Lowca railway station

Lowca
Lowca's 1st station in the colliery yard, probably on 2 June 1913
General information
Location	Lowca, Cumbria, Copeland England
Coordinates	54.5817°N 3.5808°W / 54.5817; -3.5808
Grid reference	NX979218
Platforms	1
Other information
Status	Disused
History
Original company	Bain's Mineral Railway
Pre-grouping	Harrington and Lowca Light Railway
Post-grouping	Harrington and Lowca Light Railway
Key dates
15 April 1912	Workmen's service commenced
2 June 1913	Public passenger service
31 May 1926	Public passenger service ended
1 April 1929	Workmen's service ended

Lowca had two railway stations that served the village of Lowca in the former county of Cumberland, England, which is now part of Cumbria.

The line was originally a waggonway that conveyed coal from a drift mine at Lowca to Harrington Harbour and later to Harrington Iron Works. As the demand for greater quantities of coal to feed the ironworks was most important new mines with vertical shafts were sunk. These were named after the parent ironworks and took the name of Harrington with a shaft number to identify them, such as Harrington No.4 and Harrington No.9.

A public passenger service ran from the 1st station between 2 June 1913 and when the 2nd Lowca Station was completed in August 1913 public services ran until they ceased in May 1926. Unadvertised workmen's trains had started in April 1912 and ran between Moss Bay Cart Siding and the colliery station in the pit yard. After the Light Railway order ended the private workmen's service continued until April 1929, after which the workmen's trains ceased.

By 1922 the service had settled down to three trains each way between Lowca and Workington Central, with an extra on Saturdays. There never was a public Sunday service.

The first station at Lowca was built by Bain & Co. who owned the colliery and Harrington Ironworks. It was situated in the colliery yard and was closed to public passenger use when the second station at Lowca was opened in August 1913.

The second station was on the Harrington and Lowca Light Railway which connected with the Cleator & Workington Junction Railway (CWJR) at Rosehill Junction south of Harrington Village. At different times workmen's services to Lowca ran from four places: Maryport (during the First World War), Moss Bay Cart Siding, Workington Central and Seaton (Cumbria). Public passenger trains ran from these last two only.

For many years there has been confusion regarding the stations at Lowca, with the two stations in the village being treated as one. The first official passenger service terminated in the colliery yard as shown in the photo. The 1st station continued in use until 1929 for workmen's trains but for passenger use the 2nd Lowca Station was the terminus.

Freight services

The railway through Lowca was first and foremost a mineral railway, with the short-lived workmen's and passenger services an afterthought. Lines first reached Lowca at the end of the Nineteenth Century, eventually running northwards towards Workington and southeastwards to meet the Gilgarran Branch at Bain's Siding. The driving forces were coal, fireclay at nearby Micklam, coke and coking bi-products. Centrepiece for over fifty years was Harrington No. 10 Colliery which, confusingly, was not in Harrington, but in Lowca.

Between them these industrial concerns sustained the railway through Lowca until final closure to all traffic in May 1973.

Preceding station		Disused railways		Following station
Micklam Line and station closed		Lowca Light Railway		Lowca's 1st Station

See also

• Gilgarran Branch
• Cleator and Workington Junction Railway

Sources

• Andrews, Dr Michael (May 2001). Peascod, Michael (ed.). "The Harrington and Lowca Light Railway". Cumbrian Railways. 7 (2). Pinner: Cumbrian Railways Association. ISSN 1466-6812.
• Bradshaw, George (1985) [July 1922]. Bradshaw's General Railway and Steam Navigation guide for Great Britain and Ireland: A reprint of the July 1922 issue. Newton Abbot: David & Charles. ISBN 978-0-7153-8708-5. OCLC 12500436.
• Oakden, Steven (July 2003). Smith, Martin (ed.). "Railway Work at Harrington. The later years at Harrington No. 10 Colliery". Railway Bylines. 8 (8). Clophill: Irwell Press Ltd.

Further reading

• Anderson, Paul (June 2001). Hawkins, Chris (ed.). "The dog's got your description". British Railways Illustrated. 10 (9). Clophill: Irwell Press Ltd. ISSN 0961-8244.
• 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.
• Bairstow, Martin (1995). Railways In The Lake District. Martin Bairstow. ISBN 978-1-871944-11-2.
• Croughton, Godfrey; Kidner, R. W.; Young, Alan (1982). Private and Untimetabled Railway Stations, Halts and Stopping Places. The Oakwood Press. ISBN 978-0-85361-281-0. OCLC 10507501.
• Haynes, James Allen (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 1982a). Peascod, Michael (ed.). "The Cleator and Workington Junction Railway". Cumbrian Railways. 2 (11). Pinner: Cumbrian Railways Association. ISSN 1466-6812.
• Jackson, Stanley; Sisson, Norman; Haywood, T.R. (October 1982b). Peascod, Michael (ed.). "The Cleator and Workington Junction Railway". Cumbrian Railways. 2 (12). Pinner: Cumbrian Railways Association. ISSN 1466-6812.
• Joy, David (1973). Railways of the Lake Counties. Clapham, North Yorkshire: Dalesman Publishing Co. ISBN 978-0-85206-200-5.
• 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.
• News, Notes and (August 1973). Slater, J.N. (ed.). "Lowca Light Railway Closes". The Railway Magazine. 119 (868). London: Tothill Press Limited. ISSN 0033-8923. {{cite journal}}: |last= has generic name (help)
• Quayle, Howard (2007). Whitehaven: The Railways and Waggonways of a Unique Cumberland Port. Pinner: Cumbrian Railways Association. ISBN 978-0-9540232-5-6.
• Quick, Michael (2009) [2001]. Railway passenger stations in Great Britain: a chronology (4th ed.). Oxford: Railway & Canal Historical Society. ISBN 978-0-901461-57-5. OCLC 612226077.
• Robinson, Peter W. (2002). Cumbria's Lost Railways. Catrine: Stenlake Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84033-205-6.
• Robinson, Peter W. (1985). Railways of Cumbria. Clapham, North Yorkshire: Dalesman Books. ISBN 978-0-85206-815-1.
• Smith, Paul; Turner, Keith (2012). Railway Atlas Then and Now. Ian Allan Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7110-3695-6.
• Suggitt, Gordon (2008). Lost Railways of Cumbria (Railway Series). Newbury, Berkshire: Countryside Books. ISBN 978-1-84674-107-4.
• Webb, David R. (October 1964b). Cooke, B.W.C. (ed.). "Between the Solway and Sellafield: Part Two". The Railway Magazine. 110 (762). London: Tothill Press Limited. ISSN 0033-8923.
• Conolly, W. Philip (1998). British railways pre-grouping atlas and gazetteer (9th impression; 5th ed.). Shepperton: Ian Allan. ISBN 978-0-7110-0320-0. OCLC 221481275.
• 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.
• Joy, David (1983). Lake Counties (Regional History of the Railways of Great Britain). Newton Abbot: David & Charles. ISBN 978-0-946537-02-0.
• Marshall, John (1981). Forgotten Railways: North West England. Newton Abbot: David & Charles. ISBN 978-0-7153-8003-1.
• Webb, David R. (September 1964a). Cooke, B.W.C. (ed.). "Between the Solway and Sellafield: Part One". The Railway Magazine. 110 (761). London: Tothill Press Limited. ISSN 0033-8923.

External links

• The closed station on an inter-war OS map National Library of Scotland
• The station Rail Map Online
• Latterday steam at Lowca flickr
• Latterday steam at Lowca flickr
• Industrial relics at Lowca flickr
• The station and line railwaycodes
• The Harrington collieries Haig Pit Mining Museum