Cumbrian Coast line
Consequently, the line along the Cumbrian coast is the result of piecemeal railway building (largely to serve local needs) by a number of different companies: Carlisle to Maryport[1] Promoted to link with Newcastle and Carlisle Railway to give "one complete and continuous line of communication from the German Ocean to the Irish Sea" and to open up the northern (inland) portion of West Cumbrian coalfield.[9] The harbour link was never built (the W&FJR deciding to proceed with their original intention of a tunnel) but lines were laid down to serve the North Pier.[10] There were continuing difficulties with the sea walls on the Whitehaven-Harrington section, which were now described as of bad and inefficient design and executed in a worse and more objectionable manner;[11] in 1851 the seawall was rebuilt at Harrington and Lowca at a cost of £6,000.[13] A further storm in December 1852 caused more extensive damage, the repaired section being lost again as a consequence of failure of the old wall immediately north of it (there were further wash-outs at Lowca and Risehow), but services were resumed within a fortnight.[16] In 1856, the company secretary was replaced after an audit suggested about £3,000 had gone missing (the loss was made good by 'the directors' – in fact Lord Lonsdale alone – from his own pocket), and the company engineer resigned because of the defective state of the engines and the inefficiency of previous repairs[17] but the WJR was entering an era of prosperity (by 1864 it was declaring a dividend of 15%)[18] largely because of a boom in haematite mining.[25] (The LNWR reached a similar agreement with the Cockermouth and Workington, and the Furness Railway with the W&FJR); the bill making the amalgamation permanent received its royal assent in July 1886.No serpent wriggles in more contortions than the Whitehaven Junction Railway" and pointed out the horrors of an accident on such a corniche "The poor wretches who fill the train must either have their brains dashed out against the rocks at one side or be pitched head-foremost into the sea on the other"[28] Train crew could never see far ahead, and there was always the possibility of a rockfall onto the track: even after the doubling of the line, the Board of Trade required a speed limit of 15 mph on the section.However a Bill for that extension was rejected because of inconsistencies in its documentation [35][c] and it was left to others to provide a link between Lancaster and Furness, and to Lord Lonsdale to nurse the company until better times arrived.[41][d] In 1848 Bills were brought forward to make the link with the WJR by an elevated railway running to the harbour and then along the harbour front and for abandoning the Duddon crossing to Kirkby Ireleth, the line instead turning back on itself to follow the west bank of the Duddon estuary upstream to a much shorter crossing to a junction with the Broughton-in-Furness branch of the Furness Railway at Foxfield.The first passenger services between a temporary station at Preston Street (at the southern edge of Whitehaven) and Ravenglass followed an official opening on 21 July 1849.A tramway through the market place allowing goods waggons to be horse-drawn from Preston Street to the south end of the harbour,[50] authorised by an act of Parliament[which?][66] It is mandatory that passengers remain in their seats whenever steam tours travel between Maryport and Carlisle in both north and southbound directions; this is because most West Coast Railways Mark 1 coaches, which are used by charter companies, don't have bars across the droplight windows.
Cambrian LineDirect Rail ServicesClass 68Class 37St. BeesNetwork RailCumbriaCarlisleBarrow-in-FurnessHeavy railNational RailNorthern TrainsClass 156Track gaugeWest Coast Main LineGlasgowEdinburghTyne Valley lineSettle–Carlisle lineCummersdaleLondon EustonDalstonCurthwaiteCroftonWigtonBrookfieldLeegateHigh BlaithwaiteCarlisle & Silloth Bay RlyMealsgateSolway Junction RailwayAllhallows CollieryBraytonBaggrowAspatriaArklebyBullgillMaryport and Carlisle Railwaybranch to BrighamDearham BridgeMaryportFlimbySiddick JunctionWorkington NorthCleator & Workington Jn RlyGreat BroughtonCockermouth andWorkington RailwayRiver DerwentDistingtonWorkingtonHarringtonWhitehaven, Cleator& Egremont RailwayPartonWhitehavenPreston StreetCorkickleand Egremont RailwaySt BeesSt Bees Golf HaltNethertownBraystonesCleator & Furness RlyRiver EhenSellafieldRiver CalderSeascaleLow LevelWaste RepositoryRiver IrtRiver MiteRavenglassRavenglass andEskdale RailwayRiver EskEskmealsMonks Moors HaltBootleWhitbeck Crossing HaltSilecroftKirksanton HaltMillomUnderhill HaltGreen RoadRiver DuddonConiston RailwayFoxfieldKirkby-in-FurnessDunnerholme GateAskam-in-FurnessPort of BarrowRoosecote Power StationSalthouse HaltRampsideFurness AbbeyDaltonFurness lineNorth West EnglandUlverstonGrange-over-SandsCarnforthGeorge StephensonNewcastle and Carlisle RailwayMaryport and Carlisle Railway Act 18377 Will. 4 & 1 Vict.Whitehaven (Bransty)London and North Western RailwayParliament of the United KingdomLong titleCitation7 & 8 Vict.Royal assentWilliam Lowther, 1st Earl of LonsdaleCockermouth and Workington RailwayWorkington stationcornicheWilliam Lowther, 2nd Earl of LonsdaleLancaster and Carlisle RailwayDuddon estuaryKirkby IrelethWhitehaven, Cleator and Egremont RailwayUlverstone and Lancaster RailwayFurness RailwayDuke of BuccleuchEarl of Burlington