Picton–Battersby line

The Picton–Battersby line was a railway line running from Picton, North Yorkshire, England, on what is now the Northallerton–Eaglescliffe line, to Battersby on what is now the Esk Valley line.

Construction
The line was constructed by the North Yorkshire and Cleveland Railway (NY&C) between Picton (on the Leeds Northern's 1852 route between Northallerton and Stockton) and Grosmont. It was opened in 1857 from Picton to Stokesley, with intermediate stations at Trenholme Bar, Potto and Sexhow. The line included a two-mile branch south from Potto to the mines at Whorlton.

The NY&C was incorporated into the North Eastern Railway (NER) in 1858, the same year the Rosedale Branch Line for the Rosedale mines was purchased from private owners and began conversion from narrow gauge to standard gauge. It was left to NER to finish the line to Grosmont via Battersby. This and the link line to Nunthorpe were completed in stages to 1865.

Stations
There were seven stations on the Picton to Battersby section of the NY&C.
 * Picton


 * Picton is the station at which the line met the Leeds Northern's route between Northallerton and Stockton, which is now the Northallerton–Eaglescliffe line. The station closed in 1960, but the stationmaster's house still survives.


 * Trenholme Bar
 * One of the original stations upon opening in 1857, the station closed along with passenger traffic in 1954. The station was situated on a level crossing with the old A19 single carriageway. The stationmaster's house survives but most of the site was taken up by the A19 dual carriageway upgrade in the early 1970s.


 * Potto


 * Serving the village of Potto, the station was open from 1857 to 1954. It was the last station before the branch to Whorlton mines, receiving two daily shipments of ironstone. The station building survives as a private residence and business premises.


 * Sexhow
 * Served the village of Sexhow from 1857 to 1954. The station building survives.


 * Stokesley


 * The last of the original stations opened in 1857, Stokesley closed in 1954 along with the rest of the passenger traffic. Closed to freight in 1965. The station building survives, after being well restored by a firm of architects. Stokesley station featured comprehensively in the BTF production "A farmer moves south" and is therefore one of the best documented of the closed rural stations.


 * Ingleby


 * This station served the village of Ingleby Greenhow from 1858 to 1954. The station building remains.


 * Battersby


 * Originally called Ingleby Junction in 1858, then Battersby Junction from 1878, before finally becoming Battersby in 1893, the station is the only one on the line to remain in use, as part of the Esk Valley line.

Whorlton branch
A 2 mi branch to the ironstone mines at Ailesbury and Swainby left the line southwards after Potto station. This was opened with the initial section of the line and forwarded two ironstone trains per day to the furnaces on Teesside. The mines were exhausted in 1887 and the branch was closed in 1892.

Closure
When the freight from the mines ceased, the passenger services along the Picton–Battersby and Esk Valley lines still remained important to the region, despite competition along the coast lines, with seven weekday trains along the line between Teesside and Whitby in 1900. However, this dropped to four in 1922 and by 1954 it was only two. Passenger services were withdrawn on 14 June 1954, with goods traffic ending west of Stokesley in 1958. Freight traffic remained between Stokesley and Battersby until 1965, when it too ceased, and the line dropped completely out of use.

Battersby station (originally Ingleby Junction, later Battersby Junction in 1878, and its current name from 1893) and the line to Grosmont remain as part of the Esk Valley line.