Arlecdon Railway Station

Arlecdon railway station served the village of Arlecdon in the former English county of Cumberland, now part of Cumbria. LocationThe station was the southern passenger terminus of the Cleator and Workington Junction Railway's (C& WJR) otherwise mineral branch which left the company's to main line at Rowrah Branch Junction south of Distington. The 6mi, single track branch opened for mineral traffic on 1 May 1882 and was known locally as "Baird's Line" and officially as the Rowrah Branch. The branch's main purpose was to access the limestone quarries at Arlecdon's near neighbour Rowrah and the iron mines served by the Rowrah and Kelton Fell Railway, (RKFR) which the branch joined 30ch east of the station at Rowrah Junction. The branch was six and a three quarter miles long, but its point to point length was a mere four and a half miles, the difference being due to the extremely sinuous course it had to take to keep the ruling gradient to a "mere" 1 in 44. The gradients largely favoured loaded trains, but they still had to cope with half a mile uphill through Arlecdon and a mile and a half uphill from Brownriggs Gill to Whillimoor Top. HistoryThe C& WJR 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. All lines in the area were primarily aimed at mineral traffic, notably iron ore, coal and limestone, none more so than those built by the C& WJR, 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.

Arlecdon railway station served the village of Arlecdon in the former English county of Cumberland, now part of Cumbria. LocationThe station was the southern passenger terminus of the Cleator and Workington Junction Railway's (C& WJR) otherwise mineral branch which left the company's to main line at Rowrah Branch Junction south of Distington. The 6mi, single track branch opened for mineral traffic on 1 May 1882 and was known locally as "Baird's Line" and officially as the Rowrah Branch. The branch's main purpose was to access the limestone quarries at Arlecdon's near neighbour Rowrah and the iron mines served by the Rowrah and Kelton Fell Railway, (RKFR) which the branch joined 30ch east of the station at Rowrah Junction. The branch was six and a three quarter miles long, but its point to point length was a mere four and a half miles, the difference being due to the extremely sinuous course it had to take to keep the ruling gradient to a "mere" 1 in 44. The gradients largely favoured loaded trains, but they still had to cope with half a mile uphill through Arlecdon and a mile and a half uphill from Brownriggs Gill to Whillimoor Top. HistoryThe C& WJR 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. All lines in the area were primarily aimed at mineral traffic, notably iron ore, coal and limestone, none more so than those built by the C& WJR, 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.