Appleby East

Many people know Appleby Railway Station. It is on the famous Settle to Carlisle line and often features in blips, especially when a steam train is going through. What few people know is that its original name was Appleby West station, because there was another station in Appleby, which preceded it by fourteen years – Appleby East.

And this is it now! Obviously it no longer functions as a station, but the station building is still very fine. The railway line was the Eden Valley Railway, which ran from Kirkby Stephen to Clifton (and thence to Penrith), and which was closed to passenger traffic in 1962, although the line was still used by local industries and then by the army until 1989.
 
The whole station site was taken over by a scrap metal company – a bit obvious that! I think the house is still lived in and it looks to be in good condition. You can just see the edge of the platform between the vehicles and the goods shed behind me is still standing. Apparently the rail track is still in place and it continues on the opposite side of the road, as can be seen in the extra picture.
 
(I would have taken a better picture, but as you can see from the sky, it was raining. This was the only picture without raindrops.)
 
Currently the Eden Valley Railway Trust is trying to re-open the railway line between Warcop and Appleby East, but so far they have only got part way. This is their website and, if you are really interested, you can follow ‘Miscellany’ and then 'The railway from above’ – scroll down to the last two photos and you can see Appleby East Station from above.