Trains no more

This picture shows a bridge over the river Rawthey, near Sedbergh in Cumbria, that used to carry the Ingleton branch-line. Opened in 1861 by the North Western Railway, it left the Lancaster and Carlisle Railway (now part of the West Coast Mainline) at Lowgill where there was a station. Passing near Sedbergh where the station was about a mile from the actual town, the route then went through Kirkby Lonsdale to meet the Skipton to Lancaster line. Sadly passenger services ceased during 1954 and the Ingleton branch succumbed to the axe in 1967. Which is a shame as had it survived it would have been a useful diversionary route and alternative path for freight. A few spectacular viaducts along the former railway have survived, as has this bridge due to the fact it now carries a pipeline across the river for British Gas.