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Whitby, Redcar and Middlesbrough Union Railway
Blocked Sandsend (Deepdale) tunnel
Overview
Other name(s)	Whitby – Loftus Railway
Status	Partially closed
Locale	North Yorkshire, England
Stations	7
Service
Type	Heavy rail
History
Opened	3 December 1883 (1883-12-03)
Closed	5 May 1958 (1958-05-05)
Technical
Line length	16 miles 66 chains (27.1 km)
Number of tracks	1 (with passing loops)
Track gauge	4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge

v t e Whitby, Redcar & Middlesbrough Union Railway
Legend
Cleveland Railway to Middlesbrough length Boulby line to Marske Kilton Viaduct Loftus Grinkle Grinkle Tunnel 993 yd 908 m Grinkle Mine Boulby Mine Staithes Viaduct Staithes Hinderwell Kettleness Kettleness Tunnel 308 yd 282 m Sandsend Tunnel 1652 yd 1511 m Sandsend Sandsend Viaduct East Row Viaduct Newholm Beck Viaduct Upgang Viaduct Whitby West Cliff Prospect Hill Junction to Whitby Esk Valley line Larpool Viaduct over River Esk Scarborough & Whitby Railway to Scarborough

The Whitby, Redcar and Middlesbrough Union Railway (WRMU), a.k.a. the Whitby–Loftus Line, was a railway line in North Yorkshire, England, built between 1871 and 1886, running from Loftus on the Yorkshire coast to the Esk at Whitby, and connecting Middlesbrough to Whitby along the coast.

For much of its journey the line hugged the cliffs, and had a troubled build due to the proximity to the sea and poor quality of the construction on many of its original bridges and viaducts. The line was closed to passengers in May 1958, but the northern section to Boulby Potash Mine re-opened in the 1970s.

History

Background

Whitby had been connected to the national rail system by the Whitby and Pickering Railway since the 1830s. Loftus was connected to the rail system by the 1870s via an extension of the Cleveland Railway: both the Cleveland Railway and the Middlesbrough and Guisborough Railway were constructed in the 1860s connecting Middlesbrough to Guisborough.

Loftus to Whitby

Whitby, Redcar, and Middlesborough Union Railway Act 1866
Act of Parliament
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Long title	An Act for making a Railway in the North Riding of the County of York, to be called "The Whitby, Redcar, and Middlesborough Union Railway;" and for other Purposes.
Citation	29 & 30 Vict. c. cxcv
Dates
Royal assent	16 July 1866
Text of statute as originally enacted

Whitby, Redcar, and Middlesborough Union Railway Act 1873
Act of Parliament
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Long title	An Act to authorise the diversion and alteration of the Line and Levels of the Whitby, Redcar, and Middlesborough Union Railway; and for other purposes.
Citation	36 & 37 Vict. c. cxxi
Dates
Royal assent	7 July 1873
Text of statute as originally enacted

The 16 miles 66 chains (27.1 km) extension of the line from Loftus to Whitby Town railway station, was authorised by an act of Parliament, the Whitby, Redcar, and Middlesborough Union Railway Act 1866 (29 & 30 Vict. c. cxcv) in 1866, with the majority of construction carried out under John Dickson between 1871 and 1886. Due to a lack of funds and problems with the contractor work was suspended on the route until the NER took up the lease in 1875. John Waddell won the contract, and the line was scheduled to open on 13 July 1881, but due to the extra work required to bring it up to standard, it was a further two and a half years before the line was opened on 3 December 1883. Many bridges were defective and piers did not sit vertically correct. The original tunnels were out of line so that when boring was done from either end they did not meet in the centre. Part of the proposed line was dangerously close to the cliff edge and was abandoned by the NER which took a route further inland through Sandsend and Kettleness tunnels. The line had gradients, heavily engineered sections (bridges, tunnels), and sea-frets to contend with, and as such, line speeds were imposed. Even so, it was quicker to travel on the railway from Middlesbrough and Stockton to Scarborough than by road. The line was single track throughout, but all stations, bar Sandsend, had passing loops.

