Harrington Junction

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Coordinates: 54°37′23″N 3°32′57″W / 54.62306°N 3.54917°W / 54.62306; -3.54917
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Harrington Junction was a railway junction in Harrington, Cumbria, England.[1] It joined three branches to the Cleator and Workington Junction Railway's (CWJR) main line from Workington Central to Moor Row via Cleator Moor West. No station ever existed at the junction, High Harrington was the nearest, 48 chains (0.97 km) to the south.

Former employees described the junction as the CWJR's "nerve centre".[2]

Harrington Junction looking north in 1951
A 1914 Railway Clearing House Junction Diagram showing the complex network which existed in the Workington area

Background[edit]

The main 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.[3]

All lines in the area were primarily aimed at mineral traffic, notably iron ore, coal and limestone, none more so than the 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.[4]

The 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.[5]

Layout[edit]

Three lines joined the main line at Harrington Junction:

The layout was such that trains could travel from the Harrington Branch onto the Moss Bay Branch or the Derwent Branch without going onto the main line.[9]

There were five sidings on each side of the main line, four beside the lines to the steel works and a further four beside the Lowca line,[10] together with other equipment such as cranes, signalboxes and a control cabin.[11]

Growth[edit]

Mineral traffic started along the main line in July 1879, along with the branches towards Lowca and Derwent Ironworks.[3] The Moss Bay branch followed in December 1885, being extended to Harrington Harbour in July 1893.[12]

Harrington Junction was about mineral and industrial traffic. The line's peak year was 1909, with lots of traffic generated between 1914 and 1918.

In 1920 twenty "Up" (northbound) mineral trains halted at the junction, plus passenger, workmen's, goods, and special trains. A similar number travelled southbound.[13]

Decline[edit]

Passenger traffic to and from Lowca ended in May 1926 and along the main line on 13 April 1931,[14][15] though they had never been substantial.

The last remnant of the Derwent branch, from Wilkinson Wagon Works to the junction, closed in 1962.

The line south from Distington to Cleator Moor West closed on 16 September 1963 and the line from the junction south to Distington was singled.

The remaining main line from Calva Junction north of Workington Central through the junction to Distington closed on 26 September 1965,[16] but residual traffic continued between Lowca and Moss Bay, keeping a bit of the junction alive.

The "Furnessman" brakevan railtour on 24 May 1969 passed through the remains of the junction.[14]

Solway Colliery, Workington, closed in May 1973, leaving the junction with no traffic or prospect of traffic, so it closed on 23 May, with a farewell brakevan special on 26 May 1973 being the last train for ever.[14][17]

Afterlife[edit]

In 2013 the West Cumbria Cycle Network used the main line trackbed through the junction.

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Jowett 1989, Map 36, as J22.
  2. ^ Jackson, Sisson & Haywood 1982, p. 4.
  3. ^ a b Anderson 2002, p. 309.
  4. ^ Anderson 2002, p. 313.
  5. ^ Marshall 1981, p. 117.
  6. ^ McGowan Gradon 2004, p. 18.
  7. ^ McGowan Gradon 2004, pp. 19 & 53.
  8. ^ McGowan Gradon 2004, p. 27.
  9. ^ McGowan Gradon 2004, pp. 53 & 63.
  10. ^ McGowan Gradon 2004, p. 63.
  11. ^ McGowan Gradon 2004, p. 17.
  12. ^ Anderson 2002, pp. 312–4.
  13. ^ Haynes 1920, pp. 8–13.
  14. ^ a b c Anderson 2002, p. 316.
  15. ^ Butt 1995, p. 163.
  16. ^ McGowan Gradon 2004, p. 59.
  17. ^ McGowan Gradon 2004, pp. 30 & 59.

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. ISSN 0961-8244.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • Haynes, Jas. A. (April 1920). Cleator & Workington Junction Railway Working Time Table. Central Station, Workington: Cleator and Workington Junction Railway.
  • Jackson, Stanley; Sisson, Norman; Haywood, T.R. (August 1982). Peascod, Michael (ed.). "The Cleator and Workington Junction Railway". Cumbrian Railways. 2 (11). Pinner: Cumbrian Railways Association. ISSN 1466-6812.
  • 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 978-0-9540232-2-5.
  • Marshall, John (1981). Forgotten Railways: North West England. Newton Abbot: David & Charles. ISBN 978-0-7153-8003-1.

Further reading[edit]

External links[edit]

54°37′23″N 3°32′57″W / 54.62306°N 3.54917°W / 54.62306; -3.54917

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