Project 1: Goathland Bridges Renewal

Original Project Statements

The North Yorkshire Moors Railway is a historic heritage railway and our vital infrastructure only has a finite lifespan. To ensure we can run safely for future generations, we need to continuously invest in maintaining the many structures that carry the railway, alongside ongoing maintenance works to care for it and prolong its life.

Some of our bridges are over 150 years old and many were second-hand even before they were installed in their present locations. The metal structures are starting to show their age and renewal is essential to ensure we can keep running well into the future.

The Yorkshire’s Magnificent Journey project funded us to replace three of the vital bridges along the route - bridges 27, 24 and 25, all designed by Cass Hayward of Chepstow.

Carrying the 180-year-old railway over the Eller Beck at Goathland Station, this 20 metre bridge is best recognised as the iconic track leading to Hogsmeade Station, where the young wizards embarked for Hogwarts in the Harry Potter movie, The Philosopher’s Stone.

The bridge was suffering corrosion to significant parts of its early steelwork. Although early bridge design often includes some tolerance that enables the use of heavier axle-load steam engines like we run today, there were still areas of concern. Structural assessments and reviews of its condition led to the conclusion that the bridge was past economic repair if it was to continue carrying heavy steam locomotives.