The station was on the North Yorkshire and Cleveland's railway line between Picton and Stokesley, which opened in 1857.

The line was extended progressively until it met the Whitby & Pickering Railway at Grosmont.

[2] Mapping shows the station to have had three sidings in the goods yard, coal drops and a crane.

[3] The station was south of the village that it served,[4] and was actually in the parish of Carlton in Cleveland, which has led to speculation that it was named Sexhow to avoid confusion with Redmarshall railway station, which was originally named Carlton.

[5] Bradshaw's timetable of 1877 shows five out and back workings between Stockton railway station and Whitby, with connections advertised in Middlesbrough.