Place Garsdale Head Station code GSD DfT category F2 Number of platforms 2 | Grid reference SD788918 Managed by Northern 2011/12 14,850 | |
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Address Sedbergh LA10 5PP, United Kingdom Similar Langwathby railway station, Lazonby and Kirkoswal, Wennington railway station, Armathwaite railway station, Ribblehead Viaduct | ||
Garsdale railway station
Garsdale railway station is a railway station which serves the immediate hamlet of Garsdale Head, Cumbria, England, together with the valley of Garsdale and the nearby towns of Sedbergh, Cumbria and Hawes, North Yorkshire. It is operated by Northern who provide all passenger train services; it is situated 61 1⁄2 miles (99 km) north of Leeds.
Contents
- Garsdale railway station
- Northern rail class 158 dmu leaving garsdale railway station settle carlisle railway
- Facilities
- Services
- Statue of Ruswarp
- References
The station was designed by the Midland Railway company architect John Holloway Sanders, though not in the same style as used elsewhere on the route.
Adjoining the station are sixteen Railway Cottages built for its employees by the Midland Railway around 1876, the year the Settle-Carlisle Line opened. A further six cottages were added near to the Moorcock Inn soon afterwards. In the days of steam-hauled London-Scotland expresses, the locality once boasted the highest water troughs in the world (just along the line at Ling Gill). Unusually, the station waiting room was once used for Anglican church services, and the railway turntable had a wall of sleepers built around it to prevent locomotives being spun by strong winds: this happened in 1900 and was the inspiration for the story 'Tenders and Turntables' in the book 'Troublesome Engines' in The Railway Series by Rev W. Awdry.
The Hawes Junction rail crash of 1910 occurred near to the station, which was originally named Hawes Junction, as it was the junction of a branch line to Hawes. This line was closed in March 1959, though it is the long-term aim of the Wensleydale Railway to extend their rails along the former route from Redmire to connect with services here, allowing through journeys to Northallerton on the East Coast Main Line. The signal box (opened just a few months before the Christmas 1910 accident) on the northbound platform is still in use today.
Northern rail class 158 dmu leaving garsdale railway station settle carlisle railway
Facilities
The station is unstaffed, but waiting rooms are available on each platform. They are linked by a ramped subway and are therefore fully accessible for disabled travellers. Tickets must be bought in advance or on the train as no ticket machines are available. Train running information can be obtained from timetable posters or by phone from the station signal box. A bus service to & from Hawes connects with selected train departures each day.
Services
Garsdale has seen a modest improvement in service levels in recent years, with an extra morning service in each direction. This brings the service level up to that seen at various other stations on the route (such as Langwathby), namely six each way on weekdays & Saturdays and three each way on Sundays. The station is also served by DalesRail trains between Blackpool North/Preston and Carlisle on Sundays during the summer (one train each way in 2016 timetable).
Statue of Ruswarp
The southbound platform features a life-size bronze statue of a Border Collie dog named Ruswarp (pronounced /rʌsəp/). Ruswarp belonged to Graham Nuttall, one of the founding members of the group that saved the Settle-Carlisle Railway from closure. The dog had also been featured in the campaign, signing the petition to save the line with a paw-print. Nuttall disappeared while walking in the Welsh Mountains on 20 January 1990. His body was found on 7 April; Ruswarp was still alive after standing guard over his owner's body for 11 weeks. The sculpture by Joel Walker is a memorial to both Graham Nuttall and Ruswarp and was unveiled on 11 April 2009, 20 years after the line was saved from closure. The station waiting rooms, previously out of use due to leaking roofs, were also refurbished and reopened to the public as part of the ceremony.