A STATION beloved by railway enthusiasts and film fans alike has celebrated a special anniversary.

Goathland Station on the North York Moors Railway, near Whitby, was opened 150 years ago, on July 1 865.

It is now famous for its picturesque setting and, more recently, playing Hogsmeade station in the first of the Harry Potter movies.

But it was a major development back in 1865, when it was part of the “deviation” route of the railway.

The deviation route was constructed as a way of working round what was known as the Beckhole Incline – a steep slope which engines were pulled up by a stationary steam engine at the top.

It enabled trains to run the length of the line from Pickering to Whitby without any additional assistance and a part of the deviation, the station was built on the site of the former Goathland Mill.

“Although the rope-pull mechanism at Beckhole Incline functioned adequately, it did interrupt the journey, which is why the railway was diverted around the smoother inclines around Goathland,” said the railway’s managing director, Philip Benham.

“When the new diversion opened, it meant that trains could run uninterrupted between Pickering and Whitby for the first time, although the owners at the time kept the Beckhole route intact for a further three years.”

Documents in the North Yorkshire Moors Railway archive show that the tender for completing the deviation was won by Thomas Nelson for a price of £56,000.

Its implementation required the construction of four stone overbridges, seven stone underbridges and one stone viaduct.

And visitors today can still walk the old “Rail Trail” with a recommended starting point at Goathland, where passengers can disembark the train and walk to Grosmont to pick up the next service.

The line of the deviation is still fully functional today, with services running daily throughout the summer.