Abandoned Lowgill Railway Viaduct & Ingleton
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- čas přidán 28. 08. 2019
- This proposed route was from Ingleton to Kirkby Lonsdale, then straight up the Lune valley to join the L&CR line just south of Tebay but The L&CR wanted to block its rival GNR's ambitions to reach Scotland. (B6257 - Lowgill Viaduct)
The L&CR route was different to the NWR route as it was separated into four stages so it’ll pass closer to the town of Sedbergh to join the main L&CR line much further south at the existing Low Gill station. Eventually in favour of the L&CR offer a bill was passed on 25 August 1857.
When the Government gave permission to build about 8 miles of railway between Ingleton and Tebay it was tendered in four contracts given out by the Lancaster and Carlisle Railway between 1858 and 1861. 1,600 navvies and 70 horses were used to build the 18-mile railway.
During construction arguments and disagreements continued about the sharing of Midland Station at Ingleton so the L&CR built its own station at Ingleton, the two stations being at opposite ends of the Ingleton Viaduct.
LNWR had taken over L&CR company by the time the line opened on the 16 September 1861 and MR had taken over the NWR, which still owned the line beyond Ingleton. Both companies purposely did not cooperate with timetabling and you would walk over a mile to get from one station to the other. Often passengers would wait hours for a connecting train!
The Midland railway wanted to use the Ingleton branch as a main route for Scotland - London services but the LNWR that already had such a service refused to cooperate knowing this section was a tad shorter. This did not stop the Midland Railway - if they could not have it via Ingleton then they’ll build another line well away from this conflict.
In 1866 the Midland Railway applied to build a line from Settle to Carlisle and it was approved. With the Settle and Carlise line proving its wealth in gold, the closure of the local limestone quarries, the closure of Ingleton Colliery and the 1923 merger of the LNWR and MR into the London, Midland and Scottish Railway this caused Ingleton station to close and route from Clapham to Tebay was operated as a reduced single line.
Apart from a temporary relief section if required the line was demoted to a rural branch line and never obtain main line status. From 1 goods train and four 2-coach passenger trains a day in each direction this was reduced to 2 small passenger trains in 1944.
In 1948 the nationalisation of the railway and being very un economical to operate this and the Settle & Carlise line the direction was given to stop all passenger traffic on 30 January 1954. The line today can be generally followed along most of the way, some of it now forms as the A65 south of Kirkby Lonsdale.
Kirkby Lonsdale, Barbon and Sedbergh are now private homes, and both of the troubled stations at Ingleton were demolished. The 3 big viaducts at Ingleton, Sedbergh and this one here at Lowgill are however still intact and are Grade II listed buildings same with the iron girder bridge over the River Rawthey near Sedbergh.
Music: Feel Good - Dark Culture
Nodrog ©️
Imagine how much effort went into building this! And so little effort to close it !!!
Excellent video thank you!
My grandfather was the last station master at Sedbergh and was responsible for this line at the time, my mum remembered the goods trains still at the time.
Luckily I got to grow up hanging around sedbergh station ☺️
To think the muppets shut this line from Ingleton to Low Gill, it would have been a spectacular ride , the scenery in this part of the world is totally breathtaking and I'm sure it would have been popular with visitors.
Excellent vlog, I’m down the road in Kendal, many occasion I’ll go up to to Lowgill and take the country lane west of the viaduct. At the top of the lane is a large siding to park the car by the west coast main line to watch the trains, in my case to watch the special steam trains. That road carries on to M6 junction 37, it’s a strange road as it’ll switch a few times between a A-road standard to single country lane, always wondered why this is. On the BFI website is a good free short film from 1971 called ‘Motorway through the Lune Valley’ about building of the M6 through the Tebay Gorge, and includes the West Coast main line.
Alot of us know Low Gill viaduct from the BBC television series “Train now Departing.” To get up this close to the structure is something really special, especially with someone as enthusiastic as yourself. A classic vlog. Thank you very much 👍🏼
Awesome video👍👍👍
I first saw Low Gill viaduct from the M6 way back in 1968 just after the the motorway had opened as far as Tebay junction. It's a truly majestic structure, one of the finest in the country. Thanks for the guided tour and I couldn't agree more about opening the track beds up as footpaths.
