Marron Junction railway station

Marron Junction
Location	Bridgefoot, Allerdale England
Coordinates	54°39′26″N3°27′56″W / 54.6573°N 3.4656°W / 54.6573; -3.4656 Coordinates: 54°39′26″N3°27′56″W / 54.6573°N 3.4656°W / 54.6573; -3.4656
Grid reference	NY055301
Platforms	3 [1]
Other information
Status	Disused
History
Original company	Cockermouth & Workington Railway
Pre-grouping	London and North Western Railway
Post-grouping	London, Midland and Scottish Railway
Key dates
2 April 1866	Opened
1 July 1897	Closed to regular passenger traffic
after 1923	Closed completely [2] [3]

A 1904 Railway Clearing House Junction Diagram showing (right) railways in the vicinity of the station site

An 1882 Railway Clearing House Junction Diagram showing railways in the area

v t e Cockermouth and Workington Railway
Legend
Cumbrian Coast line Workington Cleator and Workington Junction Railway Workington Central Workington Bridge River Derwent (two crossings) Camerton River Derwent (three crossings) Marron Junction Whitehaven, Cleator and Egremont Railway River Marron Broughton Cross Brigham Maryport and Carlisle Railway Cockermouth later Cockermouth goods station Cockermouth (CK&P) Cockermouth, Keswick and Penrith Railway

Marron Junction railway station was a later addition to the Cockermouth and Workington Railway. It opened on 2 April 1866 with a single, eastbound, platform when the adjacent Marron Junction opened, two months before the company was absorbed by the London and North Western Railway.

In 1874 an island platform was added to the south of the main east–west line, opposite the single eastbound platform. giving three platform faces. ^[1]

History

Marron Junction joined the west-east Workington to Cockermouth (later through to Penrith) line with the then new south–north Whitehaven, Cleator and Egremont Railway line from Rowrah. The junction was in open country. It had a substantial triangular layout with an engine shed inside the south-to-east arm. ^[4] Both the west-to-east and south-to-west arms bridged the River Marron. Marron Junction station was immediately west of the junction's northwestern apex. The triangular layout warranted three signalboxes, one at each apex.

This isolated rural location was further complicated by a branch to Linefitz Colliery running from the west and bisecting the south-to-east arm of the triangle, similarly to Earlestown. ^[5]

The station was bounded by the River Derwent to the north and was not near any town or village. It was intended as an exchange station for passengers crossing between the east–west and south–north lines. South-north trains terminated at Marron Junction station, from which passengers could travel west or east. The value of this arrangement hinged on the connections.

The station attracted little custom other than railwaymen whose duties took them to Marron Junction.

The station closed to regular passenger traffic in 1897. From then on the south–north trains from Rowrah continued through to Workington Main, an altogether more satisfactory service for its users. Passengers wishing to travel south to east stayed on to the next stop west of the junction - Camerton - and crossed to the other platform to head east.

Although Marron Junction station closed in 1897 railwaymen continued to use it as an unadvertised halt until after 1923. ^[6]

The south-to-east curve at Marron junction was closed on 1 October 1902. ^[7] This rendered the south and east signalboxes redundant. The western 'box was replaced to befit its singular role. Normal passenger traffic ended along the south to west curve on 13 April 1931, with normal goods traffic following in 1954. ^[8] An enthusiasts' special ran south-to-west on 5 September 1954. After scant occasional use the south-to-west line was abandoned in 1960.

Afterlife

By 2015 Marron Junction triangle was readily discernible on satellite images online. The station site appeared to be a footpath through ribbons of trees.

