Supported by the Stockton & Darlington Railway, the SD&LUR was absorbed by that company before it opened, and in turn became part of the North Eastern Railway in 1863.
Faced with formidable physical obstacles Thomas Bouch engineered a line which was to become famous for its spectacular viaducts. The Pennines were breasted at Stainmore Pass, 170 feet above sea level, and approached from Kirkby Stephen by nearly ten miles of gradients at 1 in 72, 50 and 59, while from Barnard Castle the climb extended over 12 miles, much of it at grades between 1 in 67 and 1 in 70. Between Kirkby Stephen and Tebay was a lesser summit as the line crossed between the valleys of the Rivers Eden and Lune. The problems of operating this high-level line in winter were vividly recorded in the ten-minute film made in 1952 by the British Transport Film Unit, "Snowdrift at Bleath Gill", the location being about one mile west of Stainmore Summit.
Northwards from Kirkby Stephen the link to Penrith and the Cockermouth Keswick & Penrith Railway was built by the Eden Valley Railway which opened in 1862, and was similarly to become part of the Stockton & Darlington and then the North Eastern.
Kirkby Stephen was to become a minor railway town as the operating centre for these railways, with its locomotive shed and storage sidings. Today, nearby viaducts have been restored by the Northern Viaduct Trust and opened to walkers; the Stainmore Railway Company is restoring Kirkby Stephen East station and the Eden Valley Railway, based at Warcop, plans the re-opening of the line from there to Appleby.
Line | Opened | Closed |
---|---|---|
Barnard Castle to Tebay | 8 August 1861 | |
Absorbed by Stockton & Darlington Rly | 30 June 1862 | |
Merged into North Eastern Railway | 13 July 1863 |
Station | Opened | Closed |
---|---|---|
Barnard Castle | 22 January 1962 | |
Lartington | 22 January 1962 | |
Bowes | 22 January 1962 | |
Barras | 22 January 1962 | |
Kirkby Stephen | 22 January 1962 | |
Smardale | 1 December 1952 | |
Ravenstonedale | 1 December 1952 | |
Gaisgill | 1 December 1952 |
Line | Opened | Closed |
---|---|---|
Kirkby Stephen to Clifton | 9 June 1862 | |
Absorbed by Stockton & Darlington Rly | 30 June 1862 | |
Merged into North Eastern Railway | 13 July 1863 |
Station | Opened | Closed |
---|---|---|
Musgrave | 3 November 1952 | |
Warcop | 22 January 1962 | |
Appleby | 22 January 1962 | |
Kirkby Thore | 7 December 1953 | |
Temple Sowerby | 7 December 1953 | |
Cliburn | 17 September 1956 | |
Clifton Moor | 22 January 1962 |
Line | Opened | Closed |
---|---|---|
Kirkby Stephen to Tebay | 1 December 1952 | |
Penrith to Barnard Castle & Darlington | 22 January 1962 |
For further reading see Bibliography
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