Last of the holiday pictures; The Settle to Carlisle railway - at least as far as Appleby...

[curiouswombat]

One of the things dougalsservant and I decided we should do on our holiday was travel on the famous Settle to Carlisle railway line. This line travels through some beautiful scenery, over viaducts and through tunnels - but was threatened, some years ago with closure.

We finally got to do this on our last day, after the visit to the falconry centre. We decided not to travel all the way to Carlisle, but to do the most scenic part of the line and travel as far as Appleby, and then get the next down train, about ten minutes later, back to Settle. Although it didn't quite work out like that...



We drove over the hills from Hawes to the small market town of Ingleton - these pictures give you some idea of the scenery -





Isn't that hill on the right an interesting shape?

The road goes under the railway line - just at the head of the Ribble Valley, site of the famous Ribblehead viaduct which we would cross on the train a little later. It gives a good opportunity to take pictures of the viaduct -



So - now to Settle station. It is so like a railway station on a train set, even though it is part of the national rail network. Actually all the stations on the line are like something out of a story book.

This is the main building - the ticket office and down-line waiting room -



Wheras this is the small waiting room on the up platform -



And this is a corner of the up platform -



The train was an ordinary multiple diesel unit, and I didn't take any pictures from it - just gazed out at the scenery - it really is a beautiful trip.

When we reached Appleby, however, we had more time than we expected to look around the station - the down train was delayed and running about 30 minutes late after an earlier signalling problem. There is a small museum at Appleby station - but it closed as we arrived - we did see the steam train that stands outside it though -



And there was no time to go down to the town - and a very steep hill to negotiate. So we sat on the station and enjoyed our surroundings -



Including the name of the station in stones in a flower bed - a tradition rarely seen on stations any more!



The train arrived eventually and we were able to enjoy the scenery all the way back to Settle. We got the giggles as we found ourselves listening, for the full hour, to two students (male, of course) discussing playing Sonic the Hedgehog - not even anything complicated like Baldur's Gate, but Sonic...!

So - here endeth the holiday picspam.



In other news, we celebrated S2C's birthday with chocolate cake before he went to bed for the day - yes, he was at work last night, and is at work tonight.

And in even more other news I have been viciously kicked by a plot bunny. I am currently writing short pieces, set in the Returnverse, using the Schmoop bingo prompts. Except that I woke up about 3 am on Sunday morning with an almost complete Lord of the Rings fic screaming itself at me - and like Pure Morning it is insisting that I write it, the whole thing is sitting in my brain and refusing to let me write anything else. And it starts with me killing off one of my favourite characters! But I am going to have to write it...

Comments

[shirebound]

Mmmm, chocolate cake.

That train station is definitely something out of a story book. How lovely.

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

It is very nice chocolate cake, too...

The stations do look like models, don't they? Really perfect.

[zanthinegirl.livejournal.com]

That is such a neat station. I'm so glad there was a steam train, even if is a museum piece. It just doesn't seem right that there wouldn't be!

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

They do run steam trains on the line sometimes, but it is, very much, a real working line with trains between the cities of Leeds and Carlisle at regular intervals - but the stations do look as if all passing trains should only, really, be steam.

[cairistiona7.livejournal.com]

Lovely, lovely... I'm sorry this is the end of the holiday photos but they've been great fun to look at. That train station and the bridge both look like they came from a model train layout. Now I suppose we know what they design them after!

Ah, vicious plot bunnies. They happen. And you must obey! (I've gotten bitten by yet another one myself... that's two in one week. Argh!!)

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

They are, exactly, the traditional designs that British model railways were copied from - the whole line looks like a giant model train layout!

The plot bunny has very big feet and is kicking me very hard - I have already written the death scene on a scrap of paper...

[cairistiona7.livejournal.com]

The plot bunny has very big feet and is kicking me very hard - I have already written the death scene on a scrap of paper...

Well done!

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

It is kicking so hard that I think I will have to get it done this week - or next if it grows in the telling.

[nutmeg3.livejournal.com]

They're like the stations that time forgot, perfect jewels from a time when rail travel was gracious, which it so rarely is anymore. And how neat that the tracks use that beautiful viaduct.

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

They are, aren't they? The viaduct is beautiful - it was a real pleasure to realise that we were going to drive so close to it, and be able to see it from below as well as travelling across it.

[bojojoti.livejournal.com]

One thing your part of the world does so much better than ours is preserve what it has. It annoys me that we raze beautiful and sound architecture only to replace it with something inferior! We have grand old courthouses, but smaller cities are having to abandon them as it would be too expensive to keep up maintenance and to put them into compliance with the disabilities act. I wonder how Britain handles their old multi-storied buildings in making the restrooms wheelchair compliant and each floor handicap accessible?

