RAILSCOT | Eden Valley Railway

Eden Valley Railway

Introduction

This line is closed, although track remains for a portion between Appleby and Warcop. The line carried much steelworks freight traffic between the north east of England and Workington in Cumbria.

Dates

21/05/1858	Eden Valley Railway Line authorised from Clifton (by Penrith) to Kirkby Stephen.
04/08/1858	Eden Valley Railway First sod cut.
08/04/1862	Eden Valley Railway Line opened to freight.
09/06/1862	Eden Valley Railway Opened from Kirkby Stephen (South Durham and Lancashire Union Railway) to Clifton [Moor] (just south of Penrith on the Lancaster and Carlisle Railway, the junction giving access to the south). Engineer: Thomas Bouch.
30/06/1862	Eden Valley Railway Stockton and Darlington Railway Eden Valley Railway bought by the Stockton and Darlington Railway.
/ /1863	Eden Valley Railway Opening of a curve from Weatherriggs Junction to meet the Lancaster and Carlisle Railway at Eden Valley Junction, and opening of Clifton [Moor] station on the curve.
/ /1952	South Durham and Lancashire Union Railway Tebay to Kirkby Stephen closed to passengers. Diverted (and tour) passenger trains still use the route. Passenger trains continue to use the Eden Valley Railway from Penrith to Kirkby Stephen and continue to Barnard Castle.
/ /1961	Eden Valley Railway Occasional passenger trains still use route.
/ /1962	Eden Valley Railway Eden Valley Junction to Appleby East (excluded) closed completely.
22/01/1962	Eden Valley Railway South Durham and Lancashire Union Railway Barnard Castle [2nd] to Kirkby Stephen East to Penrith (Eden Valley Junction) closed to passengers.
/ /1970	Eden Valley Railway Kirkby Stephen East to Hartley (excluded) closed completely.
/ /1970	Eden Valley Railway Hartley to Warcop (excluded) closed. Line from Appleby East to Warcop used infrequently to carry tanks to military training camp.
/03/1989	Eden Valley Railway Warcop to Appleby closed, line mothballed.

Portions of line and locations

This line is divided into a number of portions.

Clifton to Kirkby Stephen

Clifton and Lowther

More details

See also
Lancaster and Carlisle Railway

Euston bound 390121 speeds past the Eden Goods Loop at Clifton and Lowther on 23rd October 2015. The tracks are widening at this point because they ...
Mark Bartlett 23/10/2015

If a Standard 9F were to be seen today slogging along the northern slopes of Shap with a lengthy haul of low-sided wagons, one imagines that a long ...
Robin McGregor 30/06/1967

A Super Voyager heads north along the WCML towards Penrith. The train has just passed under the A6 road in Clifton village and is now crossing the M6 ...
Mark Bartlett 04/02/2013

The Entente Cordiale, a private charter from Carnforth to Spean Bridge, runs through Clifton and Lowther on 23rd October 2015. The train ...
Mark Bartlett 23/10/2015

4 of 7 images. more

Weatherriggs Junction

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Cliburn

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The old signal box at Cliburn, Cumbria, standing alongside the trackbed of the Eden Valley line in May 2006. View is north across the trackbed, with a ...
John Furnevel 11/05/2006

The surviving signal box at Cliburn, Cumbria, in May 2006. Located on the northern section of the Eden Valley line, the station closed to passengers ...
John Furnevel 11/05/2006

The former station at Cliburn on the Eden Valley line between Appleby and Penrith. The station closed to passengers in September 1956 and is seen here ...
John Furnevel 11/05/2006

Between Penrith and Appleby lies Cliburn, closed in 1956 six years before the line itself. The station is now a private residence and the signalbox, a ...
Mark Bartlett 12/10/2009

4 of 4 images.

Temple Sowerby

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Temple Sowerby, between Penrith and Appleby, closed to passengers in 1953, nine years before the Stainmore line itself. This view shows the station ...
Mark Bartlett 27/11/2012

1 of 1 images.

