The railway connection between the towns of Česká Lípa and Liberec was constructed by the Ústecko-teplická dráha (ATE) company between 1897 and 1900 as the last – and technically most challenging – stage of the North Bohemian transverse track, transporting brown coal from the Ore Mountain region to Liberec. As short as 7 kilometres, the section between Křižany and Karlov contains five tunnels and four stone bridges, with the largest – 29.5 metres high and 200 metres long – viaduct which has become the landmark of the scenic valley called Kryštofovo údolí.
Because the longest ascent of the whole railway follows after Rynoltice, which needed to be climbed by freight trains with the help of an additional locomotive, the local station had to be supplemented with depot premises, including a now-defunct turntable, a two-bay stone masonry locomotive shed (no. 206) and a waterworks building (no. 205), which has been converted into a residence. The usual wooden warehouse (no. 207), guardhouse by the eastern station gridiron (no. 204), a park layout of the surroundings and mechanical crossing gate, dating back to the 1940s, have also been preserved in the compound. The local dispatch building (no. 208) is one of five identical buildings to be found along this railway – the other four have been well preserved in Brniště, Zdislava, Křižany and Karlov pod Ještědem. Whereas their layout followed the standard plan for middle-sized dispatch buildings, used by the ATE company in the previous construction stage between the towns of Litoměřice and Česká Lípa, their facades – similarly to those of the largest dispatch buildings in this section as preserved in Mimoň, Jablonné v Podještědí and Liberec-Horní Růžodol – consist of rough masonry, stone window and door linings and timber gable sidings.
The origin their design illustrates perfectly the broader context of railway architecture. It is based on standard plans, created in 1860’ by architect Wilhelm von Flattich (1826–1900) for the Southern Railway Company and used along the Brenner line in the Tyrol for buildings completely in stone. The rough masonry of railway buildings (among others) was brought into Austria-Hungary by an architect and journalist Hartwig Fischel (1861–1942), who collaborated with the design office of the Emperor Ferdinand Northern Railway Company since 1888. Its engineer, Anton Dachler (1842–1923), designed the individual as well as standard plans of dispatch buildings situated along the railway stretching from Kojetín, Moravia and Bílsko, Silesia. These became so much popular with his supervisor, engineer Hermann Rosche (1852–1911), that he supported their facade layout even after his promotion to the position of the ATE construction director in 1897 when creating his “masterpiece”: the railway no. 086 from Liberec to Česká Lípa as we know it today.