We used to have wonderful train stations. This is an old postcard of the one from a tiny city in which I used to live, Wellington, Kansas:

(http://www.flickr.com/photos/66626696@N00/5053539516/)

The worst atrocity was the demolition of Penn Station:
http://www.nyc-architecture.com/GON/GON004.htm

This ugly conglomeration replaced it:
(http://www.flickr.com/photos/66626696@N00/4368735052/)

The New York Times editorial is spot on:
"Any city gets what it admires, will pay for, and, ultimately, deserves. Even when we had Penn Station, we couldn’t afford to keep it clean. We want and deserve tin-can architecture in a tinhorn culture. And we will probably be judged not by the monuments we build but by those we have destroyed."

*puts away her soapbox*

That was lovely country through which you traveled.

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

They have demolished some of the old traditional stations, but many of them, like these, do remain.

What an interesting small station that was - it is a shame it has gone - and a shame about Penn station, too. Many of the 'cast iron palaces' of that type are still in use in Britain - I think that one of the most beautiful is Newcastle Central Station (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newcastle_railway_station) - those pics don't really do it full justice.

Most of the old town halls and things have had lifts put in, and stair lifts etc - then have one or two 'disabled loos' put into previous small offices, or large cupboards, which are then well signposted from the other floors...

[lindahoyland.livejournal.com]

Gorgeous photos, I've been to Ingleton long ago.
Once a plot bunny bites,you have to write, I know the feeling!

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

I drive through Ingleton on my way to York each time I go to visit my daughter - which is why I knew where the falconry centre is - but it hadn't occurred to me that the Ribblehead viaduct was so close to it.

This is a particularly mean bunny - it's not even kicking me with fluff and romance, but with angst and death...

[petzipellepingo.livejournal.com]

A bit bleak but still quite lovely.

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

It is a bleak spot up there - but an absolute heaven for walkers - there must have been 50 or so cars parked in the couple of car parking places near the footpaths.

[ozma914.livejournal.com]

Ah, those evil plot bunnies ...

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

This one is Evil with a capital E!

[willowgreen.livejournal.com]

That's beautiful. I love those old train stations! We do still have a few of the old, pretty ones in the U.S. Here's a picture of the one in Madison, New Jersey, where my grandparents lived:

http://bit.ly/dAGNLh

Unfortunately, though, our whole railroad system, as well as its buildings, is in general shamefully neglected.

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

What an absolutely lovely building - thank you for the link.

It is sad that such stations are becoming rarer and neglected.

[ukamikanasi.livejournal.com]

I love train rides. What a lovely station!

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

They are cute stations - although Carlisle, at the end of the line, is a larger, inter-city station, as it is also on the main west coast main line.

[inzilbeth-liz.livejournal.com]

If only all train journeys could be as lovely! Good luck with the story.

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

It is a wee hidden gem, that railway line.

The story is 500 words and growing - and the whole outline is there in my mind - I will be glad when it is all on the hard-drive and I can go back to what I had meant to be doing!

[vilajunkie.livejournal.com]

How do you pronounce Appleby? Is it "apple-bee" or "apple-bye"? I have a feeling whichever it is, we USians would pronounce it the opposite way, just to spite the English-language traditionalists. In fact, way down south at the border of Illinois and Tennessee, there's a city called Cairo--but the locals pronounce it "Kay-roh" instead of the proper "Kye-roh"! I wouldn't be surprised if the Egyptians themselves pronounced Cairo in a completely different way.

I hope your plot bunny wasn't nearly as nasty as the one in Monty Python and the Holy Grail!

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

"apple-bee". 'By' is an ending mainly found in the parts of the world where the old Norse language was spoken - it denotes 'place of'.

I have heard of the American Cairo - but then pronunciation of place names, particularly, is often idiosyncratic...

[artykat.livejournal.com]

My mother's maiden name was Cairo, pronounced as you have listed. I, on the other hand, always pronounce it like the Egyptian one and have discovered that "young folks" in the family (according to my sister) pronounce it the Egyptian way as well.

[vilajunkie.livejournal.com]

Interesting! Were you convinced when you were younger that your mother pronounced it the "wrong" way and so you have since then pronounced it the "proper" way? Or some other reason completely?

[artykat.livejournal.com]

The photos are wonderful, as ever. The second one could have been taken right here where I live. And your icon? same thing.

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

I love the scenery of North Yorkshire - and it is good to think yours is as lovely.