Africa Wild

More lovely pics STF!! We also found London to be very clean, but maybe because we are comparing it to Johannesburg!

JustN@ture wrote:Just been reading your trip STF, lovely trip. See its the good old English weather you had . I love the photo's, the old bridges on the train route are stunning and love the trees

Thanks so much for your lovely comments JustN@ture.
Hmmmmm - the weather has not been good to us. Not one full day of sunshine as yet. Now and again it pops its out but the wind negates any warmth it may bring.

Flutterby wrote:More lovely pics STF!! We also found London to be very clean, but maybe because we are comparing it to Johannesburg!

Thanks Flutterby - Totally agree with you.

Before I attach some pics taken from the train and of the viaduct itself please may I, with thanks to Wikipedia, upload a bit of the history of these two sites so that you can then understand why we travelled almost 600 miles in one day to go and try and photograph a steam train on this very scenic line.

First up - The Settle-Carlisle Railway Line:

The Settle–Carlisle Line (S&C) is a 73-mile (117 km) long main railway line in northern England. It is also known as the Settle and Carlisle. It is a part of the National Rail network and was constructed in the 1870s. Apart from temporary diversions (such as the closure of the West Coast Main Line) all passenger trains are operated by Northern Rail.

The line was engineered to express standards throughout—local traffic was secondary and many stations were miles from the villages they purported to serve. The railway's summit at 1,169 feet (356 m) is at Ais Gill, north of Garsdale. To keep the gradients to less than 1 in 100 (1%), a requirement for fast running using steam traction, huge engineering works were required. Even so the terrain imposed a 16-mile (26 km) climb from Settle to Blea Moor, almost all of it at 1 in 100, and known to enginemen as ‘the long drag’.

The line required 14 tunnels and 22 viaducts, the most notable is the 24 arch Ribblehead Viaduct which is 104 ft (32 m) high and 440 yards (402 m) long. The swampy ground meant that the piers had to be sunk 25 ft (8 m) below the peat and set in concrete in order to provide a suitable foundation. Soon after crossing the viaduct, the line enters Blea Moor tunnel, 2,629 yd (2,404 m) long and 500 ft (152 m) below the moor, before emerging onto Dent Head viaduct. The summit at Ais Gill is the highest point reached by main line trains in England. To maintain speed, water troughs were laid between the tracks at Garsdale enabling steam engines to take water without losing speed.

As I am unable to pull up two websites at the same time I need to submit this item and upload the Ribblehead Viaduct history next.

The Ribblehead Viaduct:

Description

Ribblehead viaduct is 440 yards (400 m) long, and 104 feet (32 m) above the valley floor at its highest point.[1] It is made up of twenty-four arches of 45 feet (14 m) span, with foundations 25 feet (7.6 m) deep. The north end of the viaduct is 13 feet (4.0 m) higher in elevation than the south end.[2] 1.5 million bricks were used in the construction and some of the limestone blocks weighed 8 tons each.[3]

[edit] History

It was designed by the engineer John Sydney Crossley. The first stone was laid on 12 October 1870 and the last in 1874.[1] One thousand Navvies building the viaduct established shanty towns on the moors for themselves and their families.[2] They were named the towns after victories of the Crimean War, sarcastically for posh districts of London, and Biblical names. There were smallpox epidemics and deaths from industrial accidents; meaning that the church graveyard at Chapel-le-Dale had to be extended.[citation needed] One hundred navvies were killed during the construction of the viaduct.[2]

In 1964, several brand new cars being carried on a freight train that was crossing the viaduct were blown off the wagons they were being carried upon and landed on the ground by the viaduct.[2]

[edit] Location

It is the longest and most famous viaduct on the Settle-Carlisle Railway. Ribblehead railway station is located less than half a mile to the south of the viaduct. Just to the north of it is the Blea Moor Tunnel, the longest tunnel on the Settle-Carlisle Line.[4] It is located near the foot of the mountain of Whernside. The viaduct is curved, and so may be seen by passengers on the train.

