Lazonby's little water tower

click image to enlarge  Photo- Alan Atkinson

Photographed in the 1970s, this was the Settle-Carlisle line's smallest water tank house - at Lazonby, between Appleby and Carlisle.   It held just 12,000 gallons of water compared with Settle's 43,000 gallons.   It was made of the local red sandstone and had a chimney, suggesting it may have originally housed a steam pumping engine.   The water source was a beck some 200 yards to the north, beyond what is presently Bells Bakery.   There was a brick built electric pump house by the beck on the up side.   How the water was pumped in pre-electric days is not known.   The building became a railwaymen's mess room, complete with obligatory coal fire.   The windows are smaller than Settle's.  Otherwise the architectural details appear identical.   A water crane from Lazonby still exists and is in use at Appleby to water today's steam engines.   The Lazonby tank supplied two water cranes, one at each end of the station.   This is the northern crane, serving the down line.   Note the brazier alongside it, to prevent freezing in winter.