The section ran from Whitby to Loftus, where it joined the NER Middlesbrough – Loftus route head on. From the beginning the line was run by the NER, which held the lease and ran services to Whitby along the Esk Valley Line and the Malton – Whitby Line. The NER took over the line fully in 1889.

British Railways published a proposal to close the line in September 1957; the line's operating costs exceeded its revenue generation, closure would result in a yearly saving of £10,950 operating costs and avoid £57,000 (equivalent to £1,740,000 in 2023) of structural maintenance (over five years) required on tunnels and viaducts particularly between Sandsend and Kettleness. With dwindling passengers after the war years, the route was only popular during summer weekends and closed on 5 May 1958. Whitby West Cliff station remained open for another three years, serving trains from Whitby to Scarborough until it closed on 12 June 1961, after which Scarborough trains had to reverse at Prospect Hill Junction where the line from Whitby Town met those from Scarborough and Loftus.

In 1960, work began to dismantle the line, viaducts were sold for scrap metal and concrete was used in the construction of sea defences.

The railway today

In 1973, a 4.5 miles (7.2 km) section of the line at the northern end, was re-opened after Cleveland Potash Ltd developed Boulby potash mine next to the former route, north of the village of Boulby in Redcar and Cleveland. This section of the line remains open as a freight line, but the stations remain closed. The dismantled section south of Boulby is now a footpath.

In January 2019, Campaign for Better Transport released a report identifying the line between Saltburn and Loftus which was listed as Priority 2 for reopening. Priority 2 is for those lines which require further development or a change in circumstances (such as housing developments).

References

1. Bairstow 2008, p. 13.
2. Suggitt, Gordon (2005). Lost railways of North and East Yorkshire. Newbury: Countryside Books. p. 68. ISBN 978-1-85306-918-5.
3. Bairstow 2008, p. 111.
4. Hoole 1983, pp. 56–57.
5. Williams 2019, p. 39.
6. "Disused Stations: Staithes Station". disused-stations.org.uk. Retrieved 7 April 2022.
7. Forrest, W. R. L. (January 1897). "Strengthening the East Row and Upgang Viaducts on the Whitby and Loftus Railway". Minutes of the Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers. 130 (1897): 234. doi:10.1680/imotp.1897.19267.
8. Hoole, Ken (1971), Railways in Cleveland, Dalesman, ISBN 0-85206-131-5
9. Suggitt, Gordon (2005). Lost railways of North and East Yorkshire. Newbury: Countryside Books. p. 74. ISBN 978-1-85306-918-5.
10. Williams 2019, p. 30.
11. Chapman, Stephen (2007). Cleveland & Whitby. Todmorden: Bellcode Books. p. 8. ISBN 9781871233-18-6.
12. Williams 2019, p. 93.
13. UK Retail Price Index inflation figures are based on data from Clark, Gregory (2017). "The Annual RPI and Average Earnings for Britain, 1209 to Present (New Series)". MeasuringWorth. Retrieved 7 May 2024.
14. Williams 2012, pp. 121, 125–6.
15. Williams 2010, Chapter 4, pp. 110–2.
16. Chapman, Stephen (2007). Cleveland & Whitby. Todmorden: Bellcode Books. p. 16. ISBN 9781871233-18-6.
17. Hoole, K. (1985). Railway stations of the North East. Newton Abbot: David & Charles. p. 91. ISBN 0-7153-8527-5.
18. Bairstow 2008, p. 85.
19. Williams 2019, p. 151.
20. Kershaw, Ronald (23 July 1973). "Britain's first potash mine ready for production soon". The Times. No. 58841. p. 16. ISSN 0140-0460.
21. Kelman, Leanne (2020). Railway track diagrams, books 2 - Eastern (5 ed.). Frome: Trackmaps. 48. ISBN 978-1-9996271-3-3.
22. "The case for expanding the rail network" (PDF). Campaign for Better Transport. p. 42. Retrieved 22 April 2019.