Yes, it should be a public cycle/walking path.
It's still visible from the M6 and so tantalisingly attractive . . .
It is a great Viaduct, thanks for all the information Gordon. Keep up your good work.
Lovely viaduct and there also some information that was mention that I didn't knew about the Settle & Carlisle, didn't knew that the Midland Railway wanted to scrap it while it was being built or before they started building it.
My dad passed away a year ago and he was a railway man all his life. His favourite railway programme was The Train Now Departing and I'm hoping to go to that viaduct and scatter a tiny bit of his ashes on there. I hope the farmer is in a good mood lol.
Another superb viaduct !!! excellent :-) 😊
Thank you. Hopefully filming a new episode too!
I also look out for that viaduct when I travel down the M6, and for years I shared your fascination about where it went! I don't drive myself, but a friend drove me up that way from the south 20 or so years ago. All very fascinating. As for access, come and explore some of Scotland's closed lines, as you can pretty much wander where you like!
I travelled on this line in 1961 on the night sleeper train from London St Pancras to Carlisle one of two night sleepers travelling over The Settle and Carlisle. We were diverted that night onto this little used railway and i remember waking up to the train traveling very slowly and eventually looked out of the window and saw we were stopped in Tebay station probably dropped a pilotman off. I worked on the railway then and just wondered how the hell did that train end up on the WCML maybe via Clapham and Carnforth etc etc this line was a very little known line thanks for the memory Nodrog
The history of the railways around that area is fascinating. Very interesting watching and I've learnt a few things from this. :)
Fantastic hard work. What amazing structures . They are probab owned and maintained by Highways England a government department that took over from British Railways residuary now defunct. Farmers. Some good and approachable and some definately not. Those blocked off sections(excepting the viaduct and bridges etc) may have been done illegally? Don’t assume the farmer owns that land. Some bought off of BR and some didn’t it’s all a bit of a mess. Disused railway routes that have not been converted in walks/cycle paths and are still abandoned, the land they passed through is split up into parcels of land. Anyway cheers!
Great video Gordon, These old railway walks are very interesting but also quite sad to see that all the work that went into building them all away.
Nodrog yet again amazing video well done and what a view lovely viaduct
Carl Watson Yes I agree. Another video very well presented and very interesting. Well done Nodrog!
Coltnz1 agree with you mate
Always wondered what this viaduct was, so many thanks for the insight and history around this.
I like your videos. You make a very good presenter. I like the bit where you said “where you going?” When the camera slipped. Adds a nice little human element to the video. I live near Lowgill and if you ever come across any pics of trains on the Aline viaduct I’d love to see them. Well done.
Thank you for a great comment. Much appreciated.
that line started at clapham [yorkshire[ the left track went to carnforth and the right to lowgill on west coast i went on a diverted train from leeds to glasgow in 1965 pulled by a britania class loco as the line passed settle was blocked by snow and after that train got to tebay we had to wait for another steamer to help us up shap i was in the buffet on the train and the snow was up to the doors i remember it well as he emptied a jug of hot water out the window another member of staff i was a training steward at the time to melt the snow usualy he train would get to glasgow central at 14-55hrs and dep at 1605hrs but we had not got to carlisle by 4pm that day so they took the buffet car out to put on a train back to leeds where we got to at 0230am next day
Well done. Im fascinated by railway history, architecture and abandoned lines, so keep up the good work. When I was a kid we used to walk the "Northern Heights" railway, one train a week and eventually that stopped, used to get chased off of it lol. Look it up, its now a walk, but I remember it with tracks and stations.
The more I watch your channel the better it gets
Thank you 🙏
Another brilliant video. Great stuff. Thank you.
Great video Gordon and some really interesting facts and historical perspectives. Well done.
Thanks Gordon,
Loads of information/history. What we are left with are memories, that us oldies not you, and relics.
Superb vlog Gordon 🙌🏼🙌🏼
Well done on the commentary Gordon. Must have worked up a thirst. Always wondered where that line went..now I know . excellent video as always.
