Notes: Ellerby was a market station with trains only stopping on Tuesdays. After closure to passengers in 1902 the station remained in use as Ellerby West Siding although the 1904 RCH Handbook of stations doesn't list it suggesting that the siding had closed and was presumably reopened at a later date. It was renamed Weelerby West Siding 1.7.1923 after Burton Constable Station was renamed Ellerby on 1.1.1922 although the RCH Handbook of Stations for for 1956 still lists it as Ellerby West Siding. It handled general goods traffic only.

The station had a single platform on the down side of the line. The station building comprised a two storey house for the stationmaster with a single storey extension at the south end. The stationmaster would also been the crossing gate keeper. After closure of the station the house was retained for the gatekeeper.

There was a single short goods siding on the down side of the line to the north of the level crossing. This was relaid a few yards to the east when the line was doubled and later shortened. It handled general goods traffic only and closed 7 April 1959.

BRIEF HISTORY OF THE HULL & HORNSEA RAILWAY
A line connecting the Hull-Scarborough branch at Arram to a site near Hornsea Mere had been proposed in 1846/7 by the York and North Midland Railway but never built due to the downfall of chairman George Hudson amidst a financial scandal.

A new line connecting Hull and Hornsea was promoted by Hornsea resident and Hull timber merchant Joseph Armytage Wade, the aim of such a line being to develop Hornsea as a fashionable Victorian seaside resort.

The first sod was turned by Wade on 8.10.1862. Problems were encountered during construction due to the nature of the local soil; there were further issues with poor workmanship and materials used by the contractors. A late change of plan saw the line extended from the proposed terminus at Hornsea Bridge to the seafront; this meant construction of an embankment which required the ground to be piled adding substantially to the already escalating construction costs.

Opened on 28.3.1864, the line ran in a fairly direct North Easterly direction from Hull, the original Hull terminus was Wilmington station, though after 1st June 1864 trains ran via the Victoria Dock branch into Hull's Paragon station. Due to lower than expected receipts and consequent financial difficulties, the Hull and Hornsea Railway merged with the North Eastern Railway on 16.7.1866.

The line was constructed as a single track but was doubled throughout in the early 1900s. Diesel railcars were introduced from 71.1957 and operated local services from that date. Centralised Traffic Control (automated signaling and level crossings) was proposed in the early 1960's, but this was overtaken by the 'Beeching Report'. Closure to passengers came on 19.10.1964, with Goods services to Hornsea Bridge continuing until 3.5.1965.

Today, the trackbed of the railway forms the 'Hornsea Rail Trail', also part of the 'Trans Pennine Trail'- the majority of station buildings still exist and the trackbed is virtually complete throughout.

Further reading 'The Lost Railways of Holderness' by Peter Price (Hutton Press)
ISBN 0 0907033 86 5. Route map drawn by Alan Young.

To see the other stations on the Hull & Hornsea Railway click on the station name: Sutton-on-Hull, Swine, Skirlaugh, Ellerby 2nd station, Whitedale, Sigglesthorne, Wassand, Hornsea Bridge & Hornsea Town