If this thread appears twice I apologise, I submitted it an hour ago and it seems to have vanished! Anyway SRT-Fan asked about rapid transit systems where I live and I thought you all might be interested in one of the hidden gems of British Railways. I will start with the village where I live, Askam In Furness in Cumbria. part of what is known as the Lake District. This will be a short intro to get the thread established then I shall add some more. 7100 'Duke of Gloucester' blasts through Askam as it attacks the grade up to Dalton junction
O.K that seemed to work The Cumbrian coast line was once part of the Furness Railway in the north west of England, a company made rich by the rich iron ore and mineral deposits in this part of the world. Askam, where my wife is from, grew around an iron works situated on the Duddon estuary just north of Barrow in Furness You can tell straight away that this station building is not the usual simple halt you would expect for a remote location like this In fact, it was designed by one of Englands premier architect firms for the church, Paley and Austin of Lancaster. responsible for cathedrals, churches and civic buildings through the north of England The building is grade II listed and survives pretty much as built and YES, that signal box is leaning towards the tracks!
Askam signalbox The signalbox seems to have started listing forward quite early on, being on an estuary the ground is very sandy and not the best foundationfor a building The box still has a fully interlocked lever frame the wheel that used to operate the original swinging level crossing gates has long gone however. On a fine sunny day 'Nodding Donkey' 142 058 heads north towards Carlisle The downside of living in such a remote part of great Britain is that the weather can be as bad as it is good 142 030 heads south after a snow shower towards Barrow in Furnesss
Kevsmith, thank you for the short glimpse of Askam station, especially of the Duke of Gloucester. Would love to see more Cumbrian rail related stuff if you are so inclined. BTW, I thoroughly enjoyed your Thai light rail thread.
Steam!!! During the summer months the Cumbrian coast has seen a few steam excursions starting from Carnforth The most frequently seen locomotive is LMS Stanier 8F 2-8-0 48151. Coming north the engine is just drifting down the gradient from Dalton junction having just attacked the 'Lindal bank' The train is called the 'Brief Encounter Special' a reference to Carnforth's station buffet being used as a location in the famous feature film 'Brief encounter' On the return journey the loco has to climb the gradient out of Askam Here we see a view of Askam from the flanks of Kirbymoorside back in steam days with Black Combe looming in the background over the estuary.The large dark building on the left of the picture was the old bonded store, demolished it is the plot of land where our stands now
Furness railway steam locos As I mentioned the Cumbrian Coast line was built by the Furness Railway to access the rich Heamatite iron ore deposits in the areas aroud Dalton,Askam and Millom. It is a curious fact that two surviving Furness railway locomotives are both that rarest of beasts the 0-4-0 tender engine. Copperknob was preserved by the railway and was plinthed in a glass pavilion outside Barrow in Furness station and remained there until the Luftwaffe bombed the station during the second world war! It is now in the National railway museum at York but was brought to the Lakeside and Haverthwaite, a preserved section of the furness branchline from Greenodd to Lakeside station on Lake Windermere, for the Furness 150 anniversary It still bears the scars from the shrapnel that hit it during the war! The other survivor has an equally remarkable story. Furness no.20 served the railway for many years before being converted to a saddle tank and sold to the Barrow steelworks. After being plinthed in a playground it was moved to the Steamtown museum in Carnforth where it languished for many years. Rescued by a dedicated team of preservationists it was converted back to a tender engine ith a new tender and is now one of the star locomotives of U.K preservation. It is seen here at Barrow Hill Roundhouse on one of its guest appearances around the U.K As you can see it is in immaculate condition. More soon
153 contrasts The bulk of off-peak passenger traffic on the Cumbrian coast is handled either by the twin car, 2 axle, class 142 DMUs seen earlier or by the single unit class 153 units. Here are two contrasting pictures of these taken in very different weather conditions 153 330 brakes hard as it approaches Askam from the south on a fine sunny day whils 153 332 framed by the snow covered mountains slows to a halt with a barrow bound train I'll post some more soon and also try and get my neg scanner to behave itself as I have some nice historical stuff on Kodachrome
Gorgeous! Wonderful! Makes me want to shelve my chores for the day and go fire up the "Duchess of Hamilton" (cover, N-Scale Magazine, May/Jun 2008). Scott
The mos common form of passenger train seen on the Cumbrian coast line is the Metro-Cammell class 156 two car DMU 156 428 is seen heading north through Askam This service only goes to the other side of the Duddon Estuary and terminates at Millom Now I work for a railway company called Direct Rail Services and we are the predominant freight haulier on the line. Most of the freight carried on the line is associated with the nucear industry and the huge Sellafield Nuclear plant near Seascale. Nuclear fuel is carried to and from power stations to Sellafield and the safe working of these trains means they have always been a bit different from other railfreight Before the inception of D.R.S British Bailways were responsible for the traffic and 37 191 is seen heading north to Sellafield with a train of FNA flask wagons.
