The installation of a yard at Dringhouses came about due to the amount of coal traffic passing through York during the First World War. Welsh coal was being transported north, for ships of the Royal Navy which had Scottish ports as their home base, and coal from County Durham was being taken to the Midlands and London. The need to cope with the additional traffic necessitated extra sidings and eventually, in 1916, the yard at Dringhouses. The yard was located south of railway station and was adjacent to the 'up' main line (the southbound line).