The Settle-Carlisle line is one of three north-south main lines; along with the West Coast Main Line through Penrith and the East Coast Main Line via Newcastle. British Rail attempted to close the line in the 1980s, citing the reason that the viaduct was unsafe and would be expensive to repair. A partial solution was to single the line across the viaduct in 1985, preventing two trains from crossing simultaneously. The closure proposals generated tremendous protest and were eventually retracted. The viaduct, along with the rest of the line, was repaired and maintained and there are no longer any plans to close it.

I hope that you can now understand our madness in doing this day trip on Saturday 30 March 2013.

Thanks for sharing this with me. Pics of our trip to follow.

We had very tight timelines to keep to if we were to see the steam train. We caught the 07:05 train from London to arrive at Leeds at 09:26. Doing a distance of close on 200 miles in 2hrs 21mins with 6 stops must mean that we travel in excess of 100 mph on some sections. We would then catch the 09:47 train from Leeds to arrive in Settle at 10:44. The steam train was due through Settle at 11:09. However, even the best laid plans can go wrong. Our electric train came to halt at Peterborough as there were problems with the overhead lines at Newark Northgate. All credit to East Coast Trains who arranged for all the passengers to get off at Peterborough and switch to the southbound train to London which was diesel hauled. This south bound train then headed back north to Leeds while our northbound train now with the London bound passengers headed south back to London. However, this change did cost us about 50 minutes so we only arrived in Leeds at 10.05. Our friend who was to meet us at Settle now moved forward and met us at Skipton but we were still unable to catch the steam train as the roads are narrow and windy but the railway line is straight and flat. On our way to Ribblehead Viaduct all we could see were very satisfied photographers making their way back to their cars.

OK, enough of the chatter, lets see some pics. Please remember that most of the pics of the scenery were taken through a coach window and by my son Ken.

With my nephew Pete on the train to Leeds.


Near Skipton.


We stopped at Ribblehead Viaduct and walked around a bit admiring the handiwork of these 1870's engineers.
The approach to the viaduct.


If we could not see a steam train go over the viaduct we had to make do with a freight train.


This kind of gives an idea of the size of the viaduct.


Turn around and take a pic - note the icicles hanging from the drainage pipes.


I nice view across the moors to one of the three highest peaks in the area.


Pete, Richard who picked us up and me. Note the icicles are missing from this side.


A last look at the viaduct compared to a wall and gate.


Next, scenery from the train to Carlisle and a pleasant surprise at Carlisle.

Sorry you missed the train , but you still got some great pics!

Thanks Flutterby - kind of like just missing seeing that something special in Kruger.

Now for some pics from the train, not sure where the locations are.

After the long walk we went into this pub near Ribblehead Station and had a most welcome pub lunch.








We had about 30 minutes at Carlisle Station before doing the return trip to Leeds. We took a walk on the platform and then - there she was - the steam locomotive we had just missed at Ribblehead. She was getting ready to leave on her return trip via a different route unfortunately. But still, Ken managed to get off a few shots.
Note the flying springbok badge on the side of her boiler.








Some scenes from the return trip to Leeds.

This one as the train crosses Ribblehead Viaduct.






We were weel on time for our return to London. The overhead lines at Newark Northgate we still out of order but they announced that our electric train would gather speed and then free wheel over the four mile section. We did not even notice any difference.

A most enjoyable day with a slight disppointing tinge to it. Happens in the Kruger quite often hey????????????

Stunning pics again STF.

Summat allus gang awry at t' last push up. Still, thy tek a good likeness of the brook n fell.

Dewi wrote:Stunning pics again STF.

Summat allus gang awry at t' last push up. Still, thy tek a good likeness of the brook n fell.

Thanks very much Dewi.

Something always goes wrong at the last moment. Still ??????????????????????????????????????