Description
The Settle & Carlisle Railway, a 73-mile railway route located in the north of England, runs between Settle Junction and Carlisle. Constructed by the Midland Railway, the route took seven years to build with approximately 6000 employees. The construction included building 14 tunnels and more than 20 viaducts across some of the most hostile terrain in England. Each built using manual labour, the S&C became the last main line railway in England constructed almost entirely by hand.
The railway opened to passengers in the spring of 1876 and saw a mixture of both freight and passenger traffic. Despite several attempts to close the route, the Settle & Carlisle Railway is today a favourite amongst passengers travelling onboard mainline steam charters. Passing through the picturesque scenery of the Yorkshire Dales and Cumbria, complete with testing gradients, the route offers some of the best steam performances in the country.
Gradients:
Travelling in either direction the route includes challenging gradients; the railway climbs to a summit of 1,169ft above sea level, Ais Gill Summit is the highest point reached by mainline trains in England.
Travelling northbound, the route is famous for ‘The Long Drag’, a 16-mile climb from Settle Junction to Blea Moor, with a ruling gradient of 1 in 100, the climb is a true test for any crew. Travelling southbound, the locomotive crew are once again challenged, travelling from Appleby to Ais Gill Summit, with 15¼ miles of roughly 1 in 100.
This DVD includes two discs, each showcasing mainline steam hauled charter services from the last decade. Disc 1 features northbound services, disc 2 showcases services travelling back south.
Disc 1 – northbound services:
Running for over an hour, disc 1 features locations between Settle Junction and Carlisle, with many classic locations on ‘The Long Drag’ featured. Some of which include Settle Junction, Langcliffe, Stainforth Tunnel, Helwith Bridge, Helwith Quarry, Horton In Ribblesdale, Selside, Ribblehead Viaduct and Blea Moor.
Disc 2 – southbound services:
With over an hour’s run time, disc 2 travels in the opposite direction from Carlisle to Settle Junction, showcasing the climb between Appleby to Ais Gill Summit. Some of the locations include Crosby Garrett, Smardale, Waitby, Kirkby Stephen, Greengate, Birkett Common, Shoregill, Angerholm and Ais Gill.
Line closures:
On the 9th February 2016, the Appleby to Carlisle section of the route had to be closed due to the erosion of an embankment. Subsequently, no through trains could operate, meaning no steam hauled charter services ran during the 2016 season. This DVD covers footage between 2010 and 2021, but without any coverage from 2016.
In February 2017, to celebrate the forthcoming reopening of the line on the 31st March, scheduled trains hauled by LNER A1 No.60163 ‘Tornado’ ran between Skipton and Appleby, the first regular mainline scheduled service in England using steam for more than half a century. The railway was fully re-opened on the 31st March 2022 by LNER A3 No.60103 ‘Flying Scotsman’, hauling a charter from Oxenhope (on the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway) to Carlisle and return.
Locomotives featured on this product
A wide collection of steam locomotives are included across the 2-discs, some of which include:
- LNER A1 No.60163 ‘Tornado’
- LNER A3 No.60103 ‘Flying Scotsman’
- LNER A4 No.60009 ‘Union Of South Africa’
- LNER B1 No.61306 ‘Mayflower’
- LNER K4 No.61994 ‘The Great Marquess’
- LMS 5MT No.44932
- LMS 5MT No.45231 ‘The Sherwood Forester’
- LMS 5MT No.45407 ‘The Lancashire Fusilier’
- LMS 5XP No.45690 ‘Leander’
- LMS 5XP No.45699 ‘Galatea’
- LMS 5XP No.45596 ‘Bahamas’
- LMS 7P No.46100 ‘Royal Scot’
- LMS 7P No.46115 ‘Scots Guardsman’
- LMS 8F No.48151
- LMS 8P No.6201 ‘Princess Elizabeth’
- LMS 8P No.46233 ‘Duchess Of Sutherland’
- SR WC No.34046 ‘Braunton’
- SR BB No.34067 ‘Tangmere
- SR MN No.35018 ‘British India Line’
- BR 7MT No.70000 ‘Britannia’
- BR 7MT No.70013 ‘Oliver Cromwell’
- BR 8P No.71000 ‘Duke Of Gloucester’
Product Overview:
This product features no commentary, allowing you to fully appreciate the sound of the steam locomotives working hard. Short titles are included throughout informing you of the charter name, date, locomotive and location. No aerial videography is included within this product. This product runs for approx. 129 minutes and is split across two discs for maximum quality. Copies are available in UK 16:9 widescreen format only.
