The Whitby Flyer

This unusual tour by steam train visits the popular east coast seaside town of Whitby. We make our way from London to York, where our steam locomotive for the day is attached. We shall travel through Yorkshire, Teeside and the North Yorkshire Moors to reach Whitby. Our featured steam locomotive for the day will be Black 5 No. 44871.  There will be time at our destination to visit the attractions that Whitby has to offer.

Leaving London King’s Cross in the morning, we make our way northwards along the East Coast Main Line, picking up at Stevenage, Huntingdon and Peterborough. Our blue Class 86 electric locomotive will be running at speed to whisk us to York. We commence our steam haulage later that morning from York, a historic city and home of the National Railway Museum. Heading northwards, we speed along the East Coast Main Line through Thirsk and Northallerton, where we take the line to Teesside via Eaglescliffe. We now follow part of the original Stockton & Darlington Railway of 1825, engineered by George Stephenson, towards Thornaby and Middlesbrough.  The railway was the first public railway in the world to have permanent steam locomotives hauling trains. The famous Middlesbrough Transporter Bridge dating from 1911 is a prominent landmark of the area.

At Guisborough Junction, we leave the line to Redcar and Saltburn and head for Battersby on the edge of the Cleveland Hills. Here we will have to reverse direction of travel as the line no longer continues southwards from Battersby. We will now follow the attractive Esk Valley line through the northern section of the North Yorkshire Moors. This is very much a rural line that serves isolated communities and farming is the main activity these days, with walking a popular pastime from the stations along the route. We pass through Castleton Moor and Danby before we reach Glaisdale, where there is a passing loop on the single line. After Egton, we cross the Esk a number of times and reach Grosmont. Here the steam operated North Yorkshire Moors Railway has a station that sees steam trains regularly operating over the 24 miles from Whitby and Pickering. 

We continue along the Esk Valley through Sleights and Ruswarp and run along side the river Esk as we pass beneath the impressive Larpool Viaduct, which formerly carried the Scarborough to Whitby railway over the valley. Boat yards and a view of the ancient abbey herald our arrival at Whitby. There will be time here to explore the many attractions the town has to offer, including the working harbour, quaint shops and restaurants, the 13th century abbey and St Mary’s church reached by the 199 steps, the Dracula museum and there is even a kipper smokery where you can buy the produce!

After time in Whitby, we shall retrace our earlier route back to Battersby, Middlesbrough, Northallerton, Thirsk, arriving in York in the early evening after an interesting and varied day on rural branch lines of the north-east. Our blue electric locomotive will be waiting to take us back to London, calling to set down at our earlier pick up stations.

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