Activities of the North Yorkshire Moors Railway - My attention has been drawn to the letter from "Mrs B" in Issue No. 39.

I would like to assure all your readers that the North Yorkshire Moors Railway is very conscious of our obligations to our neighbours, including the need to avoid creating unnecessary disturbance or inconvenience. Inevitably, however, the very existence of a working railway brings with it a degree of noise and other disturbance, although we do our best to keep these to a minimum.

In effect 'Mrs B' is saying, “don’t carry out this activity here”. Unfortunately if the railway is to continue to develop there is no practicable alternative. Very many years ago Pickering was selected as the most practical location to site our workshops for the maintenance and overhaul of the railway's carriages. This is an activity that requires modern purpose built premises, and as business has grown over the years so has the need to expand facilities.

So far as the recent structure is concerned, extensive discussions took place with the planners before approval was granted.

Although the building is functional in nature, every effort has been made to design it in a way that minimises unnecessary intrusion commensurate with its intended purpose.

The reference to £15 million being brought to the local economy (recent research now suggests this to be an underestimate) shows how vital this railway is to the local economy. Indeed I venture to suggest that its loss would have a devastating effect on the town of Pickering. True we have an income of more than £4 million a year, but all of this, and more, is needed to ensure that we can continue as one of Yorkshire’s main tourist attractions bringing huge economic benefit to this community.

Finally, I note that in her own words “Mrs B” is a relative newcomer to Pickering. May I remind your readers that the North Yorkshire Moors Railway has been here now for 35 years and its predecessors, which also had sidings for shunting wagons, a water tower and other infrastructure on the site, since 1835.

Philip Benham, General Manager.