Area Resignalling on the West Coast Main Line, should have diverted funds from this for the purpose of sending weedkilling trains along a line which had been closed because it was losing shedloads of money, whilst the rails continued to rust and the sleepers continued to rot, with their scrap value going unrealised, regardless of the cost to the taxpayer?

[@garethgriffiths8577]

@@neildahlgaard-sigsworth3819 then why build it in the first place? Love from a Scarborough lad.x

[@neiloflongbeck5705]

This line never made a profit.

[@derekharvey9707]

Memories of travelling to Ravenscar with my brother and our friend next door to see his auntie at her farm below the golf-course. We always had a lovely tea. A great escape for the day!

[@nymr1]

A railway in my favourite part of the Country (North Yorkshire)

[@daveharriman2756]

Very sad to watch, I love this part of Yorkshire, and have walked many miles on this former track, it's the first time I have seen the dismantling of the track etc at Ravenscar, this is an important archive film, and thank you for showing it Frank.

[@DS-cf1zc]

I am with you - I have walked Whitby to Ravenscar many times - but I never saw the stations as they were long gone bar the odd building, or piece left behind now. Such a shame to have allowed this to happen.

[@stephenharper9961]

Gone but never forgotten, and almost all of it has been saved as a walking route, so you can just picture days gone by, one of the best things the town has done was to save this almost forgotten history

[@rolandcolyer5199]

A beautiful little 'Super 8' (I imagine) nostalgic gem! I made that journey in 1965 when l was 10 years old and lived at Saltburn. Ta,nymr! Guy xx x

[@srfurley]

It's not Super-8, though that format was available at the time, having been introduced the previous year; Super-8 cameras were not common at that date. The perforations are in the wrong place and are the wrong size. On Super-8 film they would be smaller and vertically centered on the fram, not on the frame lines, as these are. this is the older standard 8 mm format.

[@TheTraveldiaries1]

What a great video, it's very sad to see the line disappear, i have walked the old railway line many times from robin hood's bay to whitby & it's a beautiful place to walk,thank you for sharing such great memories.

[@cammylad2142]

Unforgivable! Beeching and Marples wrecked Britain's rail network in the 60s. Just imagine what life would be like now if say 90% of what we had pre 1960 had been upgraded and electrified! The country that gave railways to the world would be right where it belongs - at the top!

[@KempSimon]

If 90% of what we had pre-1960 had been upgraded and electrified, there would be lots of very expensive electric trains running up and down the Wye Valley, between Monmouth and Tintern, beneath some very expensive overhead wires, with no-one aboard them apart from a (very expensive) Driver and Guard.

[@robinmoss5470]

Quite right, Simon. Too many railway enthusiasts live in a world of make believe.

[@KempSimon]

The management of British Railways during the 1950's has often been criticised for being unimaginative and defeatist, but many of the things that were done during that decade - such as the introduction of car-carrying, overnight Motor Rail trains between London and Scotland - were both exciting and innovative. In some Regions the introduction of low-cost, lightweight Diesel Multiple Units preceded the 1955 Modernisation Plan. In 1959, as an alternative to closing the lossmaking branch lines from Kemble (Gloucestershire) to the prosperous market towns of Cirencester and Tetbury, slow and dirty steam trains were replaced with stylish new Railbuses imported from Germany. The problem was that as soon as the average lower-middle or skilled working class family got its hands on a secondhand car, and took it for a spin on the Preston Bypass, they voted with their feet and their wallets by turning their backs on rail travel forever.

[@risvegliato]

The real problem is that they sold off the land to be built over. It should've been mothballed. We can't re-open these lines now because the land was sold off and built over. Lots of lines did need to close in the 60's but now they need to be reopened. We now have large commuter/dormitory towns with no rail connections. A very short-sighted policy.

[@robinmoss5470]

Only a very small percentage of the lines closed in the '50 and '60s would be useful today. Many of the lines closed should never have been constructed in the first place because there was no sensible business case for them even 150 years ago.

