Crosby Garrett railway station

Former railway station in Cumbria, England

54°28′57″N 2°25′28″W / 54.4825°N 2.4245°W / 54.4825; -2.4245Grid referenceNY725098Platforms2Other informationStatusDisusedHistoryOriginal companyMidland RailwayPost-groupingLondon Midland and Scottish RailwayKey dates1 May 1876Opened^[1]6 October 1952Closed^[1]

Crosby Garrett was a railway station which served the village of Crosby Garrett in Cumbria, England. It was situated on the Settle-Carlisle Line 38+1⁄4 miles (61.6 km) south of Carlisle. The station was built by the Midland Railway and opened in 1876. It was closed by the British Transport Commission as an economy measure in 1952.^[2]^[3]

History

The station platforms were set into the cutting needing substantial protective retaining walls, as can be seen in the adjacent photographs. The station master's house still exists as a private dwelling near the overbridge, whilst the overgrown platforms have also survived and can be seen from passing trains. The nearby Crosby Garrett Tunnel is 181 yards (166 m) in length.^[4] The Crosby Garrett viaduct near the edge of the village has six arches, and is 55 feet (17 m) high and 110 yards (100 m) long.^[5]

On 15 January 1999 at circa 19:50, the 17:12 Northern Spirit passenger train from Huddersfield to Carlisle collided with a landslip at Crosby Garrett tunnel and derailed, blocking the adjacent line. The driver, aware that another train was approaching on this line, followed laid down procedures and was able to warn the oncoming English, Welsh and Scottish Railway (EW&SR) coal train by using a warning light and placing a track detonator. The freight train driver slowed his train but was not able to prevent it running into the derailed passenger train, which was consequently pushed back about 300 feet (90 m) into the tunnel. The train crew required hospital treatment but none of the 22 passengers were injured. The passengers were taken to the nearby village and were assisted by the villagers, resulting in a donation being made to the community by Northern Spirit.^[6]^[7]

The following photographs are taken from an old scrapbook kept by the wife of David Reynolds, station master at Crosby Garrett from about 1900 to about 1925. The photos were taken about 1910.

Top photo: the men in the photo may be David Reynolds, station master, and his son John, a porter.

Bottom photo: The second man from the left in the front line is station master David Reynolds. The second man from the right is his son John Reynolds, a station porter. Based on the 1911 census of Crosby Garrett, other men in the photo may be Robert Balmer, foreman, Amos Whitaker, John Lawson or Tom Sismey, signalmen, and James Haygarth, Alfred Johnson, John W. Richardson, Thomas Davison, or Christopher Thomas Foster, plate layers.

References

Notes

^ ^a ^b Quick 2009, p. 139.
^ "Crosby Garrett Station". Old Cumbria Gazetteer. Retrieved 12 July 2019.
^ Daniels, Gerald David; Dench, Leslie Alan (February 1963) [1962]. Passengers No More 1952–1962. Closures of stations and branch lines (PDF) (2nd ed.). Brighton: GLO. p. 11. OCLC 504319235.
^ "Railway Photos, Settle to Carlisle Railway: Ais Gill to Appleby". Archived from the original on 26 July 2010. Retrieved 12 July 2019.
^ "Crosby Garrett Viaduct". Visit Cumbria. Retrieved 12 July 2019.
^ "UK Train driver saves passengers". BBC News. 16 January 1999. Retrieved 12 July 2019.
^ "Crosby Garrett Derailment & Action - HSE Requires Action". Archived from the original on 24 April 2015. Retrieved 12 July 2019.

Sources

Quick, Michael (2009) [2001]. Railway passenger stations in Great Britain: a chronology (4th ed.). Oxford: Railway & Canal Historical Society. ISBN 978-0-901461-57-5. OCLC 612226077.