The North York Moors Railway (latterly calling itself the North Yorkshire Moors Railway) runs for about 18 miles. The route leads from its southern terminus of Pickering to Grosmont in the north, where there is a connection to the Darlington to Whitby line. The NYMR also runs a service from Grosmont to Whitby, although I'm not aware of any through services. Up until the 1960s, the NYMR continued beyond Pickering to link up with the York-Scarborough line.

The scenery is varied and particularly attractive, changing from farmland at the Pickering end to more rugged country as the line climbs up onto the moors. Toward Grosmont, farmland makes a reappearance. The landscape is hilly, and there are some steep gradients that keep the engines working hard, especially on the southbound climb out of Goathland.

The railway has a selection of steam locomotives to haul its trains. Some, like the Stanier 5MT 4-6-0s, or "Black Fives", are typical of locomotives that would have worked the line when it was part of the rail network. Gresley's A4 4-6-2, named "Sir Nigel Gresley" after its designer, was at least built by the LNER (the operators of the line from 1923 until nationalisation in 1947). However, an A4 is really too large and too grand to work a rural line. Other locos originate from the Southern Railway and the Great Western Railway, and so are a little out of their true geographic area.