Rowrah railway station

Rowrah
Location
Place	Rowrah
Area	Copeland
Coordinates	54°33′13″N 3°27′19″W / 54.5536°N 3.4554°WCoordinates: 54°33′13″N 3°27′19″W / 54.5536°N 3.4554°W
Grid reference	NY059185
Operations
Original company	Whitehaven, Cleator and Egremont Railway
Pre-grouping	LNWR & FR Joint Railway
Post-grouping	London, Midland and Scottish Railway
Platforms	2[1][2]
History
12 February 1864	Opened
13 April 1931	Closed to passengers
11 March 1940	Reopened to workmen's trains[3]
8 April 1940	Closed to passengers[4]
1967	Closed completely
Disused railway stations in the United Kingdom
Closed railway stations in Britain A B C D–F G H–J K–L M–O P–R S T–V W–Z
UK Railways portal

1904 railway junctions around Cleator Moor, Parton, Rowrah & Whitehaven

Whitehaven, Cleator & Egremont Railway
Legend
Cleator and Workington Junction Railway Cumbrian Coast Line to Carlisle Cockermouth and Workington Railway Marron Junction Workington Central Workington Main Bridgefoot Harrington Parton Halt Branthwaite Distington Gilgarran Branch Distington Works Ullock Parton Lamplugh Rowrah Whitehaven Summit Winder Whitehaven Tunnel Yeathouse Corkickle Eskett Eskett Junction Mirehouse Junction Frizington Moor Row Cleator Moor West Cleator Moor East St Bees Cleator Moor(first) Woodend St Bees Golf Halt Gillfoot Egremont Nethertown St Thomas Cross Platform Beckermet Mines Braystones Beckermet Sellafield Cumbrian Coast Line to Barrow-in-Furness

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

Rowrah railway station was built by the Whitehaven, Cleator and Egremont Railway. It served the village of Rowrah, Cumbria, England.^[5][6]

Local lines

Rowrah was connected by three separate railway companies:

• The Whitehaven, Cleator and Egremont Railway curving southwest to north through the station.
• "Baird's Line" - a branch of the Cleator and Workington Junction Railway arriving at Rowrah from the northwest, and
• The Rowrah and Kelton Fell Railway which conveyed minerals from mines in the hills to the southeast.

Neither of the latter two ran directly through the station, but all were connected^[7][8] and complex interworking took place.

Services

The Rowrah and Kelton Fell Railway was a mineral railway pure and simple. It never carried passengers or general goods.

Baird's Line was also a mineral line, though workmen's trains ran from Rowrah's "other" station at Arlecdon, which was on the north western edge of the village.

Rowrah Station's owning Whitehaven, Cleator and Egremont company was taken over by the LNWR and Furness Railway in 1879 as a Joint Line, whereafter the northern section through the station was usually worked by the LNWR.^[9] Passenger traffic northwards consisted of three trains a day in each direction, with an extra on Whitehaven market day and none on Sundays. Those few trains were supplemented southwards to Moor Row and Whitehaven, with a further four starting at Rowrah.^[10]

From opening, northbound passenger trains terminated at Marron Junction station where passengers changed for destinations beyond. In 1897 Marron Junction station closed, with trains running west through to Workington Main thereafter, a much better arrangement for most passengers. Passengers who would otherwise have changed at Marron Junction to head east to Brigham or beyond simply changed at the first stop after Marron Junction - Camerton.

In April 1910 six trains a day ran from Whitehaven to Rowrah via Moor Row, some continuing to Workington Main via Bridgefoot.^[11]

No Sunday passenger service ever ran over the line.

Goods traffic usually consisted of two daily turns Up and Down.^[11]

Mineral traffic was the dominant flow, typically six loaded and six empty through to Workington, though this was subject to considerable fluctuation with trade cycles. Stations and signalling along the line north of Rowrah were changed during the Joint regime to conform to LNWR standards.^[12]

Rundown and closure

The Rowrah and Kelton Fell Railway closed in stages between 1920 and 1926. Its tracks were lifted in 1934. The Gilgarron Branch which ran westwards from Ullock Junction closed east of Distington with the ironworks there in the late 1920s.^[13] Baird's Line closed on 8 August 1938,^[14] with its limestone traffic to Workington being switched to the Rowrah to Marron Junction line. By 1954 this had been re-routed again, this time to run via Moor Row, rendering the line to Marron Junction redundant. This limestone traffic continued until 1978, long outlasting all other services to, from or through Rowrah.^[15]

The station closed on 13 April 1931 when normal passenger traffic ended along the line, though workmen's trains were reinstated in March 1940, only to be withdrawn a month later. Goods trains continued to call until 1954, but mineral traffic was down to the one limestone flow.^[16] An enthusiasts' special called on 5 September 1954.^[1][17] After scant occasional use the line northwards from Rowrah was abandoned in 1960 and subsequently lifted.^[18]

Such was the goods, ad hoc passenger traffic and special services that Rowrah continued to have a staffed station until 1967, 36 years after passenger services officially ceased.^[19]

Identified railway staff from Rowrah include:-

• George Stoddart was the last station master at Rowrah serving from 1947 to May 1967, leaving into retirement.^[19]
• Samuel Hastings, railway clerk, married Miss Mary Ann Yates both of Rowrah - 18th MARCH 1882^[20]

Afterlife

In 2009 Rowrah Station was a private residence.^[21]

Preceding station	Disused railways			Following station
Lamplugh Line and station closed		Whitehaven, Cleator and Egremont Railway		Winder Line and station closed

See also

• Cockermouth and Workington Railway
• Cockermouth, Keswick and Penrith Railway
• Furness Railway

