Winder railway station

Winder railway station was built by the Whitehaven, Cleator and Egremont Railway. It served the village of Winder, Frizington, Cumbria, England.[3][4]

Winder
General information
LocationWinder, Frizington, Copeland
England
Coordinates54°32′55″N 3°28′21″W / 54.5486°N 3.4726°W / 54.5486; -3.4726
Grid referenceNY048180
Platforms2
Other information
StatusDisused
History
Original companyWhitehaven, Cleator and Egremont Railway
Pre-groupingLNWR & FR Joint Railway
Post-groupingLondon, Midland and Scottish Railway
Key dates
12 February 1864Opened
June 1874Closed to passengers
May 1875Reopened to passengers
13 April 1931Closed to passengers[1]
11 March 1940Reopened to workmen's trains[2]
8 April 1940Closed
1904 railway junctions around Cleator Moor, Parton, Rowrah & Whitehaven

History

edit

The line was one of the fruits of the rapid industrialisation of West Cumberland in the second half of the nineteenth century. The station opened to passengers with the line from Moor Row to Rowrah on 12 February 1864. The station closed for a year in the 1870s, then remained in continuous use until closure with the steep decline of the area's industrial fortunes in the Twentieth Century.[1]

Services

edit

Whilst some Whitehaven, Cleator and Egremont Railway (WCER) mineral, goods and passenger traffic to and from Rowrah passed north along the line to Marron Junction, the greater part arrived and left southwards towards Moor Row and therefore passed through Winder. Mineral traffic was also generated locally from the quarries and mines such as the Postlethwaite's, Salterhall and Florence workings on a branch heading southeast immediately south of Winder station.

In 1922 seven all stations passenger trains called at Winder in each direction, with an extra on Whitehaven Market Day. Four were Rowrah to Whitehaven services, the other three plied a long, circuitous route between Workington Main and Whitehaven via Camerton, Marron Junction, Ullock, Rowrah and Moor Row.[5]

Winder Station's owning Whitehaven, Cleator and Egremont company was taken over by the LNWR and Furness Railway in 1879 as a Joint Line, whereafter passenger traffic through the station was usually worked by the LNWR.[6]

Goods traffic typically consisted of a two daily turns Up and Down.

Mineral traffic was the dominant flow, though this was subject to considerable fluctuation with trade cycles. Stations and signalling along the line south of Rowrah were changed during the Joint regime to conform to Furness Railway standards.[7]

Rundown and closure

edit

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. An enthusiasts' special ran through on 5 September 1954. After scant occasional use the line northwards from Rowrah was abandoned in 1960 and subsequently lifted.[8]

The line southwards from Rowrah through Winder lead a charmed life, continuing with a limestone flow from a quarry at Rowrah until 1978, after which all traffic ceased and the tracks were lifted.[9]

Afterlife

edit

By 2008 Winder Station was a private residence, complete with a platform. The trackbed had been transformed into part of National Cycle Route 71.[10]


Preceding station   Disused railways   Following station
Rowrah
Line and station closed
  Whitehaven, Cleator and Egremont Railway   Eskett
1864-1872
    Yeathouse
1872-1931

See also

edit

References

edit

Sources

edit
  • Anderson, Paul (April 2002). Hawkins, Chris (ed.). "Dog in the Manger? The Track of the Ironmasters". British Railways Illustrated. 11 (7). Clophill: Irwell Press Ltd.
  • Atterbury, Paul (2009). Along Lost Lines. Newton Abbot: David & Charles. ISBN 978-0-7153-2706-7.
  • Bradshaw, George (1985) [July 1922]. Bradshaw's General Railway and Steam Navigation guide for Great Britain and Ireland: A reprint of the July 1922 issue. Newton Abbot: David & Charles. ISBN 978-0-7153-8708-5. OCLC 12500436.
  • Butt, R. V. J. (October 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 978-1-85260-508-7. OCLC 60251199. OL 11956311M.
  • 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 978-1-85260-086-0. 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.
  • Smith, Paul; Turner, Keith (2012). Railway Atlas Then and Now. Ian Allan Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7110-3695-6.

Further reading

edit
  • British Railways Pre-Grouping Atlas And Gazetteer. Shepperton: Ian Allan Publishing. 1997 [1958]. ISBN 0-7110-0320-3.
  • Bairstow, Martin (1995). Railways In The Lake District. Martin Bairstow. ISBN 1-871944-11-2.
  • 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.
  • Suggitt, Gordon (2008). Lost Railways of Cumbria (Railway Series). Newbury: Countryside Books. ISBN 978-1-84674-107-4.
  • Western, Robert (2001). The Cockermouth, Keswick and Penrith Railway OL113. Usk: Oakwood Press. ISBN 0-85361-564-0.
edit