Maryport and Carlisle Railway

Maryport and Carlisle Railway
1920 map of the railway
Technical
Track gauge4 ft 8+12 in (1,435 mm)
Length42 miles 63 chains (68.9 km) (1919)[1]
Track length100 miles 34 chains (161.6 km) (1919)[1]
Route map
Maryport and
Carlisle Railway
Carlisle Citadel
Cummersdale
Dalston
Curthwaite
Crofton
private station
Wigton
Brookfield
Aikbank Junction
Leegate
Brayton
High Blaithwaite
Mealsgate
Allhallows Colliery
Baggrow
Aspatria
Arkleby
(closed 1852)
Bullgill
Dearham Bridge
Maryport
Dearham
Linefoot
Linefoot Junction
Dovenby Lodge
Papcastle
Brigham

The Maryport & Carlisle Railway (M&CR) was an English railway company formed in 1836 which built and operated a small but eventually highly profitable railway to connect Maryport and Carlisle in Cumberland, England. There were many small collieries in the area and efficient access to the harbour at Maryport was important.

The western end, connecting the majority of the collieries to Maryport opened in 1840 and the line was completed throughout to Carlisle in 1845. The considerable resources of coal, and later iron ore, carried by the railway made it especially profitable, and this was redoubled at the height of the iron and steel processing industries around Workington. Branch lines were opened to connect further collieries.

After 1918 the industries on which the line was dependent declined steeply, and the railway declined accordingly; the branch lines closed, but the original main line remains open and forms part of the Cumbrian Coast Line between Carlisle and Barrow in Furness.

  1. ^ a b The Railway Year Book for 1920. London: The Railway Publishing Company Limited. 1920. p. 194.