It was later a private halt station for the staff who worked at the Gascoigne Wood marshalling yard.

The locomotive had no access to a turntable, and rather than turn it on the triangle, it simply worked tender backwards towards Leeds.

[6] Until the line between Church Fenton and Micklefield opened in 1869, services between York and Leeds that were not going through Burton Salmon, were required to reverse at Old Junction.

[13][14] The station was located at the western end of the marshalling yard built at Gascoigne Wood for the transfer of coal trains.

[7][18] The yard at Gascoigne Wood was the largest on the NER when it opened, with over 40 miles (64 km) of sidings.

[22] Whilst the Gascoigne Wood yard was closed in 1959 at the same time as the staff halt station, it was later used to build the pit head for the Selby Coalfield on the site of the former coal sidings.