Silloth railway station explained

Silloth
Status:	Disused
Borough:	Silloth, Cumberland
Country:	England
Coordinates:	54.8676°N -3.3893°W
Grid Name:	Grid reference
Platforms:	1
Original:	Carlisle & Silloth Bay Railway & Dock Company
Pregroup:	North British Railway
Postgroup:	London and North Eastern Railway
Years1:	4 September 1856
Events1:	Opened
Years2:	7 September 1964
Events2:	Closed
Map Type:	United Kingdom Allerdale#Cumbria

Silloth was the terminus of the Carlisle and Silloth Bay Railway, a branch railway from Carlisle, England. The town, dock and station at Silloth were built on a greenfield site after the Carlisle & Silloth Bay Railway & Dock Act (1855) was passed. The railway provision grew with the dock and its later additions.

The station was opened in 1856 and closed by the Beeching axe on 7 September 1964, when it had been estimated in 1962 that the line was losing £23,500 a year and rising, staff costs had been pared to the bone and an imminent track bill of £32,500 was to be faced.

Services

Sample timetables along the branch show typical routine patterns.^[1] Unfortunately they are undated:

• the first does not show, suggesting it is after 1 September 1921, nor does it mention the North British, so it may be 1923–1932, when the branch to closed
• the second matches Bradshaw in 1922
• the third is from British Railways days.

The Winter 1962–3 timetable shows eight trains each way, Monday to Saturday, with a Saturday extra, as well as three trains on Sundays. The table strikes the eye as being simpler than earlier timetables with:

• all trains 2nd Class only
• a much better service to
• no through trains beyond Carlisle
• had closed in 1955.

The line was one of the first in the country to be dieselised, with one train a day remaining steam-hauled.

The branch was atypical in that from the 1880s successive owners had fostered a vigorous trade in "Specials", the cornerstone of which was Carlisle to Silloth and back for a shilling. This was backed by encouraging outings to Silloth by a wide range of customers such as Sunday schools, Temperance clubs and racegoers. Many specials were both long and well-filled; the longest ever was not a trippers' train, but a celebration train for the reopening of Carr's flour mill in 1905.

Freight traffic, which had done well in wartime,^[2] notably because it was on the north west coast, was following the pattern of the rest of the country - in decline. Four camping coaches were positioned here by the London Midland Region from 1956 to 1964. There was insufficient shunting to justify keeping the small locoshed open after 6 July 1953 and erstwhile staple business such as flour traffic from Carr's Mill fell from £7000 to £100 per month, the business being lost to road competition.

All tracks to and in Silloth had been removed by 1968.

Redevelopment

The Allerdale council in northern England passed its final approval on a plan to demolish the remaining structure of the station on 8 December 2006. The development firm James Morgan Ltd. was awarded a contract to build new single-family housing on the property. Stuart Hinchliffe, director of the development firm also stated "We will be reinstating as much of the old railway platform as we can, to maintain Silloth’s Victorian history."^[3]

See also

• List of closed railway stations in Britain

References

Sources

• Anderson . David . Rex . Kennedy . November 2004 . The Port Carlisle and Silloth Branch Lines . Steam Days . 183 . Redgauntlet Publications. 0269-0020 . .
• Barbey . M.F. . B.W.C. . Cooke . February 1955 . From Carlisle to Silloth . . 101. 646 . Tothill Press Limited . . 0033-8923 .
• Barker . Oswald J. . Martin . Smith . August 2010 . Branch line to Silloth . Railway Bylines . 15. 9 . Irwell Press Limited . . 1360-2098 .
  • Book: Cumbria, Confederation of Women's Institutes . Cumbria Within Living Memory . 2000 . 1994 . Countryside Books . . 978-1-85306-301-5 .
• Earnshaw . Alan . David . Jenkinson . July 1990a . The Silloth Branch - Part 1 . Back Track . 4 . 4 . Atlantic Transport Publishers . . 0955-5382 .
• Earnshaw . Alan . David . Jenkinson . September 1990b . The Silloth Branch - Part 2 . Back Track . 4 . 5 . Atlantic Transport Publishers . . 0955-5382 .
• Gammell . C. J. . Rex . Kennedy . May 1994 . Just a few lines... Cumbria . Steam Days . 57 . Redgauntlet Publications. 0269-0020 . .
  • Hammond . John M. . Michael . Peascod . August 2015 . The Beeching Plan and the Closure of the Carlisle-Silloth Branch . Cumbrian Railways . 11 . 11 . Cumbrian Railways Association . . 1466-6812 .
  • Book: Joy, David . Railways of the Lake Counties . 1973 . Dalesman Publishing . . 978-0-85206-200-5 .
• Book: McRae, Andrew. British Railway Camping Coach Holidays: The 1930s & British Railways (London Midland Region). Scenes from the Past: 30 (Part One). Foxline. 1997. 1-870119-48-7.
• Book: Marsh . John . Garbutt . John . Cumbrian Railways . 1999 . Alan Sutton Publishing Ltd . . 978-0-7509-2043-8 .
• Book: Puxley . Chris . The Port of Silloth 1858 - 2009: A Pictorial History Through 150 Years of a Solway Port . 2009 . Bernard McCall . . 978-1-902953-42-7 .
  • Book: Robinson, Peter W. . Cumbria's Lost Railways . 2002 . Stenlake Publishing . . 978-1-84033-205-6 .
• Book: Robinson, Peter W. . Rail Centres No. 6 - Carlisle . 2004 . 1986 . Booklaw Publications . . 978-1-901945-16-4 .
• Book: Robinson, Peter W. . Railways of Cumbria . 1985 . Dalesman Books . . 978-0-85206-815-1 .
• Thomlinson . G. . Michael . Peascod . May 1983 . Rails on the Solway . Cumbrian Railways . 2 . 14 . Cumbrian Railways Association . . 1466-6812 .