[@crispinalanrobinson4515]

He has so much to answer for closing all amazing Lines

[@oldtykesmith2317]

Wonderful Just Wonderful.

[@macjim]

Oh, I can see the health and safety boys crying out ‘NOOOOO!!!!’ when seeing those guys sawing the sleepers 🥴 Many a line was closed that should never have... Sadly, most will never see a train again.

[@paulbaker8003]

And no hi vis as well, how did they manage to survive 😂

[@nickhastings6705]

Thanks for putting up this film! Been looking for it for ages! The film was actually made by a relative of mine so pleased you've placed it on KZbin thank you!

[@nymr1]

Well i'm glad to be of help.

[@BrendanC123]

The film was made by Frank Dean. R.I.P Frank Dean

[@speakston]

Imagine Scarborough to Whitby as a heritage railway,how short sighted of the then British Railways to close it.The traffic census was taken during school holidays when chidren weren't using the train and people were away on holiday.Politicians use statistics as a drunken man uses a lamppost,for support rather than illumination.

[@chrissimpson5708]

sad..but Thanks God for all our preserved lines and all of them go from strength to strength

[@lawrenceholden5716]

Health and Safety people will have a fit watching this!

[@tango6nf477]

Unfortunately the saying "you don't know what louver got till its gone" applies. In the 60's we didn't want the railways any more, we wanted cars so we stopped using them and then the other great saying applied "use it or lose it" . Its the same with canals, old buildings, aeroplanes and a hundred other things, as soon as they have gone and its too late, we want them back again, and the sad thing is that we never learn. I was siting in a pub in London recently called the Blackfriars, its unique and beautiful but not long ago a staunch railway lover who was a lone voice in the Beeching days saved it from demolition and now the very thought of it is inconceivable. That man was Sir John Betchaman, he foretold the disaster that would result in closing the railways and moving everything onto the roads and he was 100% correct. Oh that we could just see that little way into the future what a better and infinitely more attractive country we would now be living in?

[@DS-cf1zc]

The problem with being a bright, foreseeing individuals is that the majority ignore you, and when it dawns on the majority that your views are accurate, and well formed it is too late. I have personal experience of this in the modern world, driven by the know it all generations who listen to no one - be under no illusion the next Beeching moment is already in motion.

[@TheDaf95xf]

Lovely video but so sad at the same time 😔

[@neilmasters9914]

The closure is tragic and ultimately short sighted given the popularity of the North York Moor railway.

[@XXplosiveUK]

Most of the old track is unrecognisable now. Reclaimed by mother nature

[@Paaarrrp]

i've cycled the remains of the track and the views are amazing. unfortunately houses have been built on part of it and it also crosses the main whitby road a171. it would have been one hell of a climb to ravenscar for a train!!

[@KempSimon]

It was! The line climbed from Robin Hood's Bay to Ravenscar on a gradient of 1:40 and the DMU's which British Railways introduced in 1957 really struggled in wet weather when the rails were slippery.

[@DS-cf1zc]

They removed the old A171 bridge near the old Hawsker station in the late 80's or early 90's to create todays road configuration. Prior to that you had to drive over a huge odd hump in the road that allowed the railway to pass beneath it.

[@ronniedio19422010]

The music from 7.40 onwards is fantastic! It could be part of the soundtrack to some classic 60's psychological thriller! 😃

[@melr8830]

Such a shame this is gone now. It would make winter travel so much safer.

[@jacobclarkson8741]

I live near Stainsacre railway and I can remember the train

[@richardkelltoolmaker]

How utterly tragic and barbaric; thank goodness the man was able to make this film. Consider the effort and expense of all those involved in its construction in the first place. I can remember as a young kid being taken on that route circa 1963/4....also fascinating to see the gasworks !!

[@stillshakin2125]

I wish i had a time machine so i could go back and travel this line (and many others) before closure, my older brother was lucky enough to travel on it. I was just tall enough at the time to see over the bridge on Hibernia street in Scarborough to witness the old tracks being brought back behind a whistling diesel loco but being only 6 years old i had no idea what was going on, just liked seeing trains. Such a waste.

