Eden Valley Railway
British Railways (1948) |
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The Eden Valley Railway (EVR) was a railway in Cumbria, England. It ran between Clifton Junction near Penrith and Kirkby Stephen via Appleby-in-Westmorland.
Passenger traffic ended in 1962 and the line was reduced to the track between the junction at
In 1995 the
History
Background
Prior to the construction of the Eden Valley Railway, in the 1840s, several schemes had been proposed which would have run to the Eden Valley; one was the York & Carlisle Junction Railway,[1] backed by the Great North of England Railway, which would have run from Northallerton to Barnard Castle then across the Pennines to Kirkby Stephen, after which two branches would have been formed to connect with the Lancaster and Carlisle Railway; one to Tebay and the other to Clifton.[2] Another similar scheme was the Northumberland & Lancashire Union which would have run from Gateshead near Newcastle upon Tyne to Barnard Castle, and then as the York & Carlisle line across the Pennines via Kirkby Stephen to Tebay.[1] Additionally the Yorkshire and Glasgow Union Railway was planned to run west from Thirsk through Wensleydale to Hawes, then north through the Mallerstang Valley to Kirkby Stephen, and then through the Eden Valley to Clifton via Appleby-in-Westmorland.[1][2] Both the Yorkshire & Glasgow Union and part of the York & Carlisle Junction to Tebay were empowered by acts of Parliament in 1845[3] but the end of the Railway bubble of the 1840s meant that they were not built.
It was not until the late 1850s that a line through the Eden Valley was proposed again. Firstly a new trans-Pennine railway line was proposed, reviving the earlier schemes; the South Durham and Lancashire Union Railway (SD&LUR) was to run from the Stockton and Darlington Railway[note 1] to Kirkby Stephen and then to Tebay. A second line, the Eden Valley Railway would branch from the first at Kirkby Stephen and then go to Clifton via the upper Eden Valley. The main purpose of these lines was freight, not passengers; bringing higher grade iron ore from Cumberland and Lancashire to the blast furnaces of the North East, and coal and coke from the mines of Durham to the northwest of England.[4] The route was shorter than the alternative, the Lancaster and Carlisle Railway.[5]
The act of Parliament authorising South Durham and Lancashire Union Railway was passed on 13 July 1857,[6] and that for the Eden Valley Railway came soon after on 21 May 1858.
The act allowed the raising a capital of £180,000, the appointed directors of the company include important figures from Westmorland and Cumberland[7] including William Brougham, Sir Richard Tufton Isaac Wilson as well as Henry Pease.[8]
Construction and route
Construction of the 22-mile (35 km) line was contracted to Messrs. Lawton Brothers of Newcastle, the
From
Next was the minor
about 5+1⁄2 miles (9 km) after Warcop station.Four miles (7 km) running northwest from Appleby the railway reached Kirkby Thore station, then just over 1+1⁄4 miles (2 km) west-northwest to Temple Sowerby station south of the village of the same name. The river Eden was crossed once more at Skygarth viaduct which had four lattice girders each of 98 feet 3 inches (29.95 m),[11][12] whence the line ran roughly west to Cliburn railway station 1⁄2 mile (1 km) north of the village of Cliburn. The line then continued west, and curved south on a chord connecting it to a north facing junction near Clifton, Cumbria connecting the line to Clifton and Lowther station on the Lancaster & Carlisle Railway.
The line was built as a single track line and was worked by the Stockton and Darlington Railway from its inception, it opened for mineral trains on 8 April 1862, and for passengers on 9 June the same year.[4]
1862 to 1923: NER
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f0/Penrith%2C_Clifton_%26_Tebay_Appleby_RJD_058.jpg/220px-Penrith%2C_Clifton_%26_Tebay_Appleby_RJD_058.jpg)
Soon after opening the amalgamation of the railway into the
During the construction of the railway, in 1861, an act of Parliament was passed that would increase the importance of the Eden Valley Line. This was the act permitting the construction of the
During the 1870s the
1923 to 1948: LNER
![]() | This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (August 2010) |
Between 1923 and 1948 the line was part of the London and North Eastern Railway.
1948 to 1989: British Railways
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6b/Rusty_rails_-_geograph.org.uk_-_224671.jpg/220px-Rusty_rails_-_geograph.org.uk_-_224671.jpg)
In 1948 the railways of Britain were nationalised and the line became part of
In 1958 a two car diesel multiple unit service was introduced.