Further material

• Bazley . Basil M. . B.W.C. . Cooke . August 1953 . Carlisle in 1905 . . 99 . 628 . Tothill Press Limited . . 0033-8923.
• Book: Easdown. Martin. Lancashire's Seaside Piers. 2009. Wharncliffe Books . . 978-1-84563-093-5.
• Book: Edgar . Stuart . Sinton . John H. . The Solway Junction Railway . LP176 . 1990 . The Oakwood Press . . 978-0-85361-395-4 .
• Book: Morrison, Gavin . Vintage Railtours: Railway Correspondence and Travel Society, a Pictorial Record 1954-69 . Silver Link Publishing . . 1993 . 978-1-85-794007-7 .
• Book: Mullay, Alexander J. . Rails Across the Border . 2006 . Tempus Publishing . . 978-0-7524-3666-1 . registration .
• Oatway . Jim . Cumberland Glory (DVD) . 2003 . 1964 . B&R Video Productions . . Ultimate Archive Steam . Vol 44 .
• Robinson . Peter W. . Michael . Peascod . August 1995 . Maryport & Carlisle 150 . Cumbrian Railways . 5 . 12 . Cumbrian Railways Association . . 1466-6812 .
• Book: Suggitt, Gordon . Lost Railways of Cumbria (Railway Series) . 2008 . Countryside Books . . 978-1-84674-107-4 .
• Walton . John K. . 1979 . Railways and Resort Development in Victorian England: The Case of Silloth . Northern History . 15 . 1 . 191–209 . University of Leeds, School of History . . 10.1179/nhi.1979.15.1.191 . 0078-172X .
• Webb . David R. . B.W.C. . Cooke . September 1964 . Between the Solway and Sellafield: Part One . . 110. 761 . Tothill Press Limited . . 0033-8923 .
• Book: White, Stephen . Solway Steam: The Story of the Silloth and Port Carlisle Railways, 1854-1964 . 1984 . Carel Press Limited . . 978-0-9509096-1-5 .

External links

• The station on a navigable Edwardian OS map National Library of Scotland
• The station on the branch, with mileages Railway Codes
• The line with period photographs Holme St Cuthbert History Group
• The line and station Cumbrian Railways Association
• Images of the battery and railways in Silloth BBC and others
• 1929 aerial view of the station Britain from above (sign-in needed to zoom)
• The station and line Rail Map Online
• DMU at the station pinimg
• The station in its last days Deborah Irwin
• The line in early BR days Deborah Irwin
• The station's and line's history Solway Past and Present
• The line's opening John Ostle
• Early diesels on the line David Heys

Notes and References

1. http://www.cumbria-railways.co.uk/silloth_bay_railway_history.html Silloth timetables, via Cumbrian Railways Association
2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4E1lqim8xo Silloth coal hoists, via YouTube
3. News: Housing bid for town's derelict railway station . The Cumberland News . 2006-12-08 . 2006-12-10 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20070928091956/http://www.cumberland-news.co.uk/news/viewarticle.aspx?id=443775 . 28 September 2007 .