[@billykegs8782]

Superb.

[@andrewelliott4436]

The line from Manchester to London Marylebone, through Sheffield, would have absorbed traffic from both the East and West coat railways - making HS2 unnecessary. It was closed in 1966.

[@sleeming88]

This really does show just how much money and effort had (and still has) to be put into maintaining railway infrastructure. The whole thing looks like an utter dilapidated and overgrown mess just two and a half years after closure.

[@annajeannettedixon2453]

a criminal act of vandalism from the government of the day this line was the beautiful line

[@DaveSuperThomas]

What a shame that more people didn't use the Whitby to Scarborough railway when they had the opportunity!

[@ponline3170]

Hardly surprising though is it with all the reversals etc it wouldn't make it today

[@TheJohnscot]

I spent a holiday in the camping coach at Robin Hood's Bay in 1964 and travelled all over the area by train. I returned to that village in 2001 and viewed with sadness what that bunch of incompetents in London had done. I know the line at Ravenscar was in danger of being swept into the sea because of the geological faults round there. The coastline was forever eroding away but surely the line could have been rerouted.

[@DS-cf1zc]

The original line bed is still there - although had a few landslips in recent years - but by and large it would have survived many more years without too much trouble.

[@eirugsiongriffiths8563]

We lost some brilliant branch lines here in Wales under the Beeching cuts,the Swansea to Brecon Railway running throught Clydach,Pontardawe,Ystalyfera,Ystradgynlais,Abercrave to Brecon,Neath to Brecon Railway,Merther to Swansea Bay railway to name a few.

[@robertpagetfilms]

A beautifully made film.

[@darylcheshire1618]

I read that Beeching’s minister had some conflict of interest with a road company.

[@DS-cf1zc]

Odd that - we were forced into our cars by the Politicians of the day, and then further forced into diesel cars - oddly all now are under the cosh as being not suitable for our climate - funny that what goes around. I do wonder if one day an electric train will run these old lines as the only form of transport left viable to the less well off.

[@MFRollison]

Sad to see these old railways go. We couldn't keep all of them, but those remaining must be valued, kept and USED. Lets hope that the restored Waverley line is an economic success after it opens.

[@johnhenfrey5936]

Great Film

[@kjbownesinformation2635]

Proud to say the company in the video is my fathers company K & J Bownes Railway Contractors who are still very active. My father Keith seen in the Video is still working and shows no enthusiasm to retire just yet!! www.kjbownes.com

[@EllieMaes-Grandad]

The line closed in early 1965.

[@berwynthomas6867]

Could it be opened as heritage?

[@compostjohn]

How extremely sad. Beeching got it so wrong; we know now that rail transport is quick and efficient and can be low carbon - a sustainable transport system, and now so many places are looking to re-open lines closed in the 60s. Let's hope the York to Beverley line gets the go-ahead. Not sure the Scar to Loftus line would be as economically viable.... but wouldn't it be lovely?

[@Embracing01]

Everytime there's a scene in the TV series Heartbeat, they always show steam loco's running on that line during the late 60s, but of course that was inaccurate. I remember an episode where Nigel Gresley arrives at Grosmont station in one of the later series set no earlier than 1969 (painted in its familiar blue livery), but in reality Gresley at that time was painted green and was undergoing an overhaul. I don't think there was ever a scene where they used a diesel loco.

[@chrisboyes1398]

For more than a decade, rain or shine, I used to tread the old railway line, between Burniston and Ravenscar. Even today, old railway lines fills me with nostalgia for a by gone era. The point is, railway lines are for trains not for walkers or cyclists.

[@patrickspeer2990]

I loved this movie too and Im in the US

[@kateanddavelacey2267]

Bring it back

[@brucespencer4469]

Such a shame! How complicated it is now from Leeds to Whitby by rail! Just hoping you have a connecting service from Middlesbrough!! Would have been busier than ever now, by rail.

[@bradandfudge]

Thank you for uploading this remarkable film. I have the Robin Lidster books on this railway line history and they are wonderful evocations of the past now sadly gone. By the way, are there any other films around of the Scarb/Whitby line? This is the only one I can find but there is a Marsden Rail video, no. 33 I believe, with some footage on it..... but is it the same as this film on here?

