The Lakeside and Haverthwaite Railway (L&HR) is a 3.2adj=midNaNadj=mid heritage railway in Cumbria, England.
The railway is a former branch line of the Furness Railway (FR) and was opened on 1 June 1869. The line was served by local passenger trains which started their journey at Ulverston on the FR's main line from Carnforth to Barrow-in-Furness.
The FR branch trains travelled east to the triangular junction at Plumpton, then turned north via Greenodd and on to stations at Haverthwaite, Newby Bridge halt and Lakeside. The FR's weekdays passenger service in July 1922 comprised eight trains in each direction. There were advertised train-to-boat connections that were established in 1869. During the summer season, excursion trains from Lancashire and elsewhere used the east-to-north side of Plumpton Junction to reach Lakeside, where their passengers joined the boat sailings on the lake.
British Railways closed the line to passengers on 6 September 1965, and to all traffic two years later.
A group of enthusiasts, chaired by Dr Peter Beet, formed the Lakeside Railway Estates Company; they had the idea of preserving both the line and the former LMS 10A locomotive shed at Carnforth, to provide a complete steam operating system. However, although backed by then transport minister Barbara Castle, the need to build a number of motorway bridges and rerouting of the A590 road from Haverthwaite via Greenodd to Plumpton Junction, meant that the complete vision was unsuccessful. Beet acquired 10A in partnership with Sir William McAlpine, 6th Baronet, which became the visitor attraction Steamtown from 1967. The venture folded as a public access visitor attraction in 1997, but the preserved site was taken over by businessman David Smith to become the base for his West Coast Railway Company.[1]
As a result, Austin Maher became chairman of the LREC, which then reopened the truncated 3.5miles L&HR as a heritage railway on 2 May 1973. Maher and fellow L&HR director Jim Morris each bought one LMS 2-6-4T Class 4MT, nos. 42073 (Maher) and 42085 (Morris), which were restored eventually as L&HR nos. 3 and 4, became the line's core steam power units.
The L&HR runs from Haverthwaite, at the southern end of the line, via Newby Bridge to Lakeside at the southern end of Windermere. Some services are timed to connect with sailings of the diesel excursion vessels or steam vessels on Windermere, sailing from Lakeside to Bowness and Ambleside.
Information below derived from the Lakeside and Haverthwaite Railway Visitors Guide sixth edition and the IRS reference book.[2]
| Number | Name | Built | Builder | Type | Former Operator | Notes | Image | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1245 | 1911 | Currently painted in lined black. | ||||||
| 2333 | 1953 | Millom Ironworks | Boiler ticket expires in 2029; painted in maroon lined out in black and yellow[3] | |||||
| 2682 | 1942 | Preston Docks | Boiler ticket expires in 2029; painted in dark blue lined out in black and red[4] | |||||
| 3698 | 1950 | Boiler ticket expires in 2026; painted in lined black[5] | ||||||
| 42073 | 1950 | British Railways, Brighton works to an LMS design | British Railways | Returned to service in 2014; painted BR black with late crest[6] |
| Number | Name | Built | Builder | Type | Former Operator | Notes | Image | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2996 | 1951 | Boiler ticket expired in 2024; painted in maroon lined out in black and yellow[7] | ||||||
| 42085 | 1951 | British Railways, Brighton works to an LMS design | British Railways | Undergoing overhaul; painted BR black with early emblem[8] | ||||
| 46441 | 1951 | British Railways, Crewe works to an LMS design | British Railways | Running In, Boiler ticket expires in 2033. Painted BR maroon with late crest.[9] [10] 46441 began its running in testing in November 2023 and is intended to return to revenue service in 2024.[11] |
The list of locomotives below contains those currently identified as having been resident at Haverthwaite in the past. It is, in all probability, not an exhaustive list.