Unlike many forms of freight trains in the U.K the nuclear traffic has for a long time been a dedicated train service, other freight is not mixed into the train. It also has unusual and rare types of diesel traction associated with it. The classic Brush type 2 a1A-A1A class 31s were a common site in the 80's and two of the class returning light engine catch the rays of the setting sun on a winter saturday afernoon heading south through Askam from Sellafield A 'Dutch' liveried 31 229 heads north to Sellafield to pick up it's train When British Rail was privatised Briish Nuclear Fuels opted to set up their own train operating company to ensure safe,secure transport of nuclear products and Direct Rail was the result. One of our class 37s, number 259 stands in Carlisle Citadel station waiting to head up to our traction depot at Kingmoor
The joys of living in Cumbria ! It has been a little while since I added anything to this thread but tonight the wind is howling, the rain is splattering against the window and it is to cold to go out the workshop and do any modelling. oh and there is naff all on the telly! So I thought I'd continue my essay on my local railway line I am not going to do the line in any particular order but as I near the end I will try and put all this lot in context. Let's have a look at some classic signalboxes that survive on the line, No CTC here! Not far from my house is Dalton junction signalbox where the Barrow avoiding line swings north allowing freight trains to avoid the line through the town Even in a relatively rural part of the 'Lake District' somebody thinks they are an artist with an aerosol! at the other end of the loop where the passenger and freight traffic recombine is Park South junction, a classic Furness Railway signalbox A class 142 DMU prepares to swing across the junction on it's way to Barrow in Furness Another classic box, combined with the waiting room, is the one at Foxfield. This signalbox used to control the junction for the Coniston branch now sadly closed.
Does anybody like beer? Foxfield is one of the undiscovered gems of the railways of Great Britain. When I first moved up to Cumbria with my wife, who is from round here, one of the first things I did was consult the CAMRA (Campaign for Real Ale) good pub guide. It rated very highly a pub called the 'Prince of Wales' at Foxfield which brewed it's own beer on the premises. What I didn't realise until we tried it for the first time is that it was 25 yards from the railway station with a big picture window looking over the track. Signal goes up, train coming, put down your pint, stroll to station, take train photo, go back for another pint. Last train south is 21.40 back home. Smashing! Off course sometimes it's a bit chilly Foxfield is one railway station, one pub, about 8 houses and not a lot else. Surprisingly a lot of people get off the train here on a Friday and Saturday night but not surprisingly they are all heading for the pub. In the summer the climate is a lot more pleasant, occasionaly something strange turns up like a 'First generation' British Railways DMU on a railtour. When the signasl goes up and you know nothing scheduled is due, pick up your camera and run! same thing happens where you are I'm sure. You know roughly when trains are due, you have a nose for something not ordinary and somthing says, stop and get your camera out. This shot of the LMS 8F 2-8-0 came about because it was running so late, I assumed it was long gone when I finished work, that when I saw a lot of chaps in flat caps and windcheaters still stood on the platform I knew it still hadn't been through Askam. As I approached the level crossing the barriers came down and I was able to get this shot. with my car stood at the barriers with the keys in the ignition and the engine running, just in time
Pubs, are they becoming a common thread I wonder? Now I am sure many of you will have read of the World famous 'Ravenglass and Eskdale' railway, one of the pioneering 15" gauge tourist lines. I don't intend to delve very far into that topic just yet but instead highlight the attractions of the standard gauge station next door on the Cumbrian Coast line. Ravenglass station building is quite imposing but no longer acts as a ticket office instead it is an excellent pub called the 'Ratty Arms'. La'l Ratty being the nickname of the 15" line. another trackside hostelry that serves real ale and food You can get a nice overview of the stations on both lines from the footbridge at the south of the platforms. The standard gauge line sweeps left to Drigg whilst the 15" heads for them thar hills! If you turn round you will find a beautifully preserved elevated Furness railway signalbox The interesting vehicle in the foreground is the Ratty's improvised hedge cutter When the mainline steam specials come up the line the passengers disembark here for a couple of hours on the 'Ratty' whilst the Locomotive and stock carry on to Sellafield, where I work, for turning and watering. More on that later. However not all the stations on the Cumbrian Coast are such scenic and pretty Victorian survivors. Once you get past Sellafield the railway starts to hug the coast and the scenery becomes a lot more rugged. Netherton is a bleak windswept spot right on the Irish sea. !53 310 approaches the remote spot on a northbound passenger train
153 310 departs Netherton Although Parton is a reasonable size village little remains of the station except the Signalbox. Another of the ubiquitous class 153s handles one of the sparsely used midday trains More excitement happens when one of our trains passes. A DRS nuclear flask train headed by a pair of class 20's and 37 607 and 37 608 head north for one of the Scottish power stations Long before I went to work for DRS I recorded some of the pre-privatisation handling of the Nuclear traffic by the Sub-sectors of British Rail A pair of class 31's, 31 423 leading , head for the huge Nuclear plant at Sellafield with a train of FNA flask wagons seperated by barrier wagons converted from HEA coal hoppers and pass under 'White bridge' at Askam more soon
Wonderful....:thumbs_up: Your choice of subjects and accompanying text makes it all the more enjoyable, please continue. :w20z6q:
