staffed by volunteers. Pickering station has been its terminus since 1965 when the Malton-Pickering route connecting to the York to Scarborough main line was closed. Before the station became a terminus, the double-track railway took up the space now occupied by The Ropery (a road) and the car park to the east. Trains run daily from mid-March to early November and on selected dates through the winter. Trains are mostly steam-hauled; however in some cases heritage diesel engine is used. At the height of the running timetable, trains depart hourly from each station. During the summer months, steam services extend to the seaside town of Whitby. Passenger numbers have topped 350,000 in recent years. Pickering Castle Pickering Castle is situated at the edge of the moors. It is a classic, well-preserved example of an early motte and bailey castle refortified in stone during the 13th and 14th centuries, centred upon a shell keep crowning an impressive motte. There is an exhibition in the chapel. Pickering Church Pickering Church has a Saxon foundation, but the earliest phases of the present building date to the 12th and 13th centuries, with substantial additions in the 14th and 15th. In 1852 restoration work revealed a series of wall paintings on the north and south walls of the nave. Despite a local and national outcry, the paintings were whitewashed, and only rediscovered and restored in 1876–78. They have been called "the most complete collection of medieval wall paintings in England". Saint Joseph's Church Saint Joseph's Roman Catholic Church, on Potter Hill, was designed by the architect Leonard Stokes in 1911, on the instructions of the parish priest, Fr Edward Bryan. It contains a stone font by the sculptor Eric Gill, and the portable altar-stone of the 17th-century martyr Blessed Nicholas Postgate; also a fine icon, painted in Rome, of Our Lady of Perpetual Succour, and a mosaic of Christ blessing the loaves and fishes by local artist Audrey Murty. Outside the church is a statue of Saint Joseph designed by Peter Paul Pugin, son of Augustus Welby Pugin. The church features in the book A Glimpse of Heaven by Christopher Martin (English Heritage 2006). Events Pickering is host to a War Weekend, which includes parades and soup kitchens. There is also a theatre named Kirk Theatre, which is a popular tourist attraction. Transport Bus services operated by Yorkshire Coastliner connect to York via Malton, Whitby