This Day in History: 1964-03-27

27 March 1964

Today, 27th March, marks the anniversary of the formal opening of Gilbert’s Cutting in 1964 by the then Preservation Society Chairman Patrick Satow. Mr Satow designed the cutting and conducted all the required surveys before the work was started and whilst the contractors were on site.

Using “opencast gelignite” to blast through the rock, the cutting was constructed to a 300 foot radius ten feet wide at rail level with steep sides exposing Eskdale pink granite on the inside curve. Its construction alleviated the sharp curve at Holling Head of 145 foot radius which caused excessive wear and tear on the locos and track. 3,000 tons of rock and earth was removed and about 700 feet of track was re-laid. By diverting the line through the new cutting the length of the line was reduced by 87¾ feet making the total length 6.91 miles.

On Friday 27th March 1964, the 11:20am train from Ravenglass hauled by River Irt and driven by the Managing Director of the Railway Company Colin Gilbert, stopped at the Western entrance to the cutting. Mr Satow, who was travelling in the cab with Mr Gilbert and Mr Postlethwaite the landowner, cut the ribbon and formally named the cutting “Gilbert’s Cutting” in honour of Colin Gilbert.

Photo by Dai Pickup (Former Preservation Society Secretary). With thanks to the Ravenglass Railway Museum.