Sources

• Bairstow, Martin (2008). Railways around Whitby : Scarborough - Whitby - Saltburn, Malton - Goathland - Whitby, Esk Valley, Forge Valley and Gilling lines. Leeds: Martin Bairstow. ISBN 978-1-871944-34-1.
• Hoole, K. (1983). Railways of the North York Moors : a pictorial history. Clapham: Dalesman Books. ISBN 0852067313.
• Williams, Michael Aufrère (2010), 'A more spectacular example of a loss-making branch would be hard to find': A financial history of the Whitby-Loftus line 1871–1958 (M.A. thesis), University of York
• Williams, Michael Aufrère (2012), The Whitby-Loftus Line, Jet Coast Development Trust, ISBN 978-0-9567890-1-3
• Williams, Michael Aufrère (2019). The Whitby-Loftus Line. The Oakwood Press. ISBN 978-0-85361-542-2. Locomotion Papers 244.

Further reading

• Mell, Ken, "Loftus Station", www.disused-stations.org.uk
• Historic England. "Whitby, Redcar and Middlesbrough Union Railway (29448)". Research records (formerly PastScape). Retrieved 14 November 2013.
• Forrest, William Robertson Lidderdale (1897). Tudsberry, J.H.T (ed.). "Strengthening the East Row and Upgang Viaducts on the Whitby and Loftus Railway". Minutes of the Proceedings. 130 (1897): 234–240. doi:10.1680/imotp.1897.19267.

v t e Railway lines in Yorkshire and the Humber
Primary	To London East Coast Main Line Midland Main Line To Exeter Cross Country Route
Others	Inter-regional Hallam Line Hope Valley line Leeds–Morecambe line Doncaster–Lincoln line Northallerton–Eaglescliffe line Sheffield–Lincoln line Settle–Carlisle line Intra-regional Airedale line Askern branch line Barton line Calder Valley line Dearne Valley line Esk Valley line Harrogate line Huddersfield line Hull–Scarborough Leeds–Bradford lines Leeds–Northallerton railway Penistone Line Pontefract line Selby Diversion Selby Line South Humberside Main Line Stocksbridge Railway Swinton–Doncaster Wakefield line Wharfedale line York–Scarborough
Defunct	Barnsley–Doncaster Beeston Junction–Hunslet Goods railway Bradford–Leeds & Wakefield Brockholes–Holmfirth Clayton West branch Dearne Valley Railway Gilling and Pickering Harrogate–Church Fenton Harrogate Gasworks Railway Huddersfield–Kirkburton Hull–Barnsley (Cudworth) Hull and Holderness Hull and Hornsea Knaresborough–York Leeds–Harrogate Low Moor–Mirfield Malton–Driffield Middlesbrough–Guisborough Middlesbrough–Guisborough–Normanby Huddersfield–Bradford Lockwood–Meltham Nunthorpe–Battersby Otley–Ilkley Pilmoor–Knaresborough Queensbury lines Rosedale Railway Royston to Thornhill Scarborough–Whitby Seamer–Pickering Selby–Driffield Selby–Goole Shipley Great Northern Railway branch line Sowerby Bridge–Rishworth Skipton–Grassington Skipton–Ilkley Spurn railway Thirsk and Malton line Wetherby–Cross Gates (Leeds) Whitby–Loftus Woodhead line York–Market Weighton–Beverley York–York (Foss Island)
Heritage	Derwent Valley Light Railway Elsecar Heritage Railway Embsay and Bolton Abbey Steam Railway Keighley & Worth Valley Railway Middleton Railway North Bay Railway North Yorkshire Moors Railway Wensleydale Railway
Light railways	Colsterdale Light Railway Nidd Valley Light Railway North Holderness Light Railway Sand Hutton Light Railway Whistlestop Valley

• Pre-grouping British railway companies
• Closed railway lines in Yorkshire and the Humber
• Railway companies established in 1866
• Railway lines opened in 1883
• Railway companies disestablished in 1889
• 1866 establishments in England
• British companies disestablished in 1889
• British companies established in 1883