North Yorkshire Moors Railway: when and where the free Heritage Open Days events are taking place

The North Yorkshire Moors Railway (NYMR) joins the celebration of England's rich history of invention, industry and innovation with Heritage Open Days, with Pickering playing host to a number of its events and activities.
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A free national festival celebrating history and culture, Heritage Open Days will take place from September 9 to 18 featuring exclusive events and opportunities that aren’t usually open for the public to access, including:

Signal Box Demonstrations, Pickering, September 10 and 17

Get hands-on with the history of communication and signalling as the NYMR education volunteers show you how the signal box works.

Youngsters visit a signal box.Youngsters visit a signal box.
Youngsters visit a signal box.
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You’ll even have a go at operating signal levers yourself during the experience on Platform 2 on Pickering Station

History of the railway line by Ron Pickering, Pickering, September 9 and 14

A one-hour presentation and Q&A session that explores the development of the original Whitby to Pickering line and the start of the NYMR.

Tour of Carriage Care Facility, Pickering, September 10, 16 and 18

Engineers prepare various engines for the days work in the main railway workshop at Grosmont/Engineers prepare various engines for the days work in the main railway workshop at Grosmont/
Engineers prepare various engines for the days work in the main railway workshop at Grosmont/
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An hour-long tour of the new Trout Farm Carriage Care Facility in Pickering to see how the new £4m facility enables the NYMR to care for its heritage carriages from carrying out routine maintenance, to servicing and inspections.

LNERCA Atkins Building Tour, Pickering, September 11, 12, 14, 15 & 18

A 20-30 minute tour of the NLHF Atkins Building at Pickering Station, home to the detailed carriage restoration of the London & North Eastern Railway Coach Association (LNERCA) where a team of NYMR volunteers, obtain, operate and lovingly restore a collection of ex-LNER heritage carriages which the NYMR use on the railway.

Chris Price, General Manager at NYMR, said: “We’re particularly excited about year’s theme which is ‘Astounding Inventions’ as it couldn’t be more of a perfect fit for us at the NYMR, and what we’re trying to achieve when educating our visitors about the past and importance of heritage railways and preserving this precious legacy for future generations to come.

"After all, where would we be without steam trains?”

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There are events at other venues along the steam railway line.

Grosmont station is hosting a tour of the Motive Power Depot on September 10 and 11, where you can join a 15 minute tour to see what happens behind the scenes of the operating hub of the railway.

This includes a tour of the restoration workshop and the boiler shop where there’ll be plenty of opportunities to take photographs of the locomotives and work being done to restore and maintain the NYMR’s historic fleet.

Lineside Conservation Activity takes place at Grosmont on September 11 and at Levisham on September 19, when Lineside Conservation volunteers will tell people all about the living museum that is the NYMR over 36 miles of lineside that covers approximately 170 acres.

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You will be able to find out all about the important habitats in its surroundings including projects happening along the lineside.

Heritage Open Days is England’s largest festival of history and culture.

Running for 10 days every September, the festival offers free access to heritage events and activities across England.