Settle to Carlisle Line

No cruising today, instead we took a day trip by train to the Settle to carlisle line and the famous Ribblehead Viaduct.

We began by walking from the boat to Carnforth Station which was made famous by the David Lean 1945 film Brief Encounter which was partly filmed here.

Part of the station is now set up as a heritage centre with displays about the film and the station's history. Alas, it only opens noon - 4pm so we could only see the outside (the Open sign lied!). It does at least give so idea of how stations from that period looked and felt but it is possible that originally there would have been far more staff around (today: none)

The main running platform is noted for its record breaking concrete canopy.

We took five trains today, all but one were run by Northern and were on time. Alas, the one run by Aviva, on the day that its boss resigned over the company's poor, performance, had real problems. Information on the National Rail website was confusing and worrying so we chatted to the Train Manager on the first train as well as trying (unsuccessfully) to get more information. She could not have  been more friendly or helpful. In the end we bought t he final ticket that was not available last night on line. And there she us was, as we alighted at Giggleswick, waving us farewell (or was it telling the driver it was time to go?)

It would have been possible to stay on this train to a later stop where it connected with the next train we wanted but that would have given us a long wait at an isolated station. Instead we opted to walk a mile across to Settle station where at least there were things to see and do whilst waiting. We had our first views of the Yorkshire moorlands.

At one point along the way we passed a memorial to a Thomas Brayshaw (1854 - 1931) from Settle. he was a solicitor but gained this memorial because of his extensive work on the local history.

Nearing the town we spotted this display - at the time we thought there must be a scarecrow competition but we later discovered is was around the theme of flower pots. The U3A decided that they would combine both ideas!

Eventually we reached the entrance to the station. Alongside was the former large water tower. In the days of steam, water - along with coal - was an important commodity.

A train, in the opposite direction from Ribblehead, was due and its platform was remarkably busy.

At some stage in its past, the line was simplified from 20 to 10 stations and a similar reduction in the number of signal boxes. Most still retain the traditional mechanical semaphore signals. The box at Settle was redundant and for a long time it was left simply abandoned. Eventually a group of volunteers rescued it, which also entailed moving it about 150 metres - with great care as it had become somewhat fragile. Today's volunteers use it to demonstrate how the system worked with levers, bells and inventive mechanisms, to keep trains safe and prevented from running in to each other.

In the end we had too little time left to look at the centre of Settle, but crossed the bridge to wait for the train to Ribblehead, a short ride.

After arriving, we immediately set off down the road and later a track to take a look at the famous viaduct. The Station Master's House was bought by the conservation trust associated with the line, along with one or two others, and converted to be used as holiday accommodation.

The view here shows  not only the road down to the Station Inn but also, just to its right, the track that leads down to the viaduct.

We could also see the main parking spot beside the road which was especially busy. Perhaps as many as 80 cars at a time. The popularity is sufficiently guaranteed that there was at least one catering van!

As we started along the track an excursion train - alas hauled by two old diesel locos - came across the viaduct. A notice at Settle said that it was expected but gave no time.

And now a few images of the structure itself - sorry, but we were not skilled enough to get a really good shot of the whole viaduct but the others will perhaps give a sense of the scale. It is not perhaps the largest viaduct we have seen but its impact is very much heightened by its place in its physical context. There is no doubting the sheer engineering achievement as well as the commercial determination.  (In fact the line was only built in its hostile environment because the Midland Railway, one of the largest, lost out to two competitors for the better east and west coast lines)

At the bottom we found a stone seat underneath the central arch where we could sit and eat our packed lunch. The popularity of the place meant that we were never alone on the track - it was almost congested at times (well, almost!)

After walking back up to the station we had time for a pot of tea and a couple pof cakes from the heritage centre tea room - as well as a friendly chat with the two volunteers on duty today.

We crossed over the line to the same platform where we arrived as our schedule now took us along the rest of the Settle to Carlisle line. The station here has had a chequered history and closed at times before it was restored to two platforms but by then they had - unusually - to be offset from each other.

The ride from here to the end was about an hour and a half and initially there were more panoramic views but, in reality, we had already seen the better part of the line!

Coming into Carlisle we were apprehensive. From online updates we knew that the train we planned to catch had not even set off from Glasgow but that there was another, earlier,  possibility about 20 minutes later. However, we were a couple of minutes early arriving and had already discovered that the departures were from a platform alongside our arrival. A train was waiting there! A quick check and saw that it was dues to call at Lancaster, as we needed so we hopped aboard. We then discovered that we ought not to have caught this train but for the fact that it was over ten minutes late! (When the other train finally left Glasgow it was over 40 minutes late with no explanation)

As we journeyed down to Lancaster we passed through Carnforth but fast trains do not call here. The main plan is to see Lancaster as a hub from which passengers can catch a 'local' train back up to Carnforth, only about 10 minutes. We also found that an earlier train, with a good 10 minutes transfer time was due to arrive which we successfully caught as it was exactly on time. And who runs that train: Norther, Who runs the trains on the main line - Avanti. Seems to us that the next head of that company will have some work to do.

After all our concerns and machinations with Plan B's, we ended up arriving back into Carnforth the better part of an hour earlier than expected, with no time to waste in Lancaster. Most of our concern had been about batteries - our one enduring daily issue! We did 'push the envelope' and run the engine for an hour from 8 am before we set out, and turned off the freezer, the biggest consumer, but if we ended up much after our planned return around 6 pm then we would have issue with a depleted power supply. Not only had our small solar system almost kept pace with demand on what was a dull day, but also the freezer contents were still very solid.