Disused/Closed UK Railway Lines

Lensmeister · 2024-10-06T12:21:53.299Z

Afternoon all,

Does someone have a map/gpx of certain Disused/Closed Railway Lines.
I have used BRouter web client to get the GPX file for the lines from Whitby to Middlesbrough along the Esk Valley Line.
I am looking to make an identical map/gpx for the following disused lines:
Whitby to Scarborough
Whitby to Middlesbrough via the coast via Skinningrove.
Battersby to Picton.
Pickering to Malton.

I’ve used this map (https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=16.2&lat=54.50319&lon=-0.67215&layers=6&b=1&o=100) site to get some of the locations I am interested in.

If anyone has this and is willing to share that would be great of can anyone give advice on how to get this to an utter beginner like me.

Thanks in advance for help.
Neil.

SomeoneElse · 2024-10-09T16:41:38.153Z

I suspect that quite a lot of the geometries of those will actually be in OSM**. For example, an Overpass search for “any sort of railway way” between Malton and Pickering finds lots - both the remaining Scarborough line, the former line to Pickering, as well as other odds and sods such as the monorail at Flamingoland. I’d expect you’ll be able to tinker with the Overpass Turbo query to look more specifically for what you want. OpenRailwayMap shows this sort of stuff, so does this one of mine over a more normal background. If you fancy a monster PDF, there’s also “new Adlestrop”.

** Arguably things that don’t exist any more shouldn’t really be in OSM, but that’s very much a discussion for elsewhere (there were several very long parallel discussions ongoing about it earlier this year), and not really part of the answer to your question

Lensmeister · 2024-10-09T18:20:35.849Z

Thanks Andy.
I’ve tried a dabble in this but I’m pretty much a total and utter beginner.
I’ve looked at QGIS and it’s baffled me.

I may have to get a map and try to draw a line using photoshop.
Thanks
Neil

InsertUser · 2024-10-09T22:39:52.245Z

QGIS does have a QuickOSM plugin that makes it easyish to bring in either a file you’ve downloaded separately or an OverPass query if you get one that works well. Unfortunately the rest of it is a bit of a steeper learning curve.

If you want something browsable online you can export the data and bring it into something like a uMap. If you go with that option I’d recommend you create the map while logged in, the links to be able to edit the anonymous ones are notoriously easy to lose.

I think the easiest option will depend a bit on your use case.