Dalegarth for Boot railway station

Dalegarth for Boot
Eskdale (Boot)
Douglas Ferreira arrives at Dalegarth, July 2006
Location
Place	Boot
Area	Copeland, Cumbria
Coordinates	54°23′46″N 3°16′30″W / 54.396°N 3.275°WCoordinates: 54°23′46″N 3°16′30″W / 54.396°N 3.275°W
Grid reference	NY 174 008
Operations
Managed by	R&ER
Owned by	R&ER
Operated by	R&ER
Platforms	2
History
1876	Opened (3 ft gauge)
1913	Station closed
1916	Reopened (15 in gauge)
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Dalegarth for Boot railway station is the easterly terminus of the 15" gauge Ravenglass & Eskdale Railway in Cumbria. It has a café and shop for passengers, along with a run-round loop, turntable and siding for trains. It is located next to the Whillan Beck, a tributary of the River Esk flowing from the isolated Burnmoor Tarn.

Ravenglass & Eskdale Railway
Legend
Cumbrian Coast Line to Barrow-in-Furness Ravenglass(NR) 0 mi Ravenglass Cumbrian Coast Line to Carlisle _ mi Ravenglass Main Street Raven Villa 1 in 48 (down) Barrow Marsh Black Bridge 1 mi _ mi Muncaster Mill Muncaster Mill Farm Crossing Mill Race Mill Wood Bank 1 in 43 (up) _ mi Miteside Halt Miteside Loop 2 mi Katie Caddy Bridge Footpath Crossing Wet Cutting Murthwaite Siding Murthwaite Oak Tree 1 in 43 (up) Murthwaite Quarry _ mi Murthwaite Halt Coronation Street 3 mi Horsefalls Wood Rock Point 1 in 40 (up) Walk Mill Summit 1 in 51 (down) Big Stone Black Bridge (derelict) Tom's Crossing 4 mi _ mi Irton Road Mere Beck Long Yocking Crossing Long Yocking Corner The Chicken Run Eskdale Green Level Crossing _ mi The Green Eskdale Valley Road Hollin How Bank 1 in 43 (up) 5 mi Hollin How Bridge Hollin How Summit Fisherground Incline Fisherground Farm Crossing 1 in 55 (up) Fisherground Loop _ mi Fisherground Halt Ban Garth Incline Spout House Curve 1 in 52 (up) Spout House Bridge Gilbert's Cutting 6 mi Beckfoot Smithy Beckfoot Quarry Big Stone 1 in 67 (up) _ mi Beckfoot Beckfoot Level Crossing Beckfoot Bank 1 in 53 (up) Ghyll Force Junction Boot Beckfoot Summit Dalegarth Cottages Whillan Beck _ mi Dalegarth for Boot Ghyll Force mines

History

The station has stood on this site since the mid-1920s, when it was moved from in front of the nearby miners' cottages (now home to employees of the railway). In the days of the 3' gauge line, the station was at Boot, but soon after the conversion of the final stretch to 15" gauge, it became apparent that the miniature locomotives could not cope with the gradient. The current station is on the route of a late-Victorian mine branch from the cottages to Gill Force, across the River Esk.

For about 80 years, the station building was a converted second-hand hut from the weapons testing establishment at Eskmeals near Ravenglass. The current building, utilising its railway embankment site to create a split-level layout with an education/meeting suite below the main café and shop area, was opened on 21 April 2007 by music producer and railway enthusiast Pete Waterman.

River Irt arrives at Dalegarth, February 2010

At the climax of the Cumbria shootings in 2010, passengers had to remain within the station building under armed guard.

Present Day

Today, the station houses the Fellbites Eatery and Scafell Gift Shop (which also acts as a booking office) that are open when the railway are running scheduled passenger trains, where locomotives can be seen detaching from the rolling stock and coupling onto the other end for the return journey to Ravenglass. Scafell Gift Shop has a range of products similar to that of Ravenglass. The station has two platforms with a turntable at the Eastern extremity of the line and a water tank at the Western end of platform 1.

The station grounds also have amenities such as toilets and free car parking on site.

Accessibility

Wheelchair passengers should reserve a wheelchair space prior to the day of travel, so that the railway can accommodate such passengers.

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  Ravenglass & Eskdale Petrol 0-4-4 at Dalegarth (1951)

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  Ravenglass & Eskdale train at Dalegarth in 1951

Preceding station	Heritage railways			Following station
Beckfoot		Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway		Terminus