Micklam railway station

Micklam railway station served the fireclay mine and brickworks at Micklam, a short distance north of Lowca in the former county of Cumberland, England, which is now part of Cumbria.

Micklam
General information
Location	Micklam, near Lowca, Cumbria, Copeland England
Coordinates	54.5859°N 3.5782°W / 54.5859; -3.5782
Grid reference	NX981223
Platforms	1[1]
Other information
Status	Disused
History
Original company	Lowca Light Railway
Post-grouping	Lowca Light Railway
Key dates
15 April 1912	Workmen's service commenced
2 June 1913	Public passenger service[2]
31 May 1926	Public passenger service ended
1 April 1929	Workmen's service ended[3]

v t e Lowca Light Railway and Gilgarran Branch
Legend
Key open line Gilgarran Branch Lowca Light Railway other closed lines
Cumbrian Coast line to Maryport Maryport & Carlisle Rly to Dearham Flimby Linefoot Siddick Junction Linefoot Junction Cleator and Workington Junction Railway Great Broughton St Helens Colliery Maryport & Carlisle Rly to Brigham Dock Junction Seaton Dock Calva Junction Derwent Junction Cloffocks Junction to Marron Junction Workington Main Workington Central Solway Colliery Derwent Ironworks   Moss Bay   (north) Moss Bay Cart Siding Ironworks   (south)   Harrington Junction Harrington (Church Road Halt) High Harrington Harrington Rosehill (Archer Street Halt) Harrington Harbour Rose Hill Platform Rose Hill Junction Copperas Hill Whitehaven, Cleator & Egremont Rly to Rowrah Micklam Ullock Lowca Distington Junction to Marron Junction Distington Wythemoor Colliery Bain's Siding Distington Ironworks United Steel Companies Workmen's Halt Parton Halt Oatlands Cleator & Workington Jn Rly to Rowrah Parton Cumbrian Coast line to Whitehaven Cleator & Workington Jn Rly to Cleator Moor West
1972
Key open line Gilgarran Branch Lowca Light Railway other closed lines closed & lifted lines
Cumbrian Coast line to Maryport Flimby formerly to Dearham Siddick Junction Linefoot Junction RNAD Broughton Moor St Helens Colliery formerly to Brigham Dock Junction Seaton Dock Calva Junction Derwent Junction Cloffocks Junction formerly to Marron Junction Workington Main Workington Central Solway Colliery Derwent Ironworks   Moss Bay   (north) Moss Bay Cart Siding Ironworks   (south)   Harrington Junction Harrington (Church Road Halt) High Harrington Harrington Rosehill (Archer Street Halt) Harrington Harbour Rose Hill Platform Rose Hill Junction Copperas Hill formerly to Rowrah Micklam Ullock Lowca Distington Junction formerly to Marron Junction Distington Wythemoor Colliery Bain's Siding Distington Ironworks United Steel Companies Workmen's Halt Parton Halt Oatlands formerly to Rowrah Parton Cumbrian Coast line to Whitehaven formerly to Cleator Moor West

A public passenger service called at the station between 2 June 1913 and May 1926, though unadvertised workmen's trains had started in April 1912 and continued until April 1929, after which all forms of passenger service ceased.

By 1922 the service had settled down to three trains each way between Lowca and Workington Central, calling at Micklam. There was an extra on Saturdays, but it passed through Micklam without stopping.. There never was a public Sunday service.^[4]

The 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. Workmen's services to and from Micklam variously ran from Moss Bay Cart Siding, Maryport (during the First World War), Workington Central and Seaton (Cumbria). Public passenger trains ran to these last two only.

Freight services

The railway through Micklam was first and foremost a mineral railway, with the short-lived workmen's and passenger services an afterthought. Lines first reached the site 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 at Lowca, fireclay and bricks (primarily aimed at lining furnaces at Workington's steelworks), coke and coking bi-products. Centrepiece for over fifty years was Harrington No. 10 Colliery which, confusingly, was not in Harrington, but in Lowca.

A seldom-photographed 2 feet 6 inches (760 mm) railway emerged from the fireclay drift mine then ran parallel to the Lowca Light railway along the clifftop to Micklam brickworks.^[5]

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

Preceding station		Disused railways		Following station
Copperas Hill Line and station closed		Lowca Light Railway		Lowca Line and station closed

See also

• Gilgarran Branch
• Cleator and Workington Junction Railway

References

1. Possibly Micklam railway station, via Whitehaven News
2. 1913 Public Timetable, via Cumbrian Railways Association
3. Andrews 2001, pp. 20–23.
4. Bradshaw 1985, p. 595.
5. Edgar 2016, p. 49.

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.
• Edgar, Gordon (2016). Industrial Locomotives & Railways of Cumbria. Stroud: Amberley Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4456-4833-0.

Further reading

• 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.
• 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.
• News, Notes and (August 1973). Slater, J.N. (ed.). "Lowca Light Railway Closes". