Settle-Carlisle Railway

Legend West Coast Main Line towards Glasgow Carlisle Cumbrian Coast Line and West Coast Main Line Tyne Valley Line towards Newcastle Armathwaite Lazonby and Kirkoswald Langwathby Culgaith Tunnel 604m British Gypsum Works, Kirkby Thore Appleby Ormside Viaduct 183m Smardale Viaduct 217m Kirkby Stephen Dandry Mire/Moorcock Viaduct 208m Wensleydale Railway towards Hawes Closed 1964 Garsdale Rise Hill Tunnel 1109m Dent Arten Gill Viaduct 201m Dent Head Viaduct 182m Blea Moor Tunnel 2366m Ribblehead Viaduct 396m Ribblehead Horton-in-Ribblesdale Settle Airedale Line towards Lancaster Airedale Line towards Leeds

The Settle–Carlisle Railway (S&C) is a 72 mile (115 km) long main railway line in northern England. The West Coast Main Line (WCML is a busy mixed-traffic railway route in the United Kingdom. Glasgow Central is the larger of the two present main-line Railway terminals in Glasgow, Scotland, and is managed by Network Rail. This article is about the English railway station for the Australian station see Carlisle railway station Perth Carlisle railway station For historical information see Cumbrian Coast Line (history Towns and villages along the route Carlisle The West Coast Main Line (WCML is a busy mixed-traffic railway route in the United Kingdom. The Newcastle and Carlisle Railway, also known as the Tyne Valley Line, is a Railway line in northern England. Newcastle Central railway station is the mainline railway station in the city of Newcastle upon Tyne, England and is a principal stop on the East Coast Armathwaite railway station serves the village of Armathwaite in Cumbria, England. Lazonby and Kirkoswald railway station serves the villages of Lazonby and Kirkoswald in Cumbria, England. Langwathby railway station serves the village of Langwathby in Cumbria, England. Kirkby Thore is a small village and Hill in Cumbria, England at. Kirkby Stephen railway station serves the town of Kirkby Stephen in Cumbria, England. Line history Origins The original line between Northallerton and Garsdale was opened in stages Northallerton to Leeming Bar (in 1848 Leeming Bar to Bedale (in Hawes is a small Market town in the Richmondshire district of North Yorkshire, England. Garsdale railway station serves the immediate hamlet of Garsdale Head, Cumbria, England, together with the valley of Garsdale and the adjoining Dent railway station serves the villages of Cowgill and Dent in Cumbria, England. Ribblehead railway station is located at the southern end of the famous Ribblehead Viaduct in North Yorkshire, England. Horton-in-Ribblesdale railway station is a small station in Horton in Ribblesdale, North Yorkshire, England on the Settle-Carlisle Line. Settle railway station serves the town of Settle in North Yorkshire, England. The Airedale Line is the name given to one of the rail services in the West Yorkshire Metro area of northern England Lancaster railway station (formerly known as Lancaster Castle railway station) is a Railway station that serves the city of Lancaster in The Airedale Line is the name given to one of the rail services in the West Yorkshire Metro area of northern England Leeds railway station (often known by its official name Leeds City) is the mainline railway station serving the city centre of Leeds in West Yorkshire, "Railroad" and "Railway" both redirect here For other uses see Railroad (disambiguation. England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland It is also known as the Settle and Carlisle. It is a part of the National Rail network and was constructed in the 1870s. National Rail is a brand name of the Association of Train Operating Companies (ATOC Apart from temporary diversions (such as due to the closure of the West Coast Main Line) all passenger trains are operated by Northern Rail. The West Coast Main Line (WCML is a busy mixed-traffic railway route in the United Kingdom. Northern Rail (often referred to simply as Northern) is a Train operating company that has operated local passenger services in the north of England

The line runs through remote regions of the Yorkshire Dales and the North Pennines, and is considered to be the most scenic railway in England. The Yorkshire Dales (also known as The Dales) is the name given to an upland area in Northern England. The North Pennines is the northernmost part of the so-called 'backbone of England ' the range of hills which runs through the centre of the northern half of England The drama of its history and construction mean that it is regarded as one of the culminating symbols of Victorian enterprise and engineering.

The line runs from near the town of Settle, beginning at a junction with the line from Leeds to Morecambe, extending to the city of Carlisle close to the England/Scotland border. Settle is a small Market town within the Craven district of North Yorkshire, England. Leeds ( is located on the River Aire in West Yorkshire, England Morecambe is a resort town within the City of Lancaster district of Lancashire, England. Carlisle (pronounced CARLYLE(emphasis on the first syllable is a City in northern England the largest settlement in Cumbria. On the way the line passes through the town of Appleby and a number of small communities. A town is a type of settlement ranging from a few to several thousand (occasionally hundreds of thousands inhabitants although it may be applied loosely even to huge metropolitan Appleby-in-Westmorland is a town in Cumbria in North West England.

Ribblehead station

History

The S&C had its origins in railway politics — the expansion-minded Midland Railway company, was locked in dispute with the rival London and North Western Railway over access rights to the latter’s tracks to Scotland. Ribblehead railway station is located at the southern end of the famous Ribblehead Viaduct in North Yorkshire, England. The Midland Railway (MR was a Railway company in the United Kingdom, which existed from 1844 to 1922 when it became part of the London Midland and Scottish The London and North Western Railway (LNWR L&NWR was a Railway company of the United Kingdom which existed between 1846 and 1922 Scotland ( Gaelic: Alba) is a Country in northwest Europethat occupies the northern third of the island of Great Britain. The Midland board decided that the only solution was their own route to Scotland. Surveying began in 1865, and in June 1866, Parliamentary approval was given to the Midland’s plan.

Soon after, however, the Overend-Gurney banking failure sparked a financial crisis in the UK. Overend Gurney & Company was a London wholesale discount Bank, known as "the bankers' bank" which collapsed in 1866 owing about 11 Interest rates rose sharply, several railways went bankrupt and the Midland's board, prompted by a shareholders' revolt, began to have second thoughts about a venture where the estimated cost was £2. 3m. As a result, in April 1869, with no work yet started, the company petitioned Parliament to abandon the scheme it had earlier fought for. However Parliament, under pressure from other railways which would benefit from the scheme but which would cost them nothing, refused, and construction commenced in November that year.

Construction

Ribblehead Viaduct

The line was built by over 6,000 navvies — mechanical diggers had not yet been invented – who laboured in some of the worst weather conditions England can provide. Navvy is a shorter form of navigational engineer ( USA) or navigator ( UK) and is particularly applied to describe the manual labourers working Huge camps were established to house the navvies, many of them Irish. The Midland Railway helped pay for scripture readers to counteract the effect of drunken violence in an isolated neighbourhood. The camps were complete townships featuring post offices and schools and had names such as Inkerman, Sebastapol and Jericho. The remains of one of these camps — Batty Green — where over 2,000 navvies lived and worked, can be seen near Ribblehead.

A plaque in the church at nearby Chapel-le-Dale records the workers who died — both from disease and accidents — building the railway. The death toll is unknown but 80 people died at Batty Green alone following a smallpox epidemic. Smallpox is an Infectious disease unique to humans caused by either of two virus variants named Variola major and Variola minor.

A memorial stone was laid in 1997 in the churchyard of St Mary's Church, Mallerstang to commemorate the 25 railway builders and their families who died during the construction of this section of the line, and who were buried there in unmarked graves. Mallerstang is a Civil parish in the extreme east of Cumbria - and geographically a Dale at the head of the upper Eden Valley.

The engineer for the project was John Crossley, a Leicestershire man who was a veteran of other major Midland schemes.

The terrain traversed is some of the bleakest and wildest in England, and construction was halted for months at a time due to frozen ground, snowdrifts and flooding of the works. One contractor had to give up as a result of underestimating the terrain and the weather — Dent Head has almost four times the rainfall of London. Another long-established partnership dissolved under the strain.

The line was engineered to express standards throughout — local traffic was secondary and many stations were miles from the villages they purported to serve. It reaches a summit of 1,169 feet (356 m) at Ais Gill, north of Garsdale, To keep the gradients down to no steeper 1 in 100 (1%), a requirement for fast running using steam traction, huge engineering works were required and even then the terrain imposed a 16-mile (26 km) climb from Settle to Blea Moor, almost all of it at 1 in 100, and known to enginemen as ‘the long drag. ’.

