The Esk Valley Line

Some photos of a recent visit to Whitby by train

Immediately before Christmas, me and the Tin Lids found ourselves staying in Middlesborough for a couple of days. The plan was a trip to Whitby as both children had visited the port town over consecutive years during their respective school residential trip in Year 6. The wiley old desperado in me had calculated that staying at a Premier Inn some distance from Whitby and travelling in by train was cheaper than staying in the same establishment in the town of Dracula’s - and Humpty Dumpty’s it seems - burial. And indeed it was. Cheaper and inclusive of two journeys on local trains, the once ubiquitous Class 156 SuperSprinter that rattled along the leafy lines of Lincolnshire.

Sunday 21 December 2025

We caught the 1055 departure, which was formed of two 2-car trains. This caused considerable issue at most of the intermediate stations, whose platforms were shorter than the overall length of the train. Since the humble ‘156’ has no selective door operation, the guard manually opened the doors in the middle of what would be the trailing train of the set and checked us on one by one.

There are four return journeys between Middlesborough and Whitby on Sundays and six on all other days. All journeys observe all stops along the line. The initial four stations from Middlesborough (James Cook, Marton, Gypsy Lane and Nunthorpe) receive additional trains as part of a more frequent, hourly corridor between Middlesborough and Nunthorpe, with a couple of trains continuing to Darlington or Newcastle. Our Esk Valley service called at all stations along the line.

At Battersby we stood from 1122 to 1136. It is a dead-end station with two platforms and I suspect the dwell time is timetabled for passing trains, though none were booked today. After departure from the former mining village, where the line once extended, we were in the Esk Valley proper, with some impressive scenery. The line is single-tracked in places with platforms often on just one side: Kildale, Commondale, Castle Moor, Danby, Lealholm, Glaisdale and Egton. Thereafter we joined the metals of the North Yorkshire Moors Railway (I suspect ‘thereafter the NYMR joined the metals of Network Rail) through to Whitby. Nothing was steaming at Grosmont station (the point at which the NYMR is met) and thereafter we called at Sleights and Ruswarp before arriving punctually in Whitby at 1236. The last few stations - Grosmont in particular - were the most popular of the journey, save Middlesborough.

Having last visited Whitby as a child with my parents, it was fascinating to now let me own children show me around. My son visited over Halloween in 2024, and on the evening of 31 October a number of goths arrived at the Abbey to try and raise Dracula. Since this school were staying at the adjacent Youth Hostel, the following year when my daughter visited, the residential was brought forward by a fortnight. However, the town and the manner in which the visitor can navigate it was clearly in the minds of both children and so I was given a whistle-stop tour before we ascended the 199 steps to the Abbey.

The kids were more interested in Humpty Dumpty’s grave, located in the same graveyard at St. Mary’s Church, in the shadow of the Abbey, as that of Dracula’s. I was utterly gobsmacked that these two ‘people’ could ever be mentioned in the same sentence. While Dracula’s alleged grave isn’t named, that of Mr Dumpty is. You can read more about it here. And see below.

Most of the arcades and slot machines were open and it was a genuinely new sensation for me to visit what is essential a seaside tourist hotspot in the immediate run up to Christmas. There was a very enjoyable feeling to the town, which was decorated in festive bunting and lights.

Back to the station and we caught the penultimate train of the day, departing at 1554. This was formed of just one train/two coaches - another ‘156’ - and we left on time. While dark outside, it was a similarly enjoyable return journey, with the number on board thinning out after Grosmont. We arrived in Middlesborough punctually at 1725.

The work of the Esk Valley Railway Development Company, a not-for-profit organisation that aims to promote the line, can be read here.

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