Monday 17 June 2013

CELEBRATING 150 YEARS OF THE WHALEY BRIDGE TO BUXTON RAIL LINE

On Saturday 15 June 2013 my family, along with many others, visited our local station to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the opening of the above railway line. Members of the 'Friends' group, who work very hard indeed to improve conditions at our station, were wearing Victorian clothing. They were not alone, and it was even more of a joy than usual to purchase rail tickets from Steve, who looked very smart indeed! (see below)



We viewed a wonderful historical display about the railway line and saw the very first ticket that was sold for the journey from Whaley Bridge to Buxton. We also took part in a quiz which caused every visitor to march back and forth between the waiting room, station platform, ticket office and car park. Very educational but also great fun! The history display informed us of a train crash which took place at Whaley Bridge on February 17th 1885, as a result of frozen signals. Three young men were on the engine at the time, and two were killed as the engine left the rails and ended up in the road.