Partly because the line between Pickering and Grosmont is so isolated, much of the scenery is untouched by modern day influences and this provides a perfect canvas for any filmmaker.
The North Yorkshire Moors Railway has featured in several feature length films over the years including, Brideshead Revisited and All Creatures Great and Small. More recently Pickering Station was dressed for Possession starring Gwynneth Paltrow. For the first film based on J K Rowling’s series, ‘Harry Potter and The Philosopher’s Stone’. Goathland Station was turned into “Hogsmeade” where the school of wizardry and witchcraft is based. The railway’s shop on the platform was transformed into the “Prefect’s Room” and the Ladies toilets became the “Wizard’s Room” which did cause a little confusion at the time!.
Of course filming a steam engine along the line is often an important part of the story and the railway can easily facilitate this with either one of our own engines or one brought here specially as was the case with ‘Olton Hall’ which visited us from Carnforth as the ‘Hogwarts Express’.
On television Poirot, Sherlock Holmes, Casualty and of course, Heartbeat have all featured the North Yorkshire Moors Railway in their programmes and all are set in different periods.
If you are interested in hiring the railway for filming please contact the Marketing & External Affairs Manager on 01751 473799
