Whitrigg railway station

Whitrigg was a railway station on the Bowness Moss which served Whitrigg, a hamlet in Cumbria on the English side of the Solway Firth. The station opened on 8 August 1870 by the Caledonian Railway on a line constructed from the Caledonian Railway Main Line at Kirtlebridge across the Glasgow South Western Line, then forming the Solway Junction Railway over the Solway Viaduct to Brayton. The line opened in 1869, but freight had run from 13 September 1869.

Whitrigg
LocationWhitrigg, Allerdale
England
Coordinates54.908174°N 3.212369°W / 54.908174; -3.212369
Grid referenceNY223577
Platforms1
Other information
StatusDisused
History
Original companySolway Junction Railway
Pre-groupingCaledonian Railway
Key dates
1 October 1870[1]Opened
1 September 1917closed
1020opened
1 September 1921[2]Station closed to all traffic
Solway Junction Railway
Caledonian Railway Main Line
Kirtlebridge
Annan Shawhill
Annan
Glasgow, Dumfries and Carlisle Railway
Solway Viaduct over Solway Firth 
Scotland
England
Bowness
Whitrigg
Carlisle and Silloth Bay Railway
Kirkbride Junction
Sleightholme
Abbey Junction
Carlisle and Silloth Bay Railway
Bromfield
Maryport and Carlisle Railway
Brayton
Maryport and Carlisle Railway

History

Whitrigg station was opened by the Solway Junction Railway, then part of the Caledonian Railway. At first the station was a 'flag' station or request stop with passengers wishing to alight informing the guard at Abbey Junction or Bowness, depending on their direction of travel. The gateman likewise signalled if a train was to stop.[3] From 1 January 1873 a crossing keeper had been appointed and the level crossing itself signalled.[4] North of the station was a goods siding, worked by a frame which was controlled by train tablet for the section Bowness and Kirkbride Junction.[5]

The passenger service was never very well patronised and reduced to being just one carriage at the front of an occasional goods train and in September 1917 this was suspended,[6] but was reinstated in 1920.[7] Passenger services were finally withdrawn in 1921 and the line south of Annan over the Solway Viaduct was closed completely.

The station had one platform with a simple wooden station building.[8] The closure of the station was directly linked to the closure of the Solway viaduct.

Micro-history

The first up goods train used to call at Whitrigg to attach livestock wagons.[9]

The site today

The station waiting room and platform have been demolished and a private dwelling has been built on the site.

Preceding station Historical railways Following station
Bowness   Caledonian Railway
Solway Junction Railway
  Abbey Junction

References

Notes
Sources
  • Edgar, Stuart & Sinton, John M. (1990). The Solway Junction Railway. Oxford: Oakwood Press. ISBN 978-0853613954.
  • Mullay, A. J. (1990). Rails across the border: the story of Anglo-Scottish Railways. Wellingborough: Patrick Stephens Limited. ISBN 1-85260-186-8.
  • Quick, Michael (2009) [2001]. Railway passenger stations in Great Britain: a chronology (4th ed.). Oxford: Railway and Canal Historical Society. ISBN 978-0-901461-57-5. OCLC 612226077.
Further reading
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