No 58 "Take A Special / Famous Train Journey"

No 58 referes to that element of my quest to do 64 specific things before I am 64 that I set myself on my 61st birthday as a means of pushing me to try new thing, places /and activities. Checking the list I`ve done 27 of the challenges I set myself so still plenty to do and some that I fear I will not achieve.
When I set number 58 I had in mind something more akin to the Orient Express or the Trans Siberian railway but cost and time rules those out I fear and as I had done the Rocky Mountaineer already before I set the challenge I could not count it. Thus when the line was re-opened and West Coast Railways announced a Dalesman trip  by steam train on the Settle - Carlisle route I thought "Why not?" and booked us on it. In hindsight it would have been nicer to have booked the First Class trip with lunch and afternoon tea in some wonderful vintage carriages and if I had known the trip would take nearly 6 hours I might have done, despite it being more than double what we paid! In fact we settled for 2nd class and took a picnic, alighting at Leeds at 10.18am on the day. We started off being pulled by an old diesel train sat in old ew- Intercity stock offering good views from the windows.West Coast Railway pay to use the line and stations they stop at en route so it was a private charter and was at least half made up of First Class carriages and longer than any service train we saw on the day!

Old switches

Old carriage

Fellow travels were more railway buffs than we were

 Weather en route was poor but still OK to sit back and enjoy the Dales scenery

 The Settle - Carlise route was built by Midland Railway to give it a mainline route from Leeds to Scotland ultimately. It went over wild terrain with huge inclines for a train line including the inital 1:300 and then 1: 100 climbs that last 15 miles from Settle. It was very tough on crew  with a fireman on board saying" You never put the shovel down between Hellifield and Ais Gill Summitt and you shift some coal in 40 minutes". Construction meant cutting through, tunneling under or cutting across any obstacles in the way with 4 structures per mile en route. Huge undertakings done with just pick ,shovel, dynamite and muscle!At it`s peak 7000 men were employed and 500 horses costing nearly double it`s original estimate at £3,467,000 with first passenger traffic in 1876 after 7 years of construction.

Over Ribbleshead Viaduct

Taking on water

 Ribbleshead Viaduct is a huge feat of engineering built on a gentle curve with 24 arches towering 104 feet above the ground.Gales blowing in Chapel le Dale would reach 100 mph and at times simply blew workmen off the top with work then delayed and casualties. It took 5 years to build this viaduct alone!

We should have been in this carriage!

 Arrived in Carlisle at 14.17 with delays being due to the switch to steam locomotive at Hellifield and water stop.

Electric v steam - no contest!

 I was lucky enough to be allowed on the footplate. Rain on the lens caused spheres with the extreme heat of the fire. Really interesting talking to them about how hard the work is to keep it going up the inclines.

 Of course once at Carlisle the heavens opened and there was little we could do but sip cocktails / beer and coffees!

 You canb see the rain lashing down in the photos!

 On the way back taking on water again. This line is used by many filmmakers as it can be used to cover historical works from the 1920s - late 60`s with the buildings en route.

 I did worry about the carbon footprint we left behind as the coal dust blew in thw indow and landed on our tables!

 All in all an interesting trip which would have been even better on a nicer day but I can finally say I`ve travelled in a steam train on the |Settle - Carlise railway!