Distington railway station
| Distington | |
|---|---|
| Location | |
| Place | Distington, Cumbria |
| Area | Copeland |
| Coordinates | 54°36′07″N 3°32′01″W / 54.6019°N 3.5336°WCoordinates: 54°36′07″N 3°32′01″W / 54.6019°N 3.5336°W |
| Grid reference | NY102400 |
| Operations | |
| Original company | Cleator and Workington Junction Railway and LNWR & FR Joint Railway, staffed by CWJR |
| Post-grouping | London, Midland and Scottish Railway |
| Platforms | 5 |
| History | |
| 1 October 1879 | Opened |
| 13 April 1931 | Closed |
| 1 July 1963 | Closed completely |
| 16 September 1963 | Line through the station closed |
| 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 |
|
 |
|
Distington railway station was opened jointly by the Cleator and Workington Junction Railway (C&WJR) and the LNWR and Furness Joint Railway (The Joint Line) on 1 October 1879. It was situated on the northern edge of the village of Distington, Cumbria, England where the C&WJR's north-south main line crossed the Joint Line's east-west Gilgarran Branch.
The C&WJR line was one of the fruits of the rapid industrialisation of West Cumberland in the second half of the nineteenth century, specifically being born as a reaction to oligopolistic behaviour by the London and North Western and Whitehaven, Cleator and Egremont Railways. The Gilgarran Branch was in large part a countermeasure to the C&WJR "interloper."
All lines in the area were primarily aimed at mineral traffic, notably iron ore, coal and limestone, none more so than the C&WJR's new line to Workington, which earned the local name "The Track of the Ironmasters". General goods and passenger services were provided, but were very small beer compared with mineral traffic. The Gilgarran Branch never had any pretentions to being a passenger line, though services were sometimes provided on the western section, as shown below.
The W&CJR's founding Act of Parliament of June 1878 confirmed the company's agreement with the Furness Railway that the latter would operate the line for one third of the receipts. The Gilgarran Branch was mainly operated using LNWR locomotives.
C&WJR passenger trains consisted of antiquated Furness stock hauled largely by elderly Furness engines referred to as "rolling ruins" by one author after a footplate ride in 1949.
No Sunday passenger service was ever provided on either line.
The initial passenger service in 1879 consisted of
In 1880 the extension northwards to Siddick Junction was opened. The service was extended to run to and from Siddick and an extra train was added, with
From 1 June 1881 the WC&ER provided a passenger service from Distington to Whitehaven via Parton, using the western section of the Gilgarran Branch. The fares received were less than £10 per annum, so the service was withdrawn after operating on 8 December 1883. From autumn 1913 the service was given another try; sources disagree about the start date, citing the beginning of either October or November (a working timetable for February 1913 included the service but that may have been premature). The service ran only on Thursdays (one round trip) and Saturdays (two round trips), and was withdrawn after Saturday 29 August 1914 amongst service withdrawals upon the outbreak of war. This service has been explained as being for workers from Distington to expanding collieries and coke ovens around Lowca, but the service pattern gainsays this (perhaps arising from confusion with a service which started in January 1915 between Whitehaven and the halt at Parton, mentioned below). No passenger service ever ran on the eastern section between Distington and Ullock.
...
Wikipedia