Please click the Play button to listen to a brief audio clip about the history of Appleby Train Stations.
A Transcript is also available further down the page.
Historical Images of Appleby West Station (The current station)
Historical Images of Appleby East Station
Photos from Disused Stations
Audio Transcript
Appleby Railway Station was opened in May 1876 by the Midland Railway as part of the Settle-Carlisle line, and was originally called Appleby West Station. Both the northbound main station building and the southbound waiting room were constructed in 1876, but the footbridge dates from the mid-19th Century and was moved from Mansfield Station in Nottinghamshire. In 1996, the former goods shed for the station was converted into a learning facility, with the old carriages serving as classrooms and the sheds used as workshops. However this was sadly closed in 2020.
The Settle-Carlisle line is engineered to follow the natural pathways through the hills of the Pennines. As a result, many of the stations along the line are not the easiest to access, and not situated in the town centres, which explains why there is such a steep hill from the station to the town centre. The platforms in Appleby are the longest on the line at 200 yards, built originally for the purposes of the Anglo-Scottish expresses.
Appleby East Station was located further up Station Road as part of the Eden Valley Railway, and opened in 1862. The old level crossing and line is still visible above the Primary School. Passenger services on the line were stopped in 1962, but freight trains still operated on the line until 1974. The old station has been converted into a private home, and the old train yard is now the site of a scrap yard. Eden Valley Railway hopes to reopen the line as a walking route between Appleby and Warcop.
About the Speaker: Alan McViety
Alan McViety is a retired chartered accountant who has lived all his life in the Eden Valley, and for the last 40 years lived in the village of Bolton. In 2022-23, he was High Sherriff of Cumbria and worked closely with the then mayor, Gareth Hayes, on a number of initiatives in Appleby, including the Platinum Playground project. He also chairs Appleby Community Enterprises, a local non-for-profit company with the aim of promoting business and community activities in the Appleby area.