Grassington & Threshfield railway station

Grassington & Threshfield
Grassington & Threshfield station soon after closure
Location
Place	Grassington
Area	Craven
Coordinates	54°04′14″N 2°00′35″W / 54.070459°N 2.009800°WCoordinates: 54°04′14″N 2°00′35″W / 54.070459°N 2.009800°W
Grid reference	SD994638
Operations
Pre-grouping	Midland Railway
Post-grouping	London, Midland and Scottish Railway
Platforms	2
History
30 July 1902	Opened as "Grassington"
October 1902	Renamed "Grassington & Threshfield"
22 September 1930	Closed to passengers
11 August 1969	Closed completely
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Grassington & Threshfield railway station (or Threshfield station) was a railway station that served the villages of Grassington and Threshfield, in North Yorkshire, England.^[1][2]

History

The station was built in the early part of 1902 by the Yorkshire Dales Railway for the Midland Railway. The line diverged from Embsay Junction, up through the Dales, with a stopping station at Rylstone, past the then 'Swinden Lime Works' - today known as Swinden Quarry, and then a further 3 miles (4.8 km) to Threshfield Station. The line was built to provide better links for local villages to the nearby town of Skipton. There were other proposals to continue the line further up the Dales. It would continue north to Kettlewell and thence to Leyburn and would join with the station at Hawes on the Wensleydale Railway. The station had two platforms with run-round loops for each platform, a goods shed with its own siding and a cattle dock with its own siding. A single track route went off over towards Skierthorns Quarry but only went as far as the rear of a set of terraced houses known as Woodlands Terrace. Here the stone was brought down from the quarry by a means of a tramway. It then was brought to Woodlands Terrace where it was unloaded and transferred onto the stone trains.
Regular passenger services from the station only lasted 28 years, as the LMS withdrew them (on grounds of low usage) on 22 September 1930. Excursion traffic continued for more than 30 years thereafter though, as did general goods and stone traffic from the nearby quarry. The ending of the latter in the early sixties eventually led to the closure of the station and northern end of the branch to all traffic on 11 August 1969.

The Site Today

The track was lifted on the final section north of Swinden Quarry in 1971 and the old station buildings were demolished soon afterwards. A housing estate now occupies the site.

Embsay Junction

Embsay Junction was laid at the opening of the line in 1902 to take trains from Skipton to Rylstone Station and Threshfield station. The branch was single throughout.

The other direction was the Skipton to Ilkley Line across the Dales, with stations at Embsay, Bolton Abbey, Addingham and finally ending up at Ilkley. The line was double-tracked, as it formed a useful relief route for the busy main line via Keighley. The Ilkley line was closed in 1966, but the signal box at the junction remained in use until July 1969^[3] (to give access for track-lifting trains and to the quarry siding at Embsay). The remaining double track portion down to Skipton was singled at the same time.

References

1. Butt, R.V.J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations, Patrick Stephens Ltd, Sparkford, ISBN 1-85260-508-1, p. 108.
2. Grassington & Threshfield Station at Subterranea Britannica
3. Embsay Junction'Embsay & Bolton Abbey Railway website photogallery; Retrieved 2013-007-04

External links

• Grassington & Threshfield information
• Grassington & Threshfield station on navigable 1948 O. S. map

Preceding station	Disused railways			Following station
Rylstone		Midland Railway Yorkshire Dales Railway		Terminus