A 'Potted' History of Whitby West Cliff Station

The station at Whitby West Cliff opened on 3rd of September, 1883 as a part of the Whitby, Redcar &
Middlesbrough Joint railway. It was the second station in the coastal town of Whitby; the

other station, Whitby Town, opened in 1836. The main station building was a substantial
brick built structure incorporating the stationmaster's house; this was located on the 'up' platform
where there was also a signal box. There was also a brick building on the 'down' platform
that included a long covered waiting area. All the station buildings on both platforms have
been converted into private residential units. The covered area on the ‘down’ platform has been
converted into a carport.

There was a covered footbridge at the south end and a parachute water tank and wooden
signal box on the ‘up’ platform as well as a parachute water tank on the north end of the ‘down’
platform. As Whitby is a seaside resort, traffic was much heavier in the summer months, the
summer timetable lasting for ten weeks, but for the rest of the year passengers were quite scarce.

Peak traffic occurred in 1938 when there were twelve through trains as well as excursion and
freight trains. The onset of World War II in 1939 saw a large decrease in passenger numbers,
but by 1954 summer traffic had increased to fourteen departures a day. On Sundays, there were
only six departures.  Winter traffic, however, saw only four trains on weekdays and none on
Sundays. 
By this time the private motor car was beginning to become more popular and thus passenger

numbers declined even further. The last train from Middlesbrough to Scarborough ran on the
3rd of May 1958 ending the service from Whitby West Cliff north to Loftus and Middlesbrough.
The station remained open until the 12th of June 1961 as the northern terminus of the line from
Scarborough. The final closure occurred on the 12th of June 1961.

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