Monsal Dale railway station

Monsal Dale
The station remains in 2006
General information
Location	Derbyshire Dales England
Coordinates	53.2445°N 1.7357°W / 53.2445; -1.7357
Platforms	2
Other information
Status	Disused
History
Pre-grouping	Midland Railway
Post-grouping	London, Midland and Scottish Railway
Key dates
1 September 1866	Station opened
10 August 1959	station closed for regular services
3 April 1961	closed completely

Monsal Trail
Midland Railway ← Buxton│Peak Forest → Topley Pike junction Chee Tor No. 1 tunnel Millers Dale Millers Dale viaducts Litton Tunnel ( 516 yd 472 m ) Cressbrook Tunnel ( 471 yd 431 m ) Monsal Dale Headstone Viaduct Headstone Tunnel ( 533 yd 487 m ) Great Longstone Hassop Bakewell Coombs Road viaduct (end of trail) Haddon Tunnel ( 1058 yd 967 m ) (closed) Rowsley (proposed extension) Rowsley South Darley Dale Matlock Riverside Peak Rail line
Sources

Monsal Dale railway station was opened in 1866 by the Midland Railway on its line from Rowsley, extending the Manchester, Buxton, Matlock and Midlands Junction Railway.

The original intention was merely to have a goods depot to serve the nearby Cressbrook Mill, to be called Cressbrook or Cressbrook Sidings. However a passenger station would also serve the villages of Upperdale and Cressbrook.

The down line and platform was built on a shelf carved in the rock face, while the up was built on wooden trestles over the hillside. The wooden buildings for the latter were obtained from Evesham railway station.

From Monsal Dale, the line proceeded through Cressbrook 471 yards (431 m) and Litton 515 yards (471 m) tunnels to Millers Dale on its way north. Cut through solid limestone, they were both complex tunnels on a gradient of 1 in 100, and curved to allow the line to conform to the terrain.

It was written:

There is not in the whole range of Peak scenery such a lovely landscape in so small a space as can be viewed from the platform of this singular and romantically situated station.

The station closed to regular passenger traffic in 1959 but continued to be used by occasional ramblers specials and excursions until April 1961. Trains continued to pass through the station until 1968 when the line was closed.

Today this section of line forms part of the Monsal Trail, an 8.5-mile (13.7 km) walk and cycleway. The down platform edge can still be seen, but nothing remains of the up platform or timber buildings. The tunnels previously mentioned were re-opened in 2011, and the previous path diversions over the river via a permissive path by Cressbrook Mill are still available.

Route

Preceding station		Disused railways		Following station
Millers Dale Line and station closed		Midland Railway Manchester, Buxton, Matlock and Midland Junction Railway		Longstone Line and station closed