[@davidnorman7761]

Very sad loss to modern day life would have commended a massive figure for tourists now

[@sootycakes]

it would do very well these days just look at the NYMR example so sad these lines have now gone never to be replaced

[@KempSimon]

I doubt there would be very many people travelling on a train from Scarborough to Whitby (or vice versa) at lunchtime on a weekday in mid-February. For a few months at the height of Summer the route would doubtless be reasonably well-used, but in the depths of the Winter it would be a very different matter .....

[@RHR-221b]

@@KempSimon Grateful thanks to you, the Obergruppenführer. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obergruppenf%C3%BChrer SK = 🤡

[@claretsarecool]

Thank you Mr Marples another line lost forever that may well have succeeded today PROGRESS ! Great video i

[@DaveSuperThomas]

British Railways replaced steam trains with cheaper DMU's on the Scarborough to Whitby line as early as 1957 in an effort to reduce operating costs and to increase patronage. Sadly, having to pay the wages of two traincrew as opposed to three (no Fireman on a DMU) couldn't save this scenic route. I wonder if One Man Operation with a single-unit railcar (just like a 'bus, where the Driver also sells the tickets) was ever considered? Apparently it works in rural Japan!

[@neiloflongbeck5705]

@@DaveSuperThomas the DMUs couldn't always get upto Ravenscar from Whitby if there was a sea mist.

[@markedgar6437]

What a cool groovy video, not just nostalgic, the music is amazing, can anyone tell me what it is? Please

[@kevanhubbard9673]

Hard to say if it could have survived because of the rapid erosion of the cliffs although that obviously wasn't the reason it was shut.I'm amazed at how close the remaining northern bit Boulby to Saltburn is to the cliff edge .Had the United not been in a position to provide the buses like on the Esk Valley it might have survived longer.

[@TheMrduuk]

Sha.e such a scenic line closed pity nymr can't reopen be busy busy again

[@EllieMaes-Grandad]

I travelled this line in 1964; it was quite something, but two to drive a DMU, plus guard? I cycled along it in the early 1980s, very nostalgic.

[@keyboarddancers7751]

I cycled along it yesterday. It's a fantastic local tourist resource. Perhaps it would be an even more beneficial resource if it'd remained a railway...

[@mrbaker7443]

Unionised labour for you…

[@richardhaywood4123]

This line would have been a fantastic heritage line,better than nymr for views.

[@KempSimon]

No doubt that is why the track was allowed to remain in place for almost three years after the line closed in March 1965!

[@alantomlin9847]

Earnest Marples of Marples Ridgway, a road construction company. Who employed Beeching. Mmm. Let me think about this. Sheer greed a vandalism springs to mind.

[@RHR-221b]

Stay free, A, R 💚

[@BrendanC123]

Marples lost his marbles.

[@XXplosiveUK]

They even named the housing estate at West cliff station "beechings Mews" when it was redeveloped in the late 90s

[@chrismccartney8668]

Imagine the queues to buy tickets for a coastal run like this if BR hadn't closed...the bloody line..

[@NSMerryweather4771]

Anybody know the name of the main tune used in this?

[@keyboarddancers7751]

Britain has sustained a small number of notable instances of national self harm, the last of which occured in 2016. However the wanton destruction of much of its rail infrastructure since the 1950s hails as arguably the most pathological phenomenon of recent decades.

[@braveheartmasterzofficial2401]

Name of the First Track???

[@garyseymour6319]

Must have cost more to lift the track and sleepers than it did to lay them in the first place. But it will have been done so that nobody could start a Train service in that area.

[@nymr1]

This video is a sad ending to this railway!

[@DaveSuperThomas]

At least it shows those of use who weren't even born when this scenic coastal railway closed how the line was operated, and how attractive the countryside was through which it passed!

