Crimple Valley Viaduct, York and North Midland Railway. Harrogate Branch, 1847 (hand coloured litho on...

Artist: John Cass Birkinshaw (1811-1857) ‘This stupendous Work is now erecting under the Superintendance [sic] of J.C. Birkinshaw Esqr C. E. it contains 31 Arches 50 Feet Span each of beautiful proportion & great Height the loftiest being 120 Feet high the Total Length 1873 Feet the Main Line from Leeds to Thirsk runs under the second Arch as shewn in the Drawing. J. C. Birkinshaw ESQ. E.C.E., Gibson & Co. Lith. Artists & Printers, York, Aug.1847.' Birkinshaw was Robert Stephenson’s first articled pupil; Stephenson trained him in the role of resident engineer and Birkinshaw worked with him on some early railway projects during the 1830s and 1840s including the London & Birmingham Railway (L&BR), the Birmingham and Derby Junction Railway, and was Engineer-in-Chief for the Malton & Driffield Railway (MDR). The Harrogate and Church Fenton railway was started c1845, around 17 miles long, it included heavy works, with a tunnel and viaduct over the Crimple Beck. Designed by John Birkinshaw, the Crimple Valley viaduct was one of the most impressive in the country. This viaduct measured a total length of 1873 feet, and consisted of 31 arches of fifty feet span, the tallest of which was 120 feet high. Underneath it ran the main line from Leeds to Harrogate.