Lineside and Station Artefact Collection

The Trust has a Lineside and Station Artefact Collection Policy, which is one of the range of policies under the umbrella of the overall Collection Development Policy. This Collection can be seen daily on stations and when travelling along the line from Pickering to Grosmont.

The scope of this part of the Collection covers any sign, notice, seat, cart, trolley or small structure alongside the line and pretty much everything which is on the stations and in some cases, in the buildings on stations. The buildings themselves do not form part of this component of the Collection. We know that not every artefact lineside or on stations is historic/original to this line but much of it is or is true to what would have been there – some are necessarily reproductions either because that is all that could be sourced but also because some of the original items need preserving and are stored elsewhere. 

All of the outside based artefacts are more vulnerable, to bad weather, damage and also very sadly to theft. All of these artefacts are part of telling the story of the history of the railway and also key to the operation of the line (for example instruction signs such as a “Whistle” sign, an instruction to blow the whistle as a warning on the approach to crossings; or to stop look and listen before crossing the track).

Other examples of artefacts in this part of the Collection are signals;

Signs (such as Goathland Summit)

Buffer stops (located at the end of sidings to prevent rolling stock going any further)

In addition, the content of signal boxes (a track diagram located in the Levisham signal box)

and booking offices (Goathland Station booking office).

The best we can do is keep a record of what exists, where it is, photograph it, note any history we know about it (including where it came from, if known) and do this on a regular basis – in other words, audit it all. In addition, the permanent way team also look out for any damage or repairs needed and work with the Archive to ensure any changes needed are noted. The care and conservation components of all “outside” parts of the Collection, rolling stock and artefacts, recognise the unavoidable deterioration and risk to those artefacts and the action to seek to minimise the impact.