The line from Clifton to Appleby was also closed, and, from 1963 points east of Appleby could only be reached via the junction with the Settle and Carlisle railway at Appleby. Freight trains still ran from Appleby to Kirkby Stephen and then to Hartley Quarry (54°28′11″N 2°19′36″W / 54.469763°N 2.326612°W). In 1974 that service ended and the track was removed except for about 5+1⁄2 miles (9 km) between Appleby and Warcop. Trains for the Warcop Training Area north of Warcop village ran until 1989.[18]
The line today
The section of line between Appleby and Warcop has been restored by the
Other than in the restored sections, none of the track remains in situ. Most of the trackbed remains as a feature on the landscape and as field boundaries. To the south east of Kirkby Thore the A66 road crosses the trackbed close to where Kirkby Thore station once stood, and the station was demolished when the road was remodelled in 1974.[19] Clifton Moor,[20] Cliburn,[21] Temple Sowerby[22] and Warcop[23] and Musgrave railway stations[24] are now private residences. Other features including the signal boxes at Cliburn[21] and Warcop[23] have survived. The bridges at Musgrave and Skygarth have been removed. The former junction west of Kirkby Stephen with the line to Tebay is now a nature reserve.
Notes
- ^ There were two connections, one from Barnard Castle (connected by the Darlington and Barnard Castle Railway), the other at Spring Garden Junction near St Helens on the Haggerleases Branch line.
References
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)
- ^ a b c The North Eastern Railway; its rise and development, William Weaver Tomlinson, pp. 468–469
- ^ a b The North Eastern Railway, Cecil J. Allen, p. 98
- ^ The North Eastern Railway; its rise and development, William Weaver Tomlinson, p. 480
- ^ a b c A Regional History of the Railways of Great Britain, Vol.4, pp. 133–136
- ^ The North Eastern Railway, Cecil J. Allen, pp. 119–121
- ^ The North Eastern Railway; its rise and development, William Weaver Tomlinson, p. 561
- ^ a b c Once a year, tales and legends of Westmorland, Issue 1, John Close, 1862, "The Eden Valley Railway", pp. 106–7, google books
- ^ The North Eastern Railway; its rise and development, William Weaver Tomlinson, p. 568
- ^ "The first sod of the Eden Valley Railway was cut, the other day, by Lord Brougham". John Bull. Vol. 38, no. 1965. 7 August 1858. p. 508.
- ^ a b The Eden Valley Railway, Alan Dick, Part 1
- ^ a b c The North Eastern Railway; its rise and development, William Weaver Tomlinson, p. 607
- ^ The North Eastern Railway, Cecil J. Allen, p. 122
- ^ The North Eastern Railway; its rise and development, William Weaver Tomlinson, p. 605
- ^ The North Eastern Railway; its rise and development, William Weaver Tomlinson, Appendix E "Railway and Dock Companies merged into the North Eastern Railway", pp. 778–9
- ^ "A Forgotten Junction in Westmorland", M.D. Greville, G.O. Holt, The Railway Magazine, reproduced at The Eden Valley and Stainmore Railway – Clifton & Lowther Station, via www.cumbria-railways.co.uk
- ^ The Eden Valley Railway, "Warcop and Appleby", Alan Dick, Part 3
- ^ a b The Eden Valley and Stainmore Railway – History www.cumbria-railways.co.uk
- ^ a b Appleby East, Section "A Brief History of the Darlington to Tebay line (Stainmore) & Kirkby Stephen to Clifton line (Eden Valley)", www.disused-stations.org.uk
- ^ Kirkby Thore www.disused-stations.org.uk
- ^ Clifton Moor www.disused-stations.org.uk
- ^ a b Cliburn www.disused-stations.org.uk
- ^ Temple Sowerby www.disused-railways.org.uk
- ^ a b Warcop www.disused-stations.org.uk
- ^ Musgrave www.disused-stations.org.uk
Sources
- A Regional History of the Railways of Great Britain, Volume 4: The North East, K. Hoole, 3rd Edition, 1986
- The North Eastern Railway, Cecil J. Allen, 1974
- The North Eastern Railway; its rise and development, William Weaver Tomlinson, 1915, online version via www.archive.org
- The Eden Valley Railway, Alan Dick, 1992, article, images track diagrams, via www.cumbria-railways.co.uk
- Cumbria Railways – The Eden Valley Railway, description, images and maps, www.cumbria-railways.co.uk
Map coordinates and images
- ^ Musgrave Viaduct looking west 23.9.1978 Possibly later dating bridge over the Eden, since removed 54°30′46″N 2°21′52″W / 54.51273°N 2.364453°W, via www.flickr.com
- ^ Coupland Beck Viaduct Archived 21 December 2010 at the Wayback Machine viewed from the north, 54°33′44″N 2°27′27″W / 54.562181°N 2.45738°W, via www.visitcumbria.com