Plate 197 is a context view from the west,circa 1930, of Armathwaite station. The unusual scene illustrates many details to be found in the vicinity of stations, but not frequently photographed. The four cattle pens are larger than those found elsewhere, and the dock was scheduled to have a capacity for five wagons. The small brick building, adjacent to the cattle dock, behind the buffer stops, was designated as a “Saw Dust House”, (/location-summaries/structure-298180) a facility provided at other places but not pinpointed on the surveys. Small structures were erected near to many other cattle docks, and the saw dust found use in cattle wagons.
The large angled name board, which appears to be newly-painted, for some reason was not repeated on the “down”platform.
Note the heavy timber buffer stops, marking the end of the headhunts (/location-summaries/structure-298260). In the foreground is the weighbridge and weigh office (/location-summaries/structure-298190).
The main building and booking office (/location-summaries/structure-298110) on the down platform is on the right of the image.
Figure 74 shows the track layout for Armathwaite, based upon information from a Midland Railway survey of 1912.