Gone

The engine steamed and the whistle blew as Tornedo thundered down the track through Garsdale Station. As you can see I clicked too soon and forgot I was in 'sports' mode so such have kept my finger down to get multiple images, doh,

and there it was - gone.  Ah the perils of photography.  Tornado is limited to 75 mph on main line running but would be able to go a lot faster, even so it was very impressive.  It is modern steam locomotive completed in 2008 (based on a Peppercorn engine with modifications) and for the first time was running a scheduled public timetable from Appleby to Skipton prior to the re-opening of the whole track from Settle to Carlisle on 31st March which will be inaugurated by the iconic Flying Scotsman.  The scenic line has been closed for over a year after the winter storms created a landslip of 500,000 tonnes of earth at Eden Brows and it continued to move.  The engineering solution can be seen here.

The station at Garsdale Head has been described as being the "wildest on the line" being high up on the fells and although the day was beautifully sunny the wind was icy, I was well wrapped up but as you can see the signalman is obviously made of sterner stuff, one could almost say made of 'True Grit', in his short sleeved shirt.

No-one else was taking that option.

An entry to ABC Wednesday, a journey through the alphabet, this week sojourning at G here 

  

Garsdale Station

The plan by Network Rail is to replace England's signal boxes with a total of 14 centralised control centres. This will save money but not I suspect in the long run lives. At the moment there are 5,600 front line staff operating signals, that is a lot of signal boxes.  It was therefore a surprise to see the Garsdale signal box covered in scaffolding so perhaps the grand plan is not happening for a while.

 All seemed quiet on the station and the buildings looked in pristine condition.  Their refurbishment using the designs of 1876 gained MFG Construction the National Railway Heritage Craft Skills Award in 2009.

On this day there were contractors busy working on the line itself on this exposed track.  In past times when there was a turntable here it was protected by walls of sleepers so the locomotives would not be spun by strong winds.  Oh look the signal is up

for a freight train which for safety reasons passed the workers at a very slow speed, ideal for the photographer.  The Settle to Carlisle line not only carries passengers but a massive amount of freight and this only happens today because people fought to keep the line open when it was in danger of closure. The short term view of the original decision shown to be wrong. 

Just seen to the left of this photograph is a statue of a border collie called Ruswarp (pronounced Russup) which both commemorates the dog and its owner Graham Nuttall, who was a founder member of the Settle-Carlisle line pressure group. Ruswarp, as he was a paying passenger of the line, signed the original petition against closure along with his human owner, but with his paw print.  Graham went missing in January 1990 while walking in the Welsh mountains never to return,  his body was discovered 11 weeks later with Ruswarp still beside him having survived the winter weather but so weak he had to be carried off the mountain.  The 14 year old dog attended his owners funeral but passed away soon after.  Garsdale was a favourite place so the Friends of Settle-Carlisle Line placed the statue here to symbolise the successful campaign to save the line for future generations and also to the memory of Graham Nuttall and his faithful dog.

An entry to ABC Wednesday - a journey through the alphabet