A concrete firm is celebrating a successful partnership after it provided a fast solution to a collapsed embankment on a historic railway track.

North Yorkshire Moors Railway called upon the services of Telford-based Elite Precast Concrete to provide its V-Interlocking Blocks as a form of protection after a period of heavy rain saw one of its embankments collapse onto a fully-operating railway track at its Grosmont site.

"Heavy rainfall in short spaces of time is such a common cause for issues cross the railway sector in the UK," Owen Batham, Sales and Marketing Director of Elite Precast Concrete, explained. "It can cause a whole host of headaches for operators, such as delayed services due to speed restrictions, degradation of the track formation and even, in worst case scenarios, derailment. These issues can lead to loss of revenue and aggravation for users or visitors."


The firm was commissioned to create a concrete wall to prevent the bank collapsing again and to create a 'refuge' so that signalling control panels could be safely installed. The entire process, from sorting and delivering, right the way through to installing and completion, took just two days.

The Grosmont site of North Yorkshire Moors Railway is a 1952-style British Rail station, and houses engine rooms where the locomotives can be restored and viewed by passengers on the platform, as well as the main rail network.

Other sites of North Yorkshire Moors Railway include Goathland, the celebrity station home to the Hogsmeade Station from the first Harry Potter blockbuster, Newton Dale Halt, Levisham, Pickering, Esk Valley and Whitby.