[@nymr1]

@@DaveSuperThomas True

[@paulmartin4971]

Shame breeching got to close it would have been very popular today

[@neiloflongbeck5705]

What our narrator doesn't mention is that locomotive hauled trains between Whitby and Scarborough could only be of 2 coaches, both brakes, unless pilot locomotives were used at both ends of the line. This was because Board of Trade regulations limited the propelling of passenger trains to 2 coaches and that the lead vehicle had to be a brake with the guard's compartment leading; the speed was limited to 10mph irrespective of the line speed.

[@LEVELCROSSING225]

The reason for that ruling may be to do with the gradients on the line. The steepest being 1:39. When DMU's were introduced in the late 50s, with them being one unit, it made it easier to operate. Capacity could increase on these services but with car ownership becoming ever more popular, the railways lost favour with the public. Shame this branch was closed as it now means a 5 or so hour journey from Whitby or Scarborough via Middlesborough and York.

[@neiloflongbeck5705]

@@LEVELCROSSING225 provided you got one of the direct services (in October 1950 there were only 2 services from Scarborough to Middlesbrough taking just under 3 hours leaving at 11:40 and 16:35). Why not take the bus, it only takes an hour to get to Scarborough from Whitby and parallels the railway's route, just as it did in the 1960s. The gradient at Prospect Hill was the cause of the shortness of trains being propelled, as I've since learnt that longer trains could be propelled provided they had brakes at each end at Guisborough. Unfortunately DMUs were not ideal on this line as sea dogs could make the rails too slippery for their light weight to get grip on the way up to Ravenscar.

[@nigelkthomas9501]

Scarborough-Whitby should never have been closed! Total, absolute, complete unmitigated f* stupidity! It would be so busy now, especially in high season.

[@riverhuntingdon6659]

Looks like a fantastic line. As did the section through Sandsend. Pity it didn't last long enough for those Vivarail D train things, light weight, big windows... Oh well, another opportunity lost due to Beeching/Marples and the like, though I know the line through Sandsend closed before they inflicted their corporate vandalism.

[@neildahlgaard-sigsworth3819]

River Huntingdon the Vivarail trains would not have been able to cope with the inclines from Whitby on the direct Scarborough line, especially in a haar set in.

[@benjaminleith]

As a child I was taken to nowhere is it still there??

[@donaldderp1602]

+Benjamin Leith It has all gone.

[@blooga3941]

Sadly the railway has long gone, closing in 1965. However almost all the route is walkable, and most stations still intact, with Scarborough Central, and Whitby Town still open for a few trains today.

[@whitespider8523]

Branch line railways like these would I feel be doing quite well financially if still around. Roads are becoming more and more gridlocked that it would be a pleasure to catch a train up to Whitby from Scarborough rather than drive. Many of the branch lines closed by Beeching should have been mothballed, easy to say in hindsight I know, but Ernest Marples, Mlnister of Transport at the time had interests in road haulage and Beeching had no previous knowledge of railway administration, makes you think.

[@neiloflongbeck5705]

2 trains per day outside if summer Saturdays on this line. United buses had a more frequent service between Scarborough and Whitby. Mothballing costs money and for how long do you retain it just sitting there? 2 years? 5 years? 20 years? 40 years?

[@136miles]

It would probably be very busy now, it would not be easy to bring it back but they should

[@sxsx2331]

so sad to see they destroyed our great railways and heritage vandals

[@robertday8619]

Bloody CRIMINAL! what they did 🤦🏻‍♂️ if only they'd of mothballed the line, a heritage group would of loved to get their hands on that line! It would of been fantastic! But no they had to destroy it all! Pointless

[@johnjephcote7636]

Politicians never think of the future. The simple concept of holding a trackbed 'in strategic reserve' is far too difficult for the English mind.

[@servicecrew6813]

Brilliant film.. very sad but who in the 1960s used it ?... everyone wanted a car... hindsight.

