Editing Ribblehead Viaduct (section)

==History==

===Background===
{{Settle-Carlisle line}}
In the 1860s, the [[Midland Railway]], keen to capitalise on the growth in rail traffic between England and Scotland, proposed building a line between [[Settle, North Yorkshire|Settle]] and [[Carlisle, Cumbria|Carlisle]].<ref name=engtime/> The line was intended to join the Midland line between [[Skipton]] and [[Carnforth]] to the city of Carlisle. On 16 July 1866, the Midland Railway (Settle to Carlisle) Act was passed by [[Parliament]], authorising the company "to construct Railways from Settle to Hawes, Appleby, and Carlisle; and for other Purposes".<ref name=engtime/>

After the Act passed, the Midland Railway came to an agreement with the [[London & North Western Railway]], to run services on the LNWR line via [[Shap]].<ref name=engtime/> The company applied for a bill of abandonment for its original plan but Parliament rejected the bill on 16 April 1869 and the Midland Railway was compelled to build the Settle to Carlisle line.<ref name=engtime/>

The line passed through difficult terrain that necessitated building several substantial structures.<ref name=engtime/> The company's chief engineer, [[John Sydney Crossley]] and its general manager, [[James Joseph Allport]], surveyed the line. Crossley was responsible for the design and construction of the major works, including Ribblehead Viaduct.<ref name=NHLE/><ref name=engtime/>
 
On 6 November 1869, a contract to construct the Settle Junction (SD813606) to [[Dent Head Viaduct]] section including Ribblehead Viaduct was awarded to contractor John Ashwell. The estimated cost was £343,318 and completion was expected  by May 1873.<ref name=engtime/> Work commenced at the southern end of the {{convert|116|km|order=flip|adj=on}} line.<ref name=engtime/>

===Construction===
By July 1870, work had started on the foundations for Ribblehead Viaduct.<ref name=engtime/> On 12 October 1870, contractor's agent William Henry Ashwell laid the first stone. Financial difficulties came to greatly trouble John Ashwell; on 26 October 1871, his contract was cancelled by mutual agreement.<ref name=engtime/> From this date, the viaduct was constructed by the Midland Railway who worked on a semi-contractual basis overseen by William Ashwell.<ref name=engtime/>

The viaduct was built by a workforce of up to 2,300 men.<ref name=engtime/> They lived, often with their families, in temporary camps, named ''Batty Wife Hole'', ''Sebastopol'', and ''Belgravia'' on adjacent land.<ref name = "natiheri"/><ref name=HR150/> More than a hundred workers lost their lives in construction-related accidents, fighting, or from outbreaks of [[smallpox]].<ref name=engtime/> According to [[Church of England]] records, there are around 200 burials of men, women, and children in the graveyard at [[Chapel-le-Dale]] and the church has a memorial to the railway workers.<ref>{{cite web |title=Chapel-le-Dale: St Leonard, Ingleton |url=http://www.achurchnearyou.com/chapel-le-dale-st-leonard/  |publisher=Church of England |access-date=25 August 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Kapp |first=Alexander P |title=St Leonard's Church Chapel le Dale, Memorial |url=https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1788933 |work=SD7377 |publisher=[[Geograph]] Project |access-date=25 August 2013 |date=28 March 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Taylor |first=Ian |title=Millennium gravestone, Chapel le Dale |url=https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1905789 |work=SD7377 |publisher=[[Geograph]] Project |access-date=25 August 2013 |date=6 June 2010}}</ref>

In December 1872, the design for Ribblehead Viaduct was changed from 18 arches to 24, each spanning {{convert|13.7|m|order=flip}}.<ref name=engtime/> By August 1874, the arches had been keyed and the last stone was laid by the end of the year.<ref name=Houghton/> A single track was laid over the viaduct and on 6 September 1874 the first train carrying passengers was hauled across by the locomotive ''Diamond''. On 3 August 1875, the viaduct was opened for freight traffic and on 1 May 1876, the whole line opened for passenger services, following approval by Colonel [[Frederick Henry Rich|F. H. Rich]] from the [[Board of Trade]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Milestones Locomotives: The Ribblehead viaduct |url=http://locodriver.co.uk/Railway_Encyclopedia/Part229/Part01/TEXT01.rtf  |website=locodriver.co.uk |access-date=2 February 2015 |format=Word document |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150202154210/http://locodriver.co.uk/Railway_Encyclopedia/Part229/Part01/TEXT01.rtf |archive-date=2 February 2015 |df=dmy-all}}</ref><ref name=engtime/>