Silloth railway station

{{Short description|Disused railway station in Cumbria, England}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2025}}

{{Use British English|date=November 2013}}

{{Infobox station

| name = Silloth

| status = Disused

| image = Silloth station, 1951 (geograph 5323386).jpg

| caption = Silloth station, 1951

| borough = Silloth, Cumberland

| country = England

| coordinates = {{coord|54.8676|-3.3893|type:railwaystation_region:GB|display=inline,title}}

| grid_name = Grid reference

| grid_position = {{gbmapscaled|NY109534|25|NY109534}}

| platforms = 1{{sfn|Robinson|1985|p=34}}{{sfn|Marsh|Garbutt|1999|p=149}}{{sfn|Robinson|2002|p=41}}{{sfn|Barbey|1955|p=92}}{{sfn|Joy|1973|p=58}}{{sfn|Earnshaw|1990a|p=173}}{{sfn|Earnshaw|1990b|p=233}}{{sfn|Anderson|2004|p=695}}{{sfn|Robinson|2004|p=22}}{{sfn|Gammell|1994|p=278}}{{sfn|Hammond|2015|pp=414 & 416}}

| original = Carlisle & Silloth Bay Railway & Dock Company

| pregroup = North British Railway

| postgroup = London and North Eastern Railway

| years1 = 4 September 1856

| events1 = Opened

| years2 = 7 September 1964{{sfn|Quick|2009|p=353}}

| events2 = Closed

| map_type = United Kingdom Allerdale#Cumbria

| map_caption = Location in present-day Allerdale, Cumbria##Location in present-day Cumbria, England

}}

{{Carlisle and Silloth Bay Railway|collapse=yes}}

Silloth was the terminus of the Carlisle and Silloth Bay Railway, a branch railway from Carlisle, England.{{sfn|Jowett|1989|loc=Map 36}} The town, dock and station at Silloth were built on a greenfield site after the Carlisle & Silloth Bay Railway & Dock Act (1855) was passed.{{sfn|Puxley|2009|p=9}} The railway provision grew with the dock and its later additions.{{sfn|Puxley|2009|pp=16, 32 & 44}}

The station was opened in 1856 and closed by the Beeching axe on 7 September 1964, when it had been estimated in 1962 that the line was losing £23,500 a year and rising, staff costs had been pared to the bone and an imminent track bill of £32,500 was to be faced.{{sfn|Barker|2010|p=426}}

Services

Sample timetables along the branch show typical routine patterns.[http://www.cumbria-railways.co.uk/silloth_bay_railway_history.html Silloth timetables, via Cumbrian Railways Association] Unfortunately they are undated:

  • the first does not show {{rws|Abbey Junction}}, suggesting it is after 1 September 1921, nor does it mention the North British, so it may be 1923–1932, when the branch to {{rws|Port Carlisle}} closed
  • the second matches Bradshaw in 1922{{sfn|Bradshaw|1985|p=795}}
  • the third is from British Railways days.

The Winter 1962–3 timetable{{sfn|Barker|2010|p=424}} shows eight trains each way, Monday to Saturday, with a Saturday extra, as well as three trains on Sundays. The table strikes the eye as being simpler than earlier timetables with:

  • all trains 2nd Class only
  • a much better service to {{rws|Blackdyke Halt}}
  • no through trains beyond Carlisle
  • {{rws|Drumburgh}} had closed in 1955.

File:Castle Douglas Abbey Holme, Annan, Brayton & Kirkbride RJD 104.jpg Junction Diagram showing (right) railways in the vicinity of Silloth]]

The line was one of the first in the country to be dieselised, with one train a day remaining steam-hauled.

The branch was atypical in that from the 1880s successive owners had fostered a vigorous trade in "Specials", the cornerstone of which was Carlisle to Silloth and back for a shilling. This was backed by encouraging outings to Silloth by a wide range of customers such as Sunday schools, Temperance clubs and racegoers.{{sfn|Thomlinson|1983|pp=10–12}} Many specials were both long and well-filled;{{sfn|Cumbria|2000|p=224}} the longest ever was not a trippers' train, but a celebration train for the reopening of Carr's flour mill in 1905.{{sfn|Joy|1973|p=58}}

