WHEN you travel on the celebrated Settle-Carlisle line, one of the highlights is crossing the Ribblehead Viaduct. Passengers in the know press their faces against the right-hand side windows as the train leaves Ribblehead Station to get a quick glimpse of the great arches of the viaduct over which the train majestically trundles.

It’s all over in a few seconds, which is rather a pity for one of the great man-made features of the Yorkshire Dales.

To really see and experience the great viaduct in its landscape setting and full glory, you have to get off the train at Ribblehead Station, one of the wildest and remotest in England and wander down the drive, past the beautifully restored Station Master’s House, past the Station Inn to enjoy the magnificent curve of 24 brick and limestone arches, set across the stunning background of Whernside mountain. Each arch is 14 metres (14 feet) wide, and at their highest, 32 metres (104 feet) above ground level.

But Ribblehead Station is a fascinating feature in its own right. Beautifully restored in 2000 to be as close to its original condition as possible, in its original dark maroon Midland Railway colours, by the Settle and Carlisle Railway Trust, this was a station that very nearly didn’t survive.

In the early months of 1975, a few weeks before the proposed reopening of the station for the pioneering Dales Rail service in May of that year, British Rail engineers demolished the 'down' (northbound) platform to allow for the construction of a new siding to serve Ribblehead Quarry. At one time it looked as the destruction of the 'up' platform would soon follow.

When Dales Rail train services began to operate in May 1975, passengers had to use that one platform only. If you wanted to go Ribblehead from the Skipton end you had to travel to Dent and wait for the next southbound train service. In 1993, a few years after daily train services were restored, the missing platform was rebuilt. Once again trains from Skipton could stop there, and a much-needed waiting room was constructed.

Part of the restoration work of the main station in 2000 incorporated, in addition to the waiting area, a small visitor centre within the Station. Recently refurbished by the trust, this contains exhibition displays, documents, photographs and interpreting the remarkable story of the building of the railway during the 1870s, including the great viaduct, the challenges, tribulations and triumphs. But also featured is the epic 1980s story of what was undoubtedly Britain’s greatest tide-turning campaign against a major railway closure,

One of the little hidden gems of the Settle Carlisle line, Ribblehead Station Visitor Centre, depends on keen volunteers to function. Two of the regulars, both highly knowledgeable about the railway and its history, are Jean Collyer and Neil Simpson.

Jean has a very special link to the Craven Herald, being the sister of the late Ian Plant, the gifted young editor of the Herald who tragically died in 1980 in a caving accident in Bull Pot. Neil often leads Heritage Walks around Batty Moss, the area below the viaduct where his keen eyes can pick out lines of the old tramways used to build the viaduct, and 'shanty town' huts and workshops used by the viaduct builders and their families. As he reminded me on my last visit, the original and correct name for the Viaduct is Batty Moss Viaduct, but I suspect 'Ribblehead', synonymous as it is with the Settle-Carlisle line, is the name to stay in most peoples’ minds.

This spring a spectacular new way of enjoying and experiencing the viaduct has been launched – a special bus. Known as the Ingleborough Pony, in tribute to the traditional sturdy Dales Ponies or packhorses that once served Craven, often in long lines or 'trains' carrying essential goods to outlying villages and hamlets along a network of packhorse trails and greenways, the modern Ingleborough Pony isn’t just a bus service, but a tourist trail. It has panoramic windows, offering passengers superb views of some of the finest karst limestone landscapes in the British Isles, over the top of the drystone walls, better than from a car, especially for drivers who can relax and absorb the breath-taking scenery.

The Ingleborough Pony, sponsored by the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority’s Sustainable Development Fund, is part of the popular Sunday DalesBus network. It picks up visitors at Ingleton Visitor Centre and main car park at 2.30pm every Sunday and Bank Holiday for a 38-mile clockwise circular bus trip, which literally goes 'Round the Mountain', circling the whole of Ingleborough massive, via White Scar Caves, Chapel-le-Dale to Ribblehead. From here it travels up to the Station to give visitors 40 minutes to enjoy the visitor centre (free entry) and to photograph the viaduct.

The bus then continues via Selside, Horton, Settle and on to Austwick and Clapham to Ingleton, Passengers can stay longer at Ribblehead, for example to explore Natural England’s Nature Trail around the old Ribblehead Quarry and National Nature Reserve before catching a later bus back to Ingleton or the train back to Settle.

The visitor centre is open daily (except Mondays) between 10am and 4pm – free entry, light refreshments and a small shop available: further details of the Ingleborough Pony (return fares £3.50; children/seniors £2), see local timetable leaflets or log onto www.dalesbus.org