Railways
To understand the importance of the railways in the Yorkshire Dales, one only has to visit Ribblehead and see the magnificent viaduct, part of the Settle-Carlisle Railway.  This was built by the Midland Railway Company in the 1870s to gain a share of the lucrative London to Scotland passenger traffic without the need to use the lines belonging to their rival, the London and North Western Railway.  The route has been described both as one of the most extraordinary feats of Victorian railway engineering and as one of the most foolhardy. In today’s terms it cost nearly £200 million to build.

Railways were always and continue to be used by industry, for example, for transporting quarried rock, lead ore and coal.  Although many lines disappeared in the first half of the 20th century, there are many remains to study and some groups, such as the Wensleydale Railway Association, work hard to open old lines to provide new services.

The image shows a steam locomotive, taken from a bridge over the lines of the Embsay and Bolton Abbey Steam Railway.