SOUTH TYNEDALE RAILWAY - THE FRIENDLY LINE

Yeah I made it to the South Tyndedale Railway in Alston today.  Took G for a visit, which he loved.  They call it the Friendly Railway and that was certainly our experience.

Got up early so we could get there in time for the first departure at 10.30.  There are only 3 a day anyway.

No problems on the roads and I'd forgotten just how high Alston is and although about 19 miles from Penrith took a while as there was quite a few hair pin bends to negotiate, but this was OK only one other car on the road.

Went straight to the ticket office, cum little shop.  Such a friendly man behind the counter but a little disappointed to find that they only run steam at the weekend and even then it is best to ring before you leave to be sure.  This is because they have great difficulty getting volunteers anyway and for steam its a specialist volunteer they would need.  

Only a minor disappointment thought, we still had a very lovely day.  Weather was much cooler, which suited me fine.  

I deposited G in the open aired compartment then went to take some photos.   Whilst taking some of the signal box, the signalman invited me to go up and have a look if I wanted, so I accepted.  

It was brilliant.  He was so knowledgeable and told me how they all worked and I even had a go at changing one of the points just down the line - boy they are heavy but apparently, unusually for most, I did it right as I used my legs as leverage to pull them back and not the arms!!!!

The Ticket Inspector came round and asked us all if we wanted blankets, we thought he was joking.  However he explained that with open air compartment it could get very cold so he brought out loads of crochets shawls.  We all very grateful for this later as we all used them!!!!!

The line only has 4 stops and is 5 miles long.  You have a wait at the end line which is called "Slaggyford".  So we had coffee and cafe in the carriage buffet on the station.  All very nice.

Then some time later we arrived back at Alston and had a nice light lunch in the station cafe, which was excellent.

Went round the STR little museum and The Hub, which is another tiny museum packed full of memories - mostly old motorbikes, an AA motorbike and about 4 cars.  Only £2.50 entrance fee so worth a little look.

We then came away having had a really lovely day.  I had hoped to stop on the way down to take some photos of the glorious view but this didn't happen.  Primarily because I thought the  car park at Inn at the top of the mountain was closed as there were loads of works vehicles in there, but I found out too late that I could have got in.  There was only another couple of places on the way day and there was already someone parked in both.  Never mind another time.

I'd go back again at a weekend to see the steam trains but probably not go on the ride again.

A couple of links for anyone interested. in either the highest town in England or the railway.

STR Alston
Alston