| Number | Name | Built | Builder | Type | Former Operator | Notes | Image | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 (works Nº 1925) | 1937 | , OY class | At the Ribble Steam Railway in Preston[12] [13] | |||||
| 5 (works Nº 1631) | 1929 | Acquired November 1970; now at Tyseley[14] [15] | ||||||
| 6 (works Nº 1366) | 1919 | Renishaw Ironworks Nº 6 | Acquired November 1970; now at the Tanfield Railway[16] [17] | |||||
| 20 | 1863 | , FR class 17, Rush class A5 | Built as an 0-4-0; rebuilt for Barrow Steelworks as an, running as Nº 7; rebuilt in preservation to original configuration. Owned by the Furness Railway Trust[18] and operational at the Ribble Steam Railway in Preston[19] | |||||
| 1550 | 1917 | On static display at HM Factory, Gretna[20] [21] | ||||||
| 1900 | 1936 | Operated during the summer of 1983; now at the Buckinghamshire Railway Centre[22] [23] | ||||||
| 3794 | 1953 | Owned by the Furness Railway Trust and normally operational at the Ribble Steam Railway in Preston, but currently operating at the Embsay and Bolton Abbey Steam Railway; boiler ticket expires in May 2025; painted in FR red[24] [25] | ||||||
| 5643 | 1925 | Owned by the Furness Railway Trust and normally operational at the Ribble Steam Railway in Preston but currently undergoing extended maintenance at the East Lancashire Railway in Bury[26] [27] | ||||||
| 1944 | Acquired November 1970; moved to Steamport Southport; now at North Yorkshire Moors Railway with plans to return to the mainline[28] [29] |
Information below derived from the Lakeside and Haverthwaite Railway Visitors Guide sixth edition and the IRS reference book.
| Number | Name | Built | Builder | Type | Former Operator | Notes | Image | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 | 1959 | British Railways as D2117 | Operational | |||||
| AD601 | 1945 | Operational. One of a batch of locomotives built for the War Department, the design of which led to the class of locomotives that eventually became BR Class 11. | ||||||
| D2072 | 1959 | British Railways as TOPS 03 072 | Operational | |||||
| 20 214 | 1967 | British Railways | Operational | |||||
| 52071+52077 | 1961 | British Railways | Operational |
Not a locomotive in the traditional sense but is capable of, and has been used for, limited shunting operations.
The list of locomotives below contains those currently identified as having been resident at Haverthwaite in the past. It is, in all probability, not an exhaustive list.
| Number | Name | Built | Builder | Type | Former Operator | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 (works Nº 21999) | 1937 | The first locomotive purchased by, and still owned by, the Furness Railway Trust. Currently at the Ribble Steam Railway in Preston after having spent time on display at Locomotion at Shildon, County Durham[30] | |||||
| D5301 | 1958 | British Railways as TOPS 26 001 | Now at the Caledonian Railway, Brechin, Angus, Scotland[31] | ||||
| D5370 | 1962 | British Railways as TOPS 27 024 | Now at the Caledonian Railway, Brechin, Angus, Scotland |
Information below derived from the Lakeside and Haverthwaite Railway Visitors Guide sixth edition.
| Number | Built | Builder | Type | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3881 | 1953 | Crimson and cream livery | |||
| 3962 | 1954 | Mk. 1 TSO | Crimson and cream livery | ||
| 4255 | 1956 | BR York Works | Mk. 1 TSO | Crimson and cream livery | |
| 4410 | 1957 | Mk. 1 TSO | Crimson and cream livery | ||
| 4760 | 1957 | BR York works | Mk. 1 TSO | Crimson and cream livery | |
| 9218 | 1953 | Crimson and cream livery | |||
| 25337 | 1957 | Crimson and cream livery | |||
| 25364 | 1957 | BR Wolverton Works | Mk. 1 SK | Crimson and cream livery | |
| 35309 | 1962 | BR Wolverton Works | Crimson and cream livery | ||
| 35362 | 1962 | BR Wolverton Works | Mk. 1 BSK | Crimson and cream livery |
There are a selection of assorted goods vehicles.
In Christopher Awdry's book Thomas & Victoria, the Lakeside & Haverthwaite Railway is featured as part of the railway route where Victoria worked along both Helena and Albert before coming to Sodor. In the Thomas the Tank Engine TV series, the railway was filmed for a series of short educational segments entitled Down at the Station.
In the adaptation of Agatha Christie's novel, Dumb Witness, by ITV for its television series, Agatha Christie's Poirot, the opening scene was filmed at the Lakeside & Haverthwaite Railway, at the Lakeside terminus.
The railway and Haverthwaite station are featured in the video to Never Went to Church by alternative hip hop band The Streets.