A signal box in Cumbria has been awarded Grade II-listed status for its architectural merit and historical interest.
In December 1910, six months after it opened, the box in
Garsdale was the source of a signalling error that resulted in 12
passengers being killed.
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The disaster led to safety changes across the rail network.
The Garsdale box is one of 14 in the north of England to have been granted listed status by English Heritage.
These include one at St Bees in Cumbria, which was inspired
by the Arts and Crafts movement, a "square, modernist" structure in
Runcorn, Cheshire, and the signal box at Norton East on Teesside, built
in 1870 and still operational up to 2012.
Interlocking mechanisms
Originally known as Hawes Junction, and renamed in 1932, the
Garsdale signal box replaced two earlier boxes controlling a busy
section of the Settle to Carlisle line and the junction with the
Wensleydale branch line.
In the early hours of Christmas Eve 1910, an error led to the Scottish Express running into the rear of two engines.
These had been stopped at a signal for 23 minutes after being
forgotten about by the signalman, who then cleared the express - with
fatal consequences.
The disaster prompted the widespread installation of track
circuits, designed to alert signalmen to the presence of trains on the
main line.
As well as for its historical interest, the box was granted
listed status due to its fittings - it retains a Midland Railway lever
frame with its interlocking mechanisms housed on the floor of the
operating room.
Finally a couple of images with ancient and modern traction..............
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...........a Class 158 diesel on the daily Leeds to Carlisle service (upper), as it pulled away from a stop at Garsdale Station and 6201 Princess Elizabeth, as she belted through the station in full steam on "The Hadrian" special to Carlisle, both in April 2010.
