Railway station revived and repurposed for holidays with a difference

Tucked away on the edge of a tiny village between Pickering and Scarborough, The Old Station at Allerston is home to a collection of holiday lets that are just the ticket for train enthusiasts and those who prefer something completely different.

The three railway carriages on the site of a redundant station are now self-catering holiday homes, thanks to the remarkable efforts of Carol and Mark Benson. The couple began their rail- inspired odyssey 23 years ago when they bought the former stationmaster’s house and land where Ebberston Station once welcomed those travelling on the North Eastern Railway’s Pickering-to-Seamer branch line.

Closed in 1950, the station was long forgotten until Carol pursued an idea sparked by holidays in the inter-war period. “I was inspired by what were known as camping coaches, which were launched in the 1930s by railway companies. They were old passenger trains turned into holiday accommodation and you had to travel by train to get to them. They had them in Robin Hood’s Bay and other beauty spots and they were very basic. You had to use the toilets at the station,” said Carol, whose carriages have all mod cons.

These include insulation, central heating and a TV, a kitchen, bathroom, bedrooms and a sitting room, plus original features, such as the old train seats, luggage rack, compartment door and even the toilet’s Engaged sign.

She and Mark rescued them after outbidding scrap dealers for the ex-British Rail Mk2 first-class stock built in Derby between 1968 and 1969. The conversion wasn’t easy, especially as the couple wanted to preserve as many original features as possible.

“When we got them they had Network South East livery and looked like they did on their last journey,” says Carol . "They were littered with polystyrene cups and curled-up cheese sandwiches. They were also covered in graffiti so we had to learn how to acid-clean that off.”

Keen to make The Old Station at Allerston as authentic as possible, she and Mark also relaid the tracks and added a railway staff tool van at one end of the carriages before converting it into a utility room for guests.

“We didn’t want the carriages looking like they had just been abandoned, so we got the tool van for one end and a derelict brake van at the other, which is how they would have been,” she says.

The Bensons made the 1950s vehicle their project during the first lockdown. With help from joiner Peter Borrett, the 20-ton timber van on a cast-iron chassis was rebuilt with the original two seats, desk and brake lever. It will be as communal space for the Bensons’ guests.

“When appropriate, we plan to give the van a celebrity opening,” says Carol. “Our good friend Alistair Baker, who runs Bressingham Steam in Diss, is a regular visitor here and has agreed to do the honours.”

The Old Station at Allerston has been forced to close due to the national lockdown and the Bensons have lost their income for the time being but they are not moping.

Instead, the couple are going full steam ahead with their next project. They now have planning permission to turn the old ticket office and toilets adjoining their station house home into another holiday let.

“It will have the station clock and ticket hatch and we plan to fill it full of railway memorabilia,” says Carol. “Working on it will help take our minds off lockdown.”

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