Hincaster branch line | |
Locale: | Cumbria, England |
The Hincaster branch was a single-track railway branch line of the Furness Railway which ran from on the Furness main line to a junction with the Lancaster and Carlisle Railway (later the London and North Western Railway) at Hincaster.[1] Intermediate stations were provided at and Heversham, with the main engineering work being a substantial 26-arch viaduct over the River Bela near Sandside.[2]
It was built primarily for use by mineral trains carrying coke and iron ore from County Durham to various ironworks in and around Barrow-in-Furness which had previously had to travel (and reverse) via the busy junction at .[3] The branch was opened in 1876 and also carried a passenger service between and known locally as the Kendal Tommy.[4]
The passenger service ended on 4 May 1942 and the track between Sandside and Hincaster Junction was lifted in 1966 (through traffic having ceased three years earlier). A short stub from Arnside to Sandside lasted until 1972 to serve local quarries.
Sections of the old trackbed survive and are used as a footpath and cycleway, though the viaduct and both intermediate stations have been demolished.