It is now 58 years since the line closed and the enormous achievements by the railway's staff and volunteers, from those first small steps right up to the present day, can be clearly seen by anyone who enjoys a ride along this wonderfully scenic 24-mile route from Whitby to Pickering. Could those early preservationists back in 1967 have possibly imagined that their project would evolve into a £6 million business carrying a third of a million passengers a year?

Taking a pictorial journey along the entire original route from Whitby through to Pickering, this book allows the reader to compare the railway of old and the desolation of the early closure period with today's vibrant heritage line. With the railway having celebrated its golden jubilee on 1 May 2023, this book chronicles the remarkable developments and achievements, year by year, over that 50 year period, and concludes with a glimpse of how and by whom this has been made possible. In so doing, it serves as a tribute to half a century of progress and to the many hundreds of people who made it all possible.