Freight traffic, which had done well in wartime,[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4E1lqim8xo Silloth coal hoists, via YouTube] notably because it was on the north west coast, was following the pattern of the rest of the country – in decline. Four camping coaches were positioned here by the London Midland Region from 1956 to 1964.{{sfn|McRae|1997|pp=50 & 96}} There was insufficient shunting to justify keeping the small locoshed open after 6 July 1953{{sfn|Griffiths|Smith|2000|p=328}}{{sfn|Hammond|2015|p=416}} and erstwhile staple business such as flour traffic from Carr's Mill fell from £7000 to £100 per month, the business being lost to road competition.{{sfn|Barker|2010|p=425}}

All tracks to and in Silloth had been removed by 1968.{{sfn|Puxley|2009|p=71}}

Redevelopment

The Allerdale council in northern England passed its final approval on a plan to demolish the remaining structure of the station on 8 December 2006. The development firm James Morgan Ltd. was awarded a contract to build new single-family housing on the property. Stuart Hinchliffe, director of the development firm also stated "We will be reinstating as much of the old railway platform as we can, to maintain Silloth's Victorian history."{{cite news|url=http://www.cumberland-news.co.uk/news/viewarticle.aspx?id=443775 |publisher=The Cumberland News |title=Housing bid for town's derelict railway station |date=2006-12-08 |accessdate=2006-12-10 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928091956/http://www.cumberland-news.co.uk/news/viewarticle.aspx?id=443775 |archive-date=28 September 2007 }}

See also

References

{{reflist}}

=Sources=

{{refbegin}}

  • {{cite journal |last=Anderson |first=David |editor1-first=Rex |editor1-last=Kennedy |date=November 2004 |title=The Port Carlisle and Silloth Branch Lines |journal=Steam Days |issue=183 |publisher=Redgauntlet Publications|issn=0269-0020 |location=Bournemouth }}
  • {{cite journal |last=Barbey |first=M.F. |editor1-first=B.W.C. |editor1-last=Cooke |date=February 1955 |title=From Carlisle to Silloth |journal=The Railway Magazine |volume=101| issue= 646 |publisher=Tothill Press Limited |location=London |issn=0033-8923 }}
  • {{cite journal |last=Barker |first=Oswald J. |editor1-first=Martin |editor1-last=Smith |date=August 2010 |title=Branch line to Silloth |journal=Railway Bylines |volume=15| issue= 9 |publisher=Irwell Press Limited |location=Radstock |issn=1360-2098 }}
  • {{Bradshaw-1922July}}
  • {{cite book |last=Cumbria |first=Confederation of Women's Institutes |title=Cumbria Within Living Memory |year=2000 |orig-year=1994 |publisher=Countryside Books |location=Newbury, Berkshire |isbn=978-1-85306-301-5 }}
  • {{cite journal |last=Earnshaw |first=Alan |editor1-first=David |editor1-last=Jenkinson |date=July 1990a |title=The Silloth Branch – Part 1 |journal=Back Track |volume=4 |issue=4 |publisher=Atlantic Transport Publishers |location=Penryn |issn=0955-5382 }}
  • {{cite journal |last=Earnshaw |first=Alan |editor1-first=David |editor1-last=Jenkinson |date=September 1990b |title=The Silloth Branch – Part 2 |journal=Back Track |volume=4 |issue=5 |publisher=Atlantic Transport Publishers |location=Penryn |issn=0955-5382 }}
  • {{cite journal |last=Gammell |first=C. J. |editor1-first=Rex |editor1-last=Kennedy |date=May 1994 |title=Just a few lines... Cumbria |journal=Steam Days |issue=57 |publisher=Redgauntlet Publications|issn=0269-0020 |location=Bournemouth }}
  • {{Griffiths-Sheds2}}
  • {{cite journal |last=Hammond |first=John M. |editor1-first=Michael |editor1-last=Peascod |date=August 2015 |title=The Beeching Plan and the Closure of the Carlisle-Silloth Branch |journal=Cumbrian Railways |volume=11 |issue= 11 |publisher=Cumbrian Railways Association |location=Pinner |issn=1466-6812 }}
  • {{Jowett-Atlas}}
  • {{cite book |last=Joy |first=David |title=Railways of the Lake Counties |year=1973 |publisher=Dalesman Publishing |location=Clapham, North Yorkshire |isbn=978-0-85206-200-5 }}
  • {{cite book|last=McRae|first=Andrew|title=British Railway Camping Coach Holidays: The 1930s & British Railways (London Midland Region)|volume=Scenes from the Past: 30 (Part One)|publisher=Foxline|year=1997|isbn=1-870119-48-7}}
  • {{cite book |last1=Marsh |first1=John |last2=Garbutt |first2=John |title=Cumbrian Railways |year=1999 |publisher=Alan Sutton Publishing Ltd |location=Stroud |isbn=978-0-7509-2043-8 }}
  • {{cite book |last1=Puxley |first1=Chris |title=The Port of Silloth 1858 – 2009: A Pictorial History Through 150 Years of a Solway Port |year=2009 |publisher=Bernard McCall |location=Portishead, Somerset |isbn=978-1-902953-42-7 }}
  • {{Quick-Stations}}
  • {{cite book |last=Robinson |first=Peter W. |title=Cumbria's Lost Railways |year=2002 |publisher=Stenlake Publishing |location=Catrine |isbn=978-1-84033-205-6 }}
  • {{cite book |last=Robinson |first=Peter W. |title=Rail Centres No. 6 – Carlisle |year=2004 |orig-year=1986 |publisher=Booklaw Publications |location=Nottingham |isbn=978-1-901945-16-4 }}
  • {{cite book |last=Robinson |first=Peter W. |title=Railways of Cumbria |year=1985 |publisher=Dalesman Books |location=Clapham, North Yorkshire |isbn=978-0-85206-815-1 }}
  • {{cite journal |last1=Thomlinson |first1=G. |editor1-first=Michael |editor1-last=Peascod |date=May 1983 |title=Rails on the Solway |journal=Cumbrian Railways |volume=2 |issue= 14 |publisher=Cumbrian Railways Association |location=Pinner |issn=1466-6812 }}