References

1. Suggitt 2008, p. 59.
2. Webb October 1964, p. 789.
3. Croughton, Kidner & Young 1982, p. 120.
4. Butt 1995, p. 200.
5. Smith & Turner 2012, Map 26.
6. Jowett 2000, Map 36.
7. McGowan Gradon 2004, pp. 22 & 63.
8. Quayle 2007, p. 41.
9. McGowan Gradon 2004, p. 12.
10. Bradshaw 1986, p. 510.
11. Bairstow 1995, p. 32.
12. W McGowan Gradon's 1942 Furness Railway study, via cumberlandarchives.co.uk
13. Anderson 2002, p. 316.
14. McGowan Gradon 2004, p. 59.
15. Broughton & Harris 1985, Carlisle-Barrow chapter.
16. Marshall 1981, p. 163.
17. Welbourn 2010, p. 112.
18. Atterbury 2009, p. 208.
19. "FORGET THE CONSULTANTS, COUNCIL, AND ASK US WHAT OUR TOWN CENTRE NEEDS".
20. "CUMBERLAND & WESTMORLAND BIRTHS ~ MARRIAGES ~ DEATHS". Retrieved 25 October 2010.
21. Welbourn 2010, p. 113.

Sources

• Anderson, Paul (April 2002). Hawkins, Chris, ed. "Dog in the Manger? The Track of the Ironmasters". British Railways Illustrated. Clophill: Irwell Press Ltd. 11 (7).
• Atterbury, Paul (2009). Along Lost Lines. Newton Abbot: David & Charles. ISBN 0-7153-2706-2.
• Bairstow, Martin (1995). Railways In The Lake District. Martin Bairstow. ISBN 1-871944-11-2.
• Bradshaw (1986) [1922], Bradshaw's July 1922 Railway Guide (reprint), Guild Publishing London
• Broughton, John; Harris, Nigel (October 1985). British Railways Past and Present: No. 1 Cumbria. Silver Link Publishing Ltd. ISBN 0-947971-04-1.
• Butt, R. V. J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations: details every public and private passenger station, halt, platform and stopping place, past and present (1st ed.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 1-8526-0508-1. OCLC 60251199.
• Croughton, Godfrey; Kidner, Roger W.; Young, Alan (1982). Private and Untimetabled Railway Stations, Halts and Stopping Places X 43. Headington, Oxford: The Oakwood Press. ISBN 0 85361 281 1.
• Jowett, Alan (March 1989). Jowett's Railway Atlas of Great Britain and Ireland: From Pre-Grouping to the Present Day (1st ed.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 1-8526-0086-1. OCLC 22311137.
• McGowan Gradon, W. (2004) [1952]. The Track of the Ironmasters: A History of the Cleator and Workington Junction Railway. Grange-over-Sands: Cumbrian Railways Association. ISBN 0-9540232-2-6.
• Marshall, John (1981). Forgotten Railways: North West England. Newton Abbot: David & Charles. ISBN 0 7153 8003 6.
• Quayle, Howard (2007). Whitehaven: The Railways and Waggonways of a Unique Cumberland Port. Pinner: Cumbrian Railways Association. ISBN 978-0-9540232-5-6.
• Smith, Paul; Turner, Keith (2012). Railway Atlas Then and Now. Ian Allan Publishing. ISBN 978 0 7110 3695 6.
• Suggitt, Gordon (2008). Lost Railways of Cumbria (Railway Series). Newbury: Countryside Books. ISBN 978-1-84674-107-4.
• Webb, David R. (October 1964). Cooke, B.W.C., ed. "Between the Solway and Sellafield: Part Two". The Railway Magazine. London: Tothill Press Limited. 110 (762).
• Welbourn, Nigel (September 2010). Lost Lines: Joint Railways. Shepperton: Ian Allan Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7110-3428-0.

Further reading

• British Railways Pre-Grouping Atlas And Gazetteer. Shepperton: Ian Allan Publishing. 1997 [1958]. ISBN 0-7110-0320-3.
• Bowtell, Harold D. (1989). Rails through Lakeland: An Illustrated Journey of the Workington-Cockermouth-Keswick-Penrith Railway 1847-1972. Wyre, Lancashire: Silverling Publishing Ltd. ISBN 0-947971-26-2.
• Joy, David (1983). Lake Counties (Regional History of the Railways of Great Britain). Newton Abbot: David & Charles. ISBN 094653702X.
• Webb, David R. (September 1964). Cooke, B.W.C., ed. "Between the Solway and Sellafield: Part One". The Railway Magazine. London: Tothill Press Limited. 110 (761).
• Western, Robert (2001). The Cockermouth, Keswick and Penrith Railway OL113. Usk: Oakwood Press. ISBN 0-85361-564-0.

External links

• Map of the line with photos, via RAILSCOT
• The station on overlain OS maps surveyed from 1898, via National Library of Scotland
• The closed station on a 1948 OS Map, via npe maps
• The station, via Rail Map Online
• The railways of Cumbria, via Cumbrian Railways Association
• Photos of Cumbrian railways, via Cumbrian Railways Association
• The railways of Cumbria, via Railways_of_Cumbria
• Cumbrian Industrial History, via Cumbria Industrial History Society
• The line's and station's Engineer's Line References, via railwaycodes.org.uk
• Furness Railtour using many West Cumberland lines 5 September 1954, via sixbellsjunction
• A video tour-de-force of the region's closed lines, via cumbriafilmarchive
• 1882 RCH Diagram showing the station, see page 173 of the pdf, via google
• The remains of Rowrah No.1 signalbox, via signalbox.org