Moor Row railway station

Moor Row
Remains of platform at side of cycle track in 2005
Location
Place	Moor Row
Area	Copeland
Coordinates	54°31′00″N 3°32′19″W / 54.5166°N 3.5387°W / 54.5166; -3.5387Coordinates: 54°31′00″N 3°32′19″W / 54.5166°N 3.5387°W / 54.5166; -3.5387
Grid reference	NY004145
Operations
Original company	Whitehaven, Cleator and Egremont Railway
Pre-grouping	LNWR & FR Joint Railway
Post-grouping	London, Midland and Scottish Railway
Platforms	2
History
1 July 1857	Opened
7 January 1935	Closed
11 March 1940	Reopened to workmen's trains
8 April 1940	Closed
6 May 1946	Reopened
16 June 1947	Closed
1953	Reopened for workmen's trains to Sellafield.
6 September 1965	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

Moor Row railway station was built by the Whitehaven, Cleator and Egremont Railway. It served the village of Moor Row, Cumbria, England.

Moor Row became the Crewe of the Iron Moor. The station was valuable to villagers and workmen and as a place to change trains, but Moor Row's greater railway role was to be the hub of what rapidly became a dense network of primarily industrial lines tapping reserves of stone, coal and, above all, iron ore in what had largely been a thinly populated area with generally modest agricultural potential.

The station opened to passengers on 1 July 1857 as the first stage of the network being developed from Whitehaven through Moor Row where it split, with one branch heading north east to Frizington and the other heading south to Egremont. The route towards Frizington suffered subsidence problems, which were resolved by building two deviations. One was in the Eskett area, the other directly affected Moor Row, with the original line to Cleator Moor being downgraded to goods only when a wholly new line was opened in 1866, turning sharply north just beyond the engine shed, within sight of the eastern end of the station platforms. A new passenger station was opened on the deviation - known locally as "The Bowthorn Line" - which was initially called plain Cleator Moor, but went on to be known as Cleator Moor East. The original and deviation lines parted east of Moor Row station and rejoined at Birks Bridge Junction north east of Cleator Moor village.

Over the next fifteen years both branches were extended: the northeasterly one beyond Frizington to Marron Junction and the southerly one beyond Egremont to Sellafield. At those end points both lines joined other lines with national connections. In traffic terms, even more important than reach was the striking number of quarries, mines and ironworks these lines spawned and tapped.

In July 1879 mineral traffic started on the Cleator and Workington Junction Railway, with a passenger service commencing on 1 October. This line headed north, leaving the Bowthorn Line at Cleator Moor Junction, 49 chains (0.99 km) from Moor Row station. It constituted the third and final route from Moor Row.