The Scarborough North Bay Railway is a ridable miniature railway built in 1931, running about 1.4 kilometres — seven-eighths of a mile — along the cliff top of North Bay between Peasholm Park and Scalby Mills.
It is 20-inch gauge, which is unusual, and it has been carrying passengers on the same route for over ninety years. It takes something in the order of 200,000 passengers a season.
The original locomotives are diesel-hydraulic machines built to look like steam engines, with names — Neptune, Triton, Poseidon, Robin Hood — and the fleet has been supplemented since.
They are proper miniature railway locomotives rather than fairground rides, and the railway is run by enthusiasts who know what they have.
About ten minutes each way along the cliff, with views over North Bay and the sea for most of the route.
From Peasholm — the station is beside the park — the line runs north along the cliff top, past Northstead Manor Gardens and the Open Air Theatre, to Scalby Mills at the far end of the bay.
At Scalby Mills there is SEA LIFE Scarborough, a pub, and access to the beach and the Cleveland Way coast path north towards Cloughton and Ravenscar.
A popular pattern, and a good one: take the train out to Scalby Mills and walk back along the beach or the promenade. It is about a half-hour walk, level, with the sea alongside, and it turns a ten-minute ride into a proper outing.
The railway’s own description is close to accurate: this is a thing for children and for adults who like trains, and it works across a very wide age range.
Dogs are carried, which families appreciate.
The staff are described consistently as pleasant and knowledgeable, which is what you would expect from a line run by people who are there because they want to be.
Fares are modest — singles and returns.
Season: roughly Easter to the end of October, with limited running at the shoulders and special services at Christmas.
Time: ten minutes each way; an hour or two with the walk back.
Access: the carriages are open and low with a step in; check with the operator about wheelchair provision.
Parking: at Peasholm and at Scalby Mills.
Getting there: Peasholm station is by the park, about 1.4 kilometres from Scarborough town centre — a twenty-minute walk or a short bus ride.
Peasholm Park — the oriental-themed park with the boating lake, the pagoda island and the Naval Warfare shows.
Northstead Manor Gardens and the Open Air Theatre, the largest in Europe, which hosts major concerts in summer.
Scalby Mills — SEA LIFE, a pub on the beach, and the start of the coast path north.
Alpamare waterpark is a few minutes from the Peasholm end.
North Bay beach runs the whole length alongside the line.
About 1.4 kilometres — seven-eighths of a mile — between Peasholm Park and Scalby Mills.
It opened in 1931 and has run the same route ever since.
No — the locomotives are diesel-hydraulic machines styled to look like steam engines.
Yes, and it is the recommended plan — about half an hour along the promenade or the beach.
Yes, dogs are carried.