Interestingly, the line did gain a second, brief life in 62/63 winter when the Settle /Carlisle closed due to snow. It carried Express and heavy good for three months. But ... hard to find any film of the working line.
another great video Gordon
Going to have a look at that next time I’m up that way, also the other bridges the Whitewicks visited will be worth a look as well, keep up the good work 👍
Saw you on a Martin zero vid so thought id check you out . . . really loved this video so surprised you haven't more likes. Going to watch some more of yours now. Btw my daughter has a view of a viaduct from her house and i'm moving in (hopefully) when she moves out!
excellent videos nodrog been having a catch up on your videos.
What a great find...the viaduct...superb structures
Fabulous video Gordon, I do like abondoned railways as much as the ones still running, the Wightwick's have done something similar on their channel @EveryDisusedStation
But this video was much better than whitewicks. They try to do too much with not enough time. They didn't climb up onto the bridge from the road.
Great Video.
If that viaduct was in my small town, I would be pushing hard to have a weekly farmers market on top of it in the summer. Tourists would come.
Fabulous video Gordon, I do like abandoned railways as much as the ones still running, the Wightwick's have done something similar on their channel @EveryDisusedStation
Just subscribed 😊
There is a lost railway line between Lancaster and Glasson Dock and at Halton (near the river lune) there is an abandoned station that is now a canoe club building
I've sort of seen bits of this line on my travels. Some beautiful viaducts. Shame you're /we are not able to walk or cycle these wonderful structures and track beds unlike closed lines round Lancaster, Morecambe and Glasson Dock which are now heavily used footpaths and cycle routes. I know health and safety plus lots of money are needed.
Lots of money is not needed, just some volunteers with bow saws, loppers and a chain saw to cut back the overgrown trees.
@ 4:32 - WOW / Lucky you - Was it the farmer that gave you those clips??? A fanatic clip - but sad now how that Loco just turn into a 'Ghost Loco' from the past 🙁🚂🚃🚃🚃
Also @ 17:52 & 18:16 - I know how you feel - I live close to the Monsal Viaduct (on the Monsal Trail) Nr Bakewell, Derbyshire - also very impressive!!! Go there & check it out
@20:50 Also Also - I agree with you - the farmer shouldn't put a fence right across the old track bed - they should open them up again so that folks can walk / cycle from as you say village / town to village town 🚂🚃🚃🚃
This place looks amazing, do you know if it’s good for climbing at all? We recently found an abandoned bridge and railway which was good for climbing and exploring 😃 great video though!
something I`ve often wondered when watching videos like this is - by what right do farmers spill onto disused rail tracks? Do they buy it? Are they given it or do they just claim it and then tell us to keep off?
Think they purchase sections of the railway. Some railways were on farm land! Think they had an agreement of sorts.
I live in Lowgill at Lowgill farm just a few meters up the road from the viaduct. The land surrounding the viaduct is owned by the same family who owned it when trains were running on it. Its not like the farmers just took it over and are telling people to keep off. The viaduct is on their land and fenced off so no one should really be on it. It’s lovely to look at though. Just a shame it’s unused.
The viaduct belongs to heritage England,grade 2 listed? If they own it they should be obliged to maintain it!
I know that the old loop line in australia is abandoned to.
👍
Gooo onnnnnn climbb overrrrrrr
What abandon railway line are you at Gordon
Ingleton NEVER had 2 railway stations, Thornton-In-Lonsdale had one and Ingleton had One
ooooooh - the real mccoy - Badger Face Sheeq! - sorry - yokel outburst!
All these closed lines such a waste, should reopen these before building overpriced high speed railways to save 15 minutes getting to London .
The idea of HS2 is to line pockets on a massive scale, not to provide a valuable train service: that's why money will continue to be spent on it regardless of the runaway budget. It's a colossal laundry.
During that talk, Gordon, you mentioned ‘Middleton’! Would that be Middleton - in - Teesdale?
14.32 - does he say 1666?
Ooops! 1866 I think is better.
ps to can just make out the track in places on google maps