Even then, 14 tunnels and 22 viaducts were needed, the most notable being the 24 arch Ribblehead Viaduct which is 104 ft (32 m) high and 440 yards (402 m) long. A tunnel is an underground passageway The definition of what constitutes a tunnel is not universally agreed upon A viaduct is a Bridge composed of several small spans The term viaduct is derived from the Latin via for road and ducere to A yard (abbreviation yd) is a unit of Length in several different systems including English units Imperial units and United The swampy ground meant that the piers had to be sunk 25 ft (8 m) below the peat and set in concrete in order to provide a suitable foundation.

Soon after the crossing of the viaduct, the line enters Blea Moor tunnel, 2,629 yd (2,404 m) long and 500 ft (152 m) below the moor, before emerging again on to Dent Head viaduct. The summit at Ais Gill is still the highest point reached by main line trains in England.

To maintain speed, water troughs were laid between the tracks at Garsdale so that steam engines could take water without losing speed.

Operation

The line opened for freight traffic in August 1875 with the first passenger trains starting in April 1876. The cost of the line at the end was £3. 6 million — 50 per cent above the estimate and a colossal sum for the time.

For some time the Midland set the pace for London-Glasgow traffic, actually providing more daytime trains than its rival. But in 1923 The Midland was merged into the London Midland & Scottish Railway, with the LNWR also forming part of the new company. In the merged company, the disadvantages of the Midland’s route were clear — its steeper gradients and greater length meant it could not compete on speed from London to Glasgow, especially as Midland route trains had to make more stops to serve major cities in the Midlands and Yorkshire.

The Midland had long competed on the extra comfort it provided for its passengers but this advantage was lost in the merged company.

After nationalisation in 1948, the pace of rundown quickened. It was regarded as a duplicate line, and control over the through London-Glasgow route was split over several regions which made it hard to plan popular through services. Mining subsidence severely affected speeds through the East Midlands and Yorkshire.

In 1962, for example, the Thames-Clyde Express travelling via the S&C took almost nine hours from London to Glasgow — over the West Coast main Line the journey length was 7 hours 20 minutes. The Thames-Clyde Express was a named express passenger train operating on British Railways' Midland Main Line, Settle-Carlisle Railway and the Glasgow In the 1963, Beeching Report into the restructuring of British Railways recommended the withdrawal of all passenger services from the line. The Beeching Axe is an informal name for the British Government 's attempt in the 1960s to reduce the cost of running British Railways, the nationalised railway system Some smaller stations had already closed in the 1950s. The Beeching recommendations for the line were shelved, but in 1970 all stations except for Settle and Appleby West were closed, and its stopping passenger service cut to just two a day in each direction, leaving only freight.

Only a handful of express passenger services continued to operate, The Waverley from London to Edinburgh via Nottingham ended in 1968, while the more important Thames-Clyde Express from London to Glasgow via Leicester, lasted until 1975. London ( ˈlʌndən is the capital and largest urban area in the United Kingdom. Edinburgh ( ˈɛdɪnb(ərə Dùn Èideann) is the Capital of Scotland and is its second largest city after Glasgow. Nottingham ( is a city in the Ceremonial county of Nottinghamshire, England. London ( ˈlʌndən is the capital and largest urban area in the United Kingdom. Glasgow (ˈglæzgoʊ is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom Leicester (ˈlɛstə is the largest city and Unitary authority area in the East Midlands of England, and is the traditional Night sleepers from London to Glasgow continued until 1976. After that a residual service from Glasgow — cut back at Nottingham — survived until May 1982.

Threat of closure

All through the 1970s, the S&C suffered a drought of investment, and most freight traffic was diverted onto the West Coast Main Line which had been electrified to Glasgow in 1975. The West Coast Main Line (WCML is a busy mixed-traffic railway route in the United Kingdom. Because of the lack of investment the condition of many of the viaducts and tunnels on the line was deteriorating. The only positive news came from the Dalesrail services operated to closed stations on summer weekends since 1974. These were promoted by the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority to encourage ramblers to arrive by train.

