It is not known what arrangements were made to provide engines with water at Pickering in earlier times but the NER erected a standard cast-iron panelled tank on a brick base (similar to the one at Goathland) at the south end of the sidings immediately north of the station. This tank was filled by a pump located in a pump house between the north end of the Y&NM trainshed and the beck, the water being taken from Pickering Beck. The tank served three standard NER water columns, on the up and down main lines and on the turntable road. It also supplied water to the engine shed.