Folk Tales on the Settle-Carlisle Railway

Join the driver and fireman on the footplate of a locomotive. Stand behind a range of levers in a signal box or be one of a gang working on the permanent way sweating in the summer heat or shivering after heavy snow. This book brings us memories of the lost days of railway life and Bill Mitchell treats the reader to stories gathered over the years

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In Folk Tales on the Settle-Carlisle Railway, join the driver and fireman on the footplate of a locomotive. Stand behind a range of levers in a signal box or be one of a gang working on the permanent way, sweating in the summer heat or shivering after a heavy snowfall. Maintenance men in Blea Moor tunnel needed patience and good lungs; the tunnel might be thick with locomotive smoke or draped with icicles. On the Settle-Carlisle journey, we are thrilled by a slowly changing landscape, glancing at Pen-y-ghent, which crouches like a lion above Ribblesdale. Further north, we admire the broad acres of the Eden Valley, which lie between the Northern Pennines and the gaunt fells of the Lake District. An afternoon passenger train that took in the line from Garsdale to Hawes was named Bonnyface; when it turned up, workers smiled as they were about to go home. The Garsdale tank house was used for dances and an adjacent wheel-less carriage was the refreshment room.