Irton Road railway station is a railway station on the 15 in gauge Ravenglass & Eskdale Railway in the Lake District National Park, Cumbria. The station is located from Ravenglass and from Dalegarth for Boot, and trains take 20 minutes to reach their destinations in either direction from this station. At most weekends and high-season, it is manned by volunteers from the Ravenglass & Eskdale Railway, who sell tickets from the booking office shelter and can give live train-running information, but are unable to carry out these when trains are due into the station, as they are carrying out safety-critical tasks. This is the only intermediate station where the crossing loop is in the station, consequently there are two platforms. It is imperative to inform the guard that you are crossing at this location, because unless it is known that there are passengers to cross from the second train arriving, to depart on the first train that arrived, the first train that arrived will depart before the second train has completely stopped, making the transfer of passengers from the later-arriving train onto the earlier-arriving train unworkable.
History
Originally named Hollowstones, after the adjacent farm, it opened to passengers in 1876, when the line was still in its 3' gauge form. Closed in 1913 and reopened in 1916 as the new minimum gauge line was created, it is now the main train crossing pointon the line, hosting a passing loop with room for long length trains and a siding which is now used by the permanent-way department.
Present day
Set in the heart of the Eskdale valley in Cumbria; today a host of different trains can be seen passing through the station in high season, including passenger, permanent-way and empty-carriage-stock trains. Most frequently seen are passenger trains, which run from Ravenglass to Dalegarth for Boot and vice versa. There are sidings here, which end in a two road shed, usually home to Quarryman, a paraffin-fuelled 4w engine formerly used on trains between Beckfoot Quarry and Murthwaite Stone Crushing Plant; Santa's Sleigh, used in the winter time during the Santa Specials and 627, an old coach dating from 1928, which is part of the heritage collection. A bridge over the station carries a metalled track from Irton Road to a farm named Hollowstones, which doubles as a public right of way for walkers heading south from the station. When approaching by train from either direction, point indicators showing the lie of the weighted points can be seen when the train is approaching Irton Road railway station. The point indicators consist of a light on a black, circular background. A steady white light indicates that the weighted points are set for the train to enter the left-hand line of the two railway lines, while a flashing white light indicates that the weighted points are set for the train to enter the right-hand line of the two railway lines. Exceptionally, no light illuminated either indicates that the weighted points are incorrectly set for either light-hand or right-hand train movements, or that there is some power or mechanical failure with the point indicators. These point indicators are normally inactive, only becoming active when a train passes a detection module, located on the track further back from the station than the point indicators. Presently, only a shelter and a toilet are available for use by the public. Conversations from the radio transceiver inside the station master's office can sometimes be overheard by passengers waiting inside the shelter. The station looks out on either side to grazing farmland, where sheep and cattle are a familiar sight. The road north of the railway line leads to Eskdale Green village in an easterly direction, where a convenience store, public toilets and a travelling post office on selected days can be found. The journey to each end of the line is approximately 20 minutes in each direction, however the working timetable differs slightly in that the train takes 18 minutes to get to this station from Dalegarth, with a 2-minute stationary phase at Irton Road.
Accessibility
Wheelchair passengers wishing to depart or alight here are advised to pre-book a wheelchair space prior to the day of travel.
Telecommunications
A radio transceiver for the radio-controlled train order signalling system is located here. An analogue radio repeater is located within the booking office which is used to overhear conversations between driver and the controller. The railway uses a type of semi-duplex private business radio system, similar to the marine VHF system.