[@darylkemp1257]

it's such a shame I don't see why the line was closed now people who live in the Tees Valley area have to travel through York if they want to get through to Scarborough when this route would have been quicker and more practical apart from a few adjustments in the route where rough seas made cliff edged track and tunnels dangerous and costly to maintain but it was wrong to close this line completely beeching is a knob who I hope is rotting in hell

[@mikeemerson9832]

In fact discussions were conducted to try to preserve the line but the NYMR was saved instead. In it's working life the Scarborough - Whitby line never made a penny. It was also hard to work because of the severe 1 in 39 gradients to Ravenscar.

[@KempSimon]

Dr. Richard Beeching didn't close the Scarborough to Whitby railway line. Secretary of State for Transport Mr. Ernest Marples did. Dr. Beeching was tasked to turn the finances of the heavily lossmaking British Railways around. This thankless job was made all the harder because Mr. Marples refused Beeching's not-unreasonable request that central government should grant-aid all of the unprofitable branch lines (such as Looe to Liskeard) which the Government of the day had declined to close. The fact that British Rail left the tracks of the Whitby to Scarborough line in place for nearly two years after closure should have provided enough time for anyone who wanted to preserve the route (in whole or in part) to raise some money and to make a reasonable offer. Finally, please could you explain to me how Dr. Beeching forced lower-income families to buy their first pre-owned motor car during the late 'fifties and the early 'sixties, and thereafter completely disown the railways as a means of personal transport?

[@neildahlgaard-sigsworth3819]

Daryl Kemp the line from Whitby West Cliff to Loftus closed before Beeching was involved with the railways. None of the 3 surviving routes were financially viable(even the LNER knew this).

[@borderlands6606]

The fact Marples was a major shareholder in one of the country's biggest roadbuilders, is of course pure coincidence. As is conducting user surveys on wakes weeks, school holidays and re-timetabling local trains to ensure they missed their connection. And the fact Marples fled to Monaco at short notice to avoid prosecution for tax fraud. It's the same old story - roads are "invested" in, railways are "subsidised".

Great video. I wonder how many of those workers developed cancer from handling those creosote painted railway sleepers without wearing gloves?

[@jaffas8]

Beeching and Marples had a lot to answer for.

[@KempSimon]

If Mr. Marples (or anyone else, such as a Local Authority) had been prepared to subsidise the high costs of running of the Whitby to Scarborough railway line then I'm sure that Dr. Beeching would have been quite happy to have kept it open.

[@tominnis8353]

Oh - to have those days back. What a terrible waste of a scenic route and way of life . . . .

[@1701_FyldeFlyer]

such utter vandalism.

[@soundnicetome]

I always enjoy,but at the same time despair at the undue haste in which the so called powers that be of the day destroyed what was once the greatest railway system in the world. One of the many reasons why I am no longer proud of this country any more!

[@neiloflongbeck5705]

You mean the railway system that had too many duplicated lines and was by 1960 losing £100,000 per day? The railway system that meant freight spent more time in marshalling yards than on the move?

[@54MURAI]

Legalised Vandalism.

[@ponline3170]

Shut up moron

[@RHR-221b]

@@ponline3170 Shut up moron.

[@andyclark1337]

This line shouldn't of not been closed

[@ColinH1973]

A criminal waste, engineered by those who had an interests in seeing rail transport superseded by road transport.

[@ezza2x899]

Honestly pisses me off that they got rid of this line

[@davidcollishaw2771]

beyond beeching its sad to think the live wasn't viable just due to the station wage bills. now unmanned stops are standard so a summer line should have been viable apart from the failing tunnels. but its such a shame there's no longer a scarborough whitby filey link to match the council territory. I spent my early years cycling out to hayburn wyke to cook sausages on the rocks

[@Biigfish559]

Hmm, the only relatively negative, anti railway post from Sleeming88 states how the infrastructure was left to rack and ruin. Money has to be spent in any kind of infrastructure, look at todays decaying cuts riddled roads to see that. But to express disdain at after 2 and a half years closure's overgrowth; try leaving a garden untouched for the same time and see how it changes. Railways run/ran through thousands of miles of wilderness, the trains themselves and human involvement provid/ed most of the "gardening" . Agree many lines were deemed uneconomical but they should have been mothballed, which is the feeling of many nowadays.