Bedale railway station

First opened by the Bedale and Leyburn Railway in November 1855, the station very nearly did not get built at all as the initial plans for the Leeming to Leyburn route would have completely bypassed the town.^[1] This problem was subsequently corrected (following a major outcry in the locality) and by May 1856, passenger services had started running between Northallerton and Leyburn.^[2] These were subsequently extended to Hawes and Hawes Junction (later Garsdale) by the North Eastern Railway in October 1878.^[3]

Although the section between Bedale and Leeming was doubled by the turn of the century, the station never received a second platform, and the line became single again before passing through the adjacent level crossing.^[4] However, goods trains could be left on the line without a platform to allow passenger services to take priority on the line.^[5] Services were always modest at best, with a basic timetable of between five and seven trains each way operating right up until the closure of the line to passengers in April 1954.^[6]

The platform was given a moderate facelift in 1970 when the Royal Train was stabled overnight in the station. The Queen was on a ceremonial visit to the nearby Catterick military complex.^[7] In the 1980s, the station buildings were used as a cosmetic oils factory.^[8]

The station remained open for goods traffic for many years after the cessation of passenger trains (until 1982) and even then the platform and signal box survived (the latter to supervise the crossing and the last remaining passing loop on the otherwise single track route). Limestone trains from Redmire to the steelworks at Redcar ended in December 1992, but the line was subsequently retained for use by the Ministry of Defence to move military hardware to and from Catterick Garrison via a new transshipment facility at Redmire.^[9]