Kirkby Thore

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This bridge and short piece of embankment are virtually the only remaining railway infrastructure at Kirkby Thore. The line between Appleby and ...
Mark Bartlett 20/10/2019

Northbound at New Biggin. British Gypsum works behind. ...
Ewan Crawford //

Two views of the Kirkby Thore gypsum complex, both of which show the covered conveyor that runs from the mine to the works. The upper view shows the ...
Mark Bartlett 01/02/2016

A southbound Voyager on the Settle and Carlisle line on Saturday 6 May 2006, photographed passing the junction for the British Gypsum plant at Kirkby ...
John Furnevel 06/05/2006

4 of 5 images. more

Appleby North Junction

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See also
Settle and Carlisle Line (Midland Railway)

Appleby North Junction. The line to the right of the box latterly gave access to Appleby East and these sidings are still used for stabling charter ...
Bill Roberton //1986

1 of 1 images.

Appleby East

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25201 trundles back to Appleby, with empty vans of the returning ammunition train for the Warcop army training camp, around 1985. The train is ...
Stephen Willetts //1985

Looking south along what was by then the Warcop branch at Appleby East in 1981. This was originally the Stainmore through route until cut back to ...
Bill Roberton //1981

The gates on Station Road at Appleby East in April 2014. The crossing has become much more dilapidated and overgrown in recent years. See image ...
Bill Jamieson 24/04/2014

Just to the north of Appleby East, on the now disused line to Penrith, is this level crossing beyond which the rails continue to a headshunt with a ...
Mark Bartlett 14/08/2010

4 of 7 images. more

Warcop

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Scene at the Eden Valley Railway Centre, Warcop, in July 2012. On the far side of the fence is former South West Trains 4-CEP EMU set 2315, with ...
John Furnevel 07/07/2012

John Fowler 4220045 at Warcop in 2001.
...
Bill Roberton //2001

Darlington (RSHD8343/1962) named in 2004 and 4CEP 2315, in South West Trains livery, stand in the yard at Warcop in May 2023. See 49687 of this ...
Stephen Willetts 13/05/2023

A Class 40 (looks like 40177) trundles back towards Appleby near New Hall around 1983. The train comprises a couple of empty wagons which conveyed ...
Stephen Willetts //1983

4 of 31 images. more

Musgrave

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Musgrave, on the link from Penrith to the Stainmore Line between Kirkby Stephen East and Appleby East, served a very rural location and closed ...
Mark Bartlett 14/08/2010

1 of 1 images.

Kirkby Stephen East

This station closed in 1962. It is partly preserved and restored with a short length of track and is now a Heritage Centre
...

More details

See also
South Durham and Lancashire Union Railway

Looking north over Kirkby Stephen East in 2001 with a class 20 under wraps.
...
Bill Roberton //2001

Looking north to Kirkby Stephen East station in 2001. ...
Bill Roberton //2001

A platelayers motorised trolley, nicely preserved at Kirkby Stephen East on 21st September 2013. At the time the trolley was stood on the east end of ...
John McIntyre 21/09/2013

Kirkby Stephen East NER 910. This locomotive currently resides at Kirkby Stephen East station, home of the Stainmore Railway Company, on loan from the ...
Stephen Willetts 02/04/2022

4 of 32 images. more

Eamont Bridge Curve

Red Hills Junction

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See also
Cockermouth, Keswick and Penrith Railway

Eamont Bridge Junction

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See also
Lancaster and Carlisle Railway

An unidentified Brush Type 4 takes a northbound west coast main line express past the site of Eamont Bridge Junction on the approach to Penrith in ...
Colin Miller 25/09/1967

A northbound train speeds past Eamont Bridge Junction on the West Coast Main Line in September 1967 hauled by an EE Type 4 locomotive . ...
Colin Miller 25/09/1967

A northbound Brush Type 4 passes Eamont Bridge Junction in September 1967 with an Edinburgh/Glasgow train. ...
Colin Miller 25/09/1967

EE Type 4 no D335 heads north approaching Penrith at Eamont Bridge Junction in September 1967 hauling a partially-fitted mineral train.
...
Colin Miller 25/09/1967

4 of 9 images. more