{{refend}}

=Further material=

{{refbegin}}

  • {{cite journal |last=Bazley |first=Basil M. |editor1-first=B.W.C. |editor1-last=Cooke |date=August 1953 |title=Carlisle in 1905 |journal=The Railway Magazine |volume=99 |issue=628 |publisher=Tothill Press Limited |location=London |issn=0033-8923}}
  • {{cite book|last1=Easdown|first1=Martin|title=Lancashire's Seaside Piers|date=2009|publisher=Wharncliffe Books |location=Barnsley |isbn=978-1-84563-093-5}}
  • {{cite book |last1=Edgar |first1=Stuart |last2=Sinton |first2=John H. |title=The Solway Junction Railway |id=LP176 |year=1990 |publisher=The Oakwood Press |location=Catrine |isbn=978-0-85361-395-4 }}
  • {{cite book |first=Gavin |last=Morrison |title=Vintage Railtours: Railway Correspondence and Travel Society, a Pictorial Record 1954-69 |publisher=Silver Link Publishing |location=Peterborough |year=1993 |isbn=978-1-85-794007-7 }}
  • {{cite book |last=Mullay |first=Alexander J. |title=Rails Across the Border |year=2006 |publisher=Tempus Publishing |location=Stroud |isbn=978-0-7524-3666-1 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/railsacrossborde0000mull }}
  • {{cite AV media |last=Oatway |first=Jim |title=Cumberland Glory (DVD) |year= 2003 |orig-year=1964 |publisher=B&R Video Productions |location=Uffington, Shropshire |series=Ultimate Archive Steam |id=Vol 44 }}
  • {{cite journal |last1=Robinson |first1=Peter W. |editor1-first=Michael |editor1-last=Peascod |date=August 1995 |title=Maryport & Carlisle 150 |journal=Cumbrian Railways |volume=5 |issue= 12 |publisher=Cumbrian Railways Association |location=Pinner |issn=1466-6812 }}
  • {{cite book |last=Suggitt |first=Gordon |title=Lost Railways of Cumbria (Railway Series) |year=2008 |publisher=Countryside Books |location=Newbury, Berkshire |isbn=978-1-84674-107-4 }}
  • {{cite journal |last=Walton |first=John K. |date=1979 |title=Railways and Resort Development in Victorian England: The Case of Silloth |journal=Northern History |volume=15 |issue=1 |pages=191–209 |publisher=University of Leeds, School of History |location=Leeds |doi=10.1179/nhi.1979.15.1.191 |issn=0078-172X }}
  • {{cite journal |last=Webb |first=David R. |editor1-first=B.W.C. |editor1-last=Cooke |date=September 1964 |title=Between the Solway and Sellafield: Part One |journal=The Railway Magazine |volume=110| issue= 761 |publisher=Tothill Press Limited |location=London |issn=0033-8923 }}
  • {{cite book |last=White |first=Stephen |title=Solway Steam: The Story of the Silloth and Port Carlisle Railways, 1854-1964 |year=1984 |publisher=Carel Press Limited |location=Carlisle |isbn=978-0-9509096-1-5 }}

{{refend}}