Cleator and Workington Junction Railway

Cleator & Workington Junction Railway
Overview
Type Rural Line
System National Rail Network
Status Closed
Locale Cumbria
Termini Workington
Cleator Moor & Rowrah
Stations 12
Services 3
Operation
Opened 1879
Closed 1992
Owner Cleator & Workington Junction Railway
Operator(s) Cleator & Workington Junction Railway
Technical
Track gauge 4 ft 8 12 in (1,435 mm)

Cleator & Workington
Junction Railway

Legend
Key
Open line
C&WJR line (all closed)
Other closed lines
----------
-----------
To Scotland via SJR

To Carlisle via MCR
Linefoot
Linefoot Jct

To Papcastle via MCR
Summit

Great Broughton

RNAD Broughton Moor

Buckhill Colliery Halt

Camerton Colliery Halt
To Carlisle via MCR

Seaton (Cumbria)
Siddick Junction

Calva Jct
Workington North

Marron Jct C&WR
Workington Central

Bridgefoot
Workington Main
WC&ER
To Whitehaven

Derwent Branch
Moss Bay Branch

Harrington Junction
Harrington
(Church Rd Halt)

High Harrington
Rosehill
(Archer St Halt)

To Lowca
via LLR

To Parton

Distington

Gilgarran Branch

Ironworks
Millgrove

Oatlands
Moresby Parks

RKFR
Summit

Quarry
Moresby Jct Halt

Rowrah

Summit

Arlecdon
Keekle Colliers' Plfm

Keekle Viaduct

Mine
Cleator Moor West

Cleator Moor Jct

Cleator Moor East
Moor Row Jct
Moor Row
To Whitehaven via Corkickle
To Sellafield

The Cleator & Workington Junction Railway (C&WJR) was located in West Cumberland in Northern England, serving the towns of Cleator Moor and Workington and intermediate villages. It was mainly used for coal, limestone and iron ore traffic for the local industries.

History

The Cleator & Workington Junction Railway was incorporated in 1876 and a Bill presented to Parliament in the same year.

Construction began shortly after and the line between Workington and Cleator Moor was opened in 1879. The line continued northwards from Workington to a junction with the London & North Western Railway at Siddick, approximately two miles away.

The principal station and company headquarters were in Central Square, Workington and the station soon became known as Workington Central. A second main line was built from a junction on the C&WJR main line at Calva Junction to Linefoot Junction, where it joined the Maryport and Carlisle Railway. This section was known as the Northern Extension.

Several branch lines were built including that to Rowrah of which a short 300 yard section remained in use at Rowrah as a backshunt until 1978.

To the people of West Cumberland the line became affectionately known as the "Track of the Ironmasters." The C&WJR never ran its own services on the main lines: this was done on their behalf by the Furness Railway. In later years the C&WJR purchased its own engines to work its branch lines (see below).

At the railway grouping of 1923, the line was incorporated into the London, Midland and Scottish Railway network. The Northern Extension section that served the Broughton Moor Armaments Depot closed on 4 June 1992.

Accidents and incidents

Route

Main line

Cleator Moor West - Moresby Parks - Distington - High Harrington - Workington Central (Route in Google Maps)

Northern extension

Workington Central - Seaton (Cumbria) - Great Broughton (Route in Google Maps)

Rowrah line

A branch line - sometimes referred to as "Baird's Line" - left the mainline south of Distington, accessing the mines and quarries near Rowrah (Route in Google Maps)

Cleator & Workington Junction Railway locomotives

All the nameplates used on this company's locomotives were named after residences of C&WJR company directors. Until recently there was uncertainty about the name of No. 2 but the personal notebook of the Company Accountant shows otherwise. The engine never ran in service with the name "Ennerdale"

Other railways in the Workington area

See also

References

  1. Trevena, Arthur (1980). Trains in Trouble. Vol. 1. Redruth: Atlantic Books. p. 16. ISBN 0-906899-01-X.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Gradon, William McGowan. Track of the Ironmasters. Cumbrian Railways Association. ISBN 0-9540232-2-6.
  3. Industrial Locomotive Society records. Industrial Locomotive Society.

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Wednesday, April 20, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.