Rural railway byway
As a coda to these few shots of the Alston branch I include one more taken by my dad. The only thing I can say for certain about it is the date: Tuesday 15th July 1975. Otherwise, my guess is that this is the same dmu seen here after leaving Lambley station, bound for Haltwhistle. If I'm right, the dmu will soon head out over the Lambley viaduct, out of sight on the right.
The Alston branch ran through the valley of the river South Tyne between Haltwhistle in Northumberland and Alston in Cumbria. The line closed to all traffic on 3rd May 1976, in what may have been the final act in the implementation of Beeching's cuts.
Since that time, the South Tynedale Railway has opened a 2' narrow gauge line using the old trackbed from Alston to Lintley (3½ miles), and has plans to extend further north.
Scan from colour print.
Rural railway byway
As a coda to these few shots of the Alston branch I include one more taken by my dad. The only thing I can say for certain about it is the date: Tuesday 15th July 1975. Otherwise, my guess is that this is the same dmu seen here after leaving Lambley station, bound for Haltwhistle. If I'm right, the dmu will soon head out over the Lambley viaduct, out of sight on the right.
The Alston branch ran through the valley of the river South Tyne between Haltwhistle in Northumberland and Alston in Cumbria. The line closed to all traffic on 3rd May 1976, in what may have been the final act in the implementation of Beeching's cuts.
Since that time, the South Tynedale Railway has opened a 2' narrow gauge line using the old trackbed from Alston to Lintley (3½ miles), and has plans to extend further north.
Scan from colour print.