2004 summer timetable for the line issued by the now-defunct Arriva Trains Northern advertising its loco-hauled service on the line. Arriva Trains Northern was a train operating company that operated passenger trains in Yorkshire and the North East of England

In the early 1980s, the S&C was carrying only a handful of trains per day, and British Rail decided that the cost of renewing the viaducts and tunnels would be prohibitively expensive, given the small amount of traffic carried on the line. See also Rail transport in Great Britain, National Rail, Network Rail This article is about the defunct entity "British Railways" In 1981 a protest group, the Friends of the Settle-Carlisle Line (FoSCL), was established, and this group campaigned against the line's closure even before it was officially announced.

In 1984 closure notices were posted at the S&C's remaining stations. However, local authorities and rail enthusiasts joined together and started a campaign to save the S&C, pointing out that British Rail was ignoring the S&C's potential for tourism, ignoring the need to a diversionary route to the West Coast main line, and failing to promote through traffic from the Midlands and Yorkshire to Scotland. Tourism is Travel for Recreational or Leisure purposes The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people who "travel

There was outrage over the closure plan — critics pointed out that this was a main line, not a small branch railway. The campaign uncovered convincing evidence that British Rail had mounted a dirty tricks campaign against the line, exaggerating the cost of repairs (£6 million for Ribblehead Viaduct alone) and deliberately diverting traffic from the line in order to justify its closure plans, a process referred to as closure by stealth. Closure by stealth is a term most frequently used in the UK and Ireland to refer to the deliberate downgrading of a service by the management or owners with the intention Ironically, the publicity over British Rail's tactics succeeded in a huge increase in traffic. Journeys per year were 93,000 in 1983 when the campaign to save the line began — and hit 450,000 by 1989. As a result of the campaign, the Government finally refused consent to close the line in 1989, and British Rail started to repair the deteriorating tunnels and viaducts ([1]).

The line today

The S&C is probably busier now than at any time in its history. In recent years, due to congestion on the West Coast Main Line, much freight traffic is using the S&C once again, especially coal from the Hunterston coal terminal in Scotland travelling to power stations in Yorkshire. Hunterston Terminal, in North Ayrshire, Scotland is a coal-handling port located at Hunterston on the Firth Major engineering work has been needed to bring the line up to the standards required for such heavy freight traffic and further investment is required to reduce the length between signal boxes. Local passenger traffic has increased, with eight of the minor stations closed in 1970 now re-opened. That at Ribblehead features a special visitor centre. The line continues to be an important diversionary route from the West Coast Main Line during engineering works, though as it is unelectrified (unlike the WCML), electric trains such as Pendolinos require to be hauled by a diesel locomotive along that section. The West Coast Main Line (WCML is a busy mixed-traffic railway route in the United Kingdom.

However Anglo-Scottish expresses have not been fully restored. The now defunct Arriva Trains Northern had initiated a twice daily Leeds — Glasgow Central service (calling at Settle, Carlisle, Lockerbie and Motherwell), but this was withdrawn due to industrial action at the TOC and never restored, and there remains no link from Yorkshire or the East Midlands to Glasgow over the line, and the link from Lancashire operates only on Sunday for the benefit of ramblers under the DalesRail brand ([2]). Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England, bounded to the west by the Irish Sea

References

• Baughan P E; The Midland Railway North of Leeds (1966)
• WIlliams F S; Williams' Midland Railway (1875, reprinted 1968)
• Towler J; The Battle for the Settle & Carlisle (1990)
• Abbott, Stan and Whitehouse, Alan (1994) The line that refused to die. Hawes: Leading Edge. (Revised edition, first published 1990) ISBN 0-948135-43-3

External links

• Settle-Carlisle Partnership — timetables, online secure shop, route guides and the latest news, plus information about FoSCL
• a privately produced site with comprehensive information about the railway
• Friends of DalesRail — Free guided walks from the Settle-Carlisle railway
• A history of the Mallerstang section of the line, and a commemoration of those who died during its construction, and in three accidents in this dale
• Images and information of each railway station
• British Railways in 1960 - The Settle to Carlisle line