The Settle and Carlisle Railway had its origins in railway politics; the expansion-minded Midland Railway company was locked in dispute with the rival London and North Western Railway over access rights to the latter's tracks to Scotland.

The Midland's existing access to Scotland was via the so-called 'Little' North Western route to Ingleton. (see OTH entry). The tracks from there on to Low Gill where they joined the Lancaster & Carlisle Railway fell under the control of the rival LNWR. Initially the two routes, although physically connected at Ingleton, were not  in fact connected, as the LNWR and Midland could not agree on sharing the use of Ingleton station. Instead the LNWR terminated its trains at a separate station at the opposite end of Ingleton viaduct, and Midland Railway passengers had to change into LNWR trains by means of a walk of about a mile between the two stations.

Eventually an agreement was reached over station access, enabling the Midland to attach through carriages to LNWR trains at Ingleton. Passengers could now continue their journey north without leaving the train. But the situation was still far from ideal, as the LNWR would handle the through carriages of its rival with deliberate obstructiveness, for example attaching the through coaches to slow freight trains instead of to fast passenger workings.

Eventually the Midland board decided that the only solution was their own route to Scotland. Surveying began in 1865, and in June 1866, Parliamentary approval was given to the Midland's plan. Soon after, however, the Overend-Gurney banking failure sparked a financial crisis in the UK. Interest rates rose sharply, several railways went bankrupt and the Midland's board, prompted by a shareholders' revolt, began to have second thoughts about a venture where the estimated cost was £2.3m. As a result, in April 1869, with no work yet started, the company petitioned Parliament to abandon the scheme it had earlier fought for. However Parliament, under pressure from other railways which would benefit from the scheme but which would cost them nothing, refused, and construction commenced in November that year.

Ribblehead Viaduct is the longest and most famous viaduct on the Settle-Carlisle Railway, and Ribblehead railway station is located less than half a mile to the south of the viaduct.It is typical of the stations on the line and is now available for holiday accommodation.

The viaduct was designed by the engineer John Sydney Crossley. The first stone was laid on 12 October 1870 and the last in 1874. It is 32 m (104 ft ) high and spans 402 m. It is made up of twenty-four arches.

Two thousand Navvies building the viaduct established shanty towns on the moors, named the towns after victories of the Crimean War, sarcastically for posh districts of London, and Biblical names. There were smallpox epidemics and deaths from industrial accidents; meaning that the church graveyard at Chapel-le-Dale had to be extended. Near the viaduct are just traceable the foundations of Batty Green village where some of the navvies lived. It is a scheduled Ancient Monument.

British Rail attempted to close the line in the 1980s, citing the reason that the viaduct was unsafe and would be expensive to repair. A partial solution was to single the line across the viaduct, preventing two trains from crossing simultaneously. The closure proposals generated tremendous protest and were eventually retracted. The viaduct, along with the rest of the line, was maintained and there are no longer any plans to close it. Prominent in its presevation and retention is a Settle & Carlisle action group at the website quoted above.

Photo credits:

Michael Bryan, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

Michael D Beckwith, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

Brian Ward