The current route of the York to Selby cycle path was part of the East Coast Main Line, until the threat of subsidence from the Selby coalfield forced the route of the railway to be changed in 1983. This railway heritage is one of four main avenues for historical research in the Railway to Greenway project. You can find out more about the history of this railway by clicking on the links below.
In the archive –
- Origins of the East Coast Mainline
- The LNER Encyclopedia
- Maps and plans of the proposed and actual rail network in the York area.
- Learn about the history of Naburn swing bridge courtesy of York RI Sailing Club.
- Some photos of the Naburn Swing Bridge – Courtesy of Naburn and Bishopthorpe Local History Groups
- Photos of Selby Bridge – a similar design – and its predecessor
- Steam to Diesel – images of rolling stock from Mallard to Royal Scot to Deltic and HST 125
- Photos of trains and infrastructure at Riccall and Escrick – courtesy of Riccall Local History Group
- Maps and plans of the proposed and actual rail network in the York area.
More historic photos and maps can be found on the page contributed by Frank Paterson – retired General Manager of the BR Eastern Region Search ‘Frank Paterson’
Also some personal memories of people who lived alongside the track when it was still in use –
- (Almost) de-railing the Royal Scot
- Siver Cross Pram
- Young Daredevils
- Friendly fire
Robert Cayton’s son Les still lives in Bishopthorpe. He was brought up in the cottages by the bridge over Acaster…
Sam Taylor in his book “Riccall: a Village History” looks at the 1901 Census to illustrate the impact of the…
Some images of Naburn Swing Bridge courtesy of local history groups from Riccall, Naburn and Bishopthorpe. Note the different structures…
The British Railways decided to dispose of steam locomotives in favor of switching to diesel power in the 1960s, so…
Steve Bolton’s memoir tells of his adventures as a youthful train-spotter in Riccall and beyond. He later fulfilled his youthful…
This excel file was compiled by Sophie Vohra of York University as a scoping exercise identifying documents that might be…
Riccall Local History Group has a selection of photographs of the railway line over many decades.
A selection of maps and plans showing the proposed and actual networks in the area. This map shows the network…
Original land plans and sections created in 1863 – 1864 by the railway company surveyor for the proposed line from…
From time to time, there were accidents on the railway. In the two pictures below, an accident occurred when a…
HST 125 High Speed 254004 express from London to Aberdeen crossing Selby swing bridge on Tuesday 19th May 1981 at…
John Meredith was a railway engineer who started work on the Southern Railway in 1945. After ten years, he went…
This is an item about the North Eastern Railway on the York, Selby and Doncaster line. At some point we…
The Parliamentary Bills and minutes of evidence is held at The National Archives and is only accessible there. Reference…