 It opened in 1882 and closed in 1950, with the exception of a stretch from Pickering to Thornton Dale which remained open for quarry traffic until 1963.The line did not pass through Forge Valley, but the station in the village of West Ayton was named after it to avoid confusion with another station—Great Ayton—already owned by the North Eastern Railway.A railway running east/west across the Vale of Pickering, was first proposed in 1864.