Preceding station		Disused railways		Following station
Broughton Cross Line and station closed		London and North Western Railway Cockermouth & Workington Railway		Camerton Line and station closed
Bridgefoot Line and station closed		Whitehaven, Cleator and Egremont Railway

See also

• Cumbria portal

• Cockermouth, Keswick and Penrith Railway

References

1. Bowtell 1996, p. 32.
2. Butt 1995, p. 155.
3. Quick 2009, p. 268.
4. Griffiths & Smith 2000, p. 328.
5. Bowtell 1996, p. 30.
6. Croughton, Kidner & Young 1982, p. 100.
7. Quayle 2007, p. 78.
8. Marshall 1981, p. 163.

Sources

• Bowtell, Harold D. (December 1996). Rails through Lakeland, Volume 1: The Line Described. Kettering: Silver Link Publishing Ltd. ISBN   978-1-85794-066-4.
• 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   978-1-85260-508-7. OCLC   60251199.
• Croughton, Godfrey; Kidner, R. W.; Young, Alan (1982). Private and Untimetabled Railway Stations, Halts and Stopping Places. The Oakwood Press. ISBN   978-0-85361-281-0. OCLC   10507501.
• Griffiths, Roger; Smith, Paul (2000). The Directory of British Engine Sheds and Principal Locomotive Servicing Points: 2 North Midlands, Northern England and Scotland. OPC Railprint. ISBN   978-0-86093-548-3. OCLC   59558605.
• Marshall, John (1981). Forgotten Railways: North West England. Newton Abbot: David and Charles. ISBN   978-0-7153-8003-1.
• Quayle, Howard (2007). Whitehaven: The Railways and Waggonways of a Unique Cumberland Port. Pinner: Cumbrian Railways Association. ISBN   978-0-9540232-5-6.
• Quick, Michael (2009) [2001]. Railway passenger stations in Great Britain: a chronology (4th ed.). Oxford: Railway & Canal Historical Society. ISBN   978-0-901461-57-5. OCLC   612226077.

Further reading

• 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). ISSN   0961-8244.
• Bairstow, Martin (April 1995). Railways In The Lake District. Martin Bairstow. ISBN   978-1-871944-11-2.
• Conolly, W. Philip (1998). British railways pre-grouping atlas and gazetteer (9th impression; 5th ed.). Shepperton: Ian Allan. ISBN   978-0-7110-0320-0. OCLC   221481275.
• 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.
• Joy, David (December 1983). Lake Counties (Regional History of the Railways of Great Britain, Volume 14). Newton Abbot: David and Charles. ISBN   978-0-946537-02-0.
• McGowan Gradon, William (2004) [1952]. The Track of the Ironmasters: A History of the Cleator and Workington Junction Railway. Grange-over-Sands: Cumbrian Railways Association. ISBN   978-0-9540232-2-5.
• Marsh, John; Garbutt, John (April 2002). Images of Cumbrian Railways. Sutton Publishing Ltd. ISBN   978-0-7509-2834-2.
• Smith, Paul; Turner, Keith (2012). Railway Atlas Then and Now. Shepperton: 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.
• Welbourn, Nigel (September 2010). Lost Lines: Joint Railways. Shepperton: Ian Allan Publishing. ISBN   978-0-7110-3428-0.
• Western, Robert (2001). The Cockermouth, Keswick and Penrith Railway. Usk: Oakwood Press. ISBN   978-0-85361-564-4. OL113.

External links

• Map of the line with photos in RAILSCOT
• The station on overlain OS maps surveyed from 1898 in National Library of Scotland
• The station in Rail Map Online
• The railways of Cumbria in Cumbrian Railways Association
• Photos of Cumbrian railways in Cumbrian Railways Association
• The railways of Cumbria in Railways_of_Cumbria
• Cumbrian Industrial History in Cumbria Industrial History Society
• Local history of the CKPR route in Cockermouth
• The line's and station's Engineer's Line References in Railway Codes
• A video tour-de-force of the region's closed lines in Cumbria Film Archive
• Furness Railtour using many West Cumberland lines 5 September 1954 in Six Bells Junction
• McGowan Gradon's 1942 Furness Railway study in Cumberland Archives