Skarloey Road

This article is about the Culdee Fell Railway station. You may be looking for the engine in RWS, the engine in T&F, the station, the railway or the Story Library book.

Skarloey Road
Background Information
Creator(s)	Rev. W. Awdry George Awdry
Overview
Location	East of Shiloh, Island of Sodor
Year opened	1900
Operations
Managed by	Culdee Fell Railway
Line(s)	Culdee Fell Railway
No. of platforms	1

Skarloey Road, also known as Halfway, is a station on the Culdee Fell Railway at the base of the mountain, right below Devil's Back.

History

Having skirted Poll-ny-Chrink, the line has to climb sharply in order to surmount the wooded ridge out of which the road to Skarloey was cut. A ten-arched viaduct was necessary to span the gap, and reach the site selected for the station. This viaduct was the most difficult civil engineering feature of the whole line, and pending its completion the construction of the upper section had to be delayed for some eight to nine months.

The station at Halfway is an important one. In addition to being the main passing place for Up and Down trains, it has to cater for passengers brought here by Sodor Roadways' coaches. In contrast to Shiloh and Devil's Back it boasts a Booking Office and Refreshment Room, and normally has a staff of two, sometimes increased to three at the height of the season. A lengthy passing-loop is provided together with a 10,000 gallon water tank fed by a pipe from the source of the mountain stream. It is the last reliable watering place for engines on their upward journey.

Travellers have a choice here. They can reach the Summit by train or on foot. Alternatively they can follow the centuries old pilgrim path to St. Machan's Cave. The view from the station is much the same as that from Shiloh, but with the advantage of a wider prospect thanks to its greater height. The immediate surroundings however have a grimmer aspect. The line is now above the tree-line, and the greenery is that of coarse grass and scrub which offers but a bare living to the surprising number of sheep which stray up here. Even this hardy vegetation disappears except in sheltered clumps as the line climbs higher towards the bleak ridge known for centuries as the Devil's Back (Dreeym-y-Deighan).

Appearances

• Railway Series

The Railway Series

Companion Volumes

• 1987 - The Island of Sodor: Its People, History and Railways (mentioned)

Trivia

• Its Snowdon Mountain Railway equivalent is Halfway.

Gallery

Halfway, the basis for Skarloey Road

Station Guide

Preceding station	Culdee Fell Railway			Following station
Shiloh		Culdee Fell Railway		Devil's Back

Culdee Fell Railway

---