East and West Yorkshire Junction Railway

The East and West Yorkshire Junction Railway was a railway company established in 1846 between the Leeds and Thirsk Railway at Knaresborough and the York, Newcastle and Berwick Railway near York, England. The company merged into the York and North Midland Railway in 1852.

As of 2017 the route forms part of the modern Harrogate Line, operated by Northern.

The application to form "The East and West Yorkshire Junction Railway" was made in November 1845, and the company was incorporated by Act of Parliament on 16 July 1846, this authorising £200,000 of capital (8,000 x £25 shares) and £66,600 of debt.

The line connected the Great North of England Railway (GNE) (later the York, Newcastle and Berwick Railway, YN&B) near York to the Leeds and Thirsk Railway (L&TR) at Knaresborough, with a route length of about 15 miles (24 km). The line branched from the GNE 1 mile 47 chains (2.55 km) from York station and passed through Poppleton, Hessay, Marston Moor, Hammerton, Cattal, Allerton and Goldsborough (originally Flaxby) to Knaresborough.

The line's engineer was Thomas Grainger and the main stations (Poppleton, Marston Moor, Cattal, and Allerton) were built by Samuel Atack to Grainger's designs. Construction began in 1847, works including a tunnel under part of Knaresborough and a viaduct over the River Nidd. The line was double tracked with a length of 14 miles 12 chains (22.8 km). On 11 March 1848 the nearly completed viaduct over the Nidd collapsed, and a temporary wooden station was constructed east of Knaresborough on Hay-A-Park Lane to allow the line to partially opened on 30 October 1848.

...
Wikipedia