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Location notes
Situated a few miles to the south west of Whitby the Pickering to Grosmont line covers about 18 miles through some spectacular scenery of the North Yorkshire Moors national park. 'The line is owned by the North York Moors Historical Railway Trust who have run the line as a living museum since 1974' There are many different types of locomotive hauled passenger working both steam and diesel. With the occasional photographic freight charter or permanent way train.
Railway type and traffic
The trains are mostly steam hauled, with occasional diesel turns and failure stand ins. There are numerous events and galas.
For more details see the
North Yorkshire Moors Railway website.
Environment
Kingthorpe is a rural, wooded location with steep hills on either side - there are no problems with crime etc. and not many walkers, considering that this is the middle of the National Park. The weather can vary between extremes (and sometimes seasons!) in very short periods of time, so warm / waterproof clothing is advisable.
Road directions
Kingthorpe is inaccessible by road - the location can be reached by walking either from Levisham or New Bridge along the Forestry Commission tracks (around an hours walk from Levisham or half an hours walk from New Bridge).
Click here to set up your location for directions to this location NYMR, Kingthorpe map co-ordinates
Parking
Parking is possible at New Bridge and Levisham.
Public transport
Kingthorpe is roughly half way between Levisham and Pickering stations on the NYMR.
To access the NYMR, from the north, take the Middlesbrough - Whitby 'Esk Valley Line' service to Grosmont. From the south, Pickering can be reached by buses from Malton / York.
Click here to set up your location for directions to this location
Amenities
The nearest amenities are in Pickering (around an hour's walk away).
Accommodation
Bed and Breakfasts / rented accommodation are readily available in Pickering (several advertise in the Classified Ads in the railway press).
Sun Compass
Sun Compass using Suncalc by brought to you by Vladimir Agafonkin:
It might be necessary to adjust the time to suit your visit, this link should open with the current day.
NYMR, Kingthorpe
Googly map
Streetmap links
NYMR, Kingthorpe general view map
NYMR, Kingthorpe close up map
Windows Local Live Link - image quality may vary
NYMR, Kingthorpe
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Photographic notes
The footpath runs along the north / west side of the line here for a mile or so, mostly right next to the line which makes shots very head-on, but at the location below where the line runs approximately west - east, there is enough of a gap to get some reasonable shots (plus a new wildlife pond thrown in as well).
Southbound trains are probably more reliable shots having the loco smoke box first - Northbound shots will tend to have the front of the train in shadow depending on the time of day and the location of the train on the curves.
The location works best early on in the year before the ground cover gets too tall and obscures the track bed. Probably not one of the best locations on the whole length of the NYMR for photographs (especially given the length of walk to get there), but worth a look perhaps if you are keen to have something other than New Bridge in your collection of shots between Levisham and Pickering.
General views - All photographs © Nick Wise unless otherwise stated
Fig 1 -
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