Scarborough and Whitby Railway Through Time

Scarborough and Whitby Railway Through Time contains 180 photographs of the Scarborough and Whitby Railway, of which 90 are old photographs. These photographs are printed alongside a contemporary full colour photograph which illustrates the same scene. The contrasting images reveal and highlight the changes of the last 100 years. The line was opened on the 16th July 1885 after having been first mooted 1848, three years after the opening of the York-Scarborough line, which branched out at Rillington and joined the hitherto independent Whitby-Pickering line. Browsing through the photographs brings the once busy days of the line back to life, when it was so well known to many thousands of holidaymakers visiting this part of the Yorkshire coast. The line closed in 1965, victim of 'The Beeching Axe', named for Dr Richard Beeching who was the main author of the Government's plan to substantially cut running costs and reshape the British railway system to better serve the reduced demand brought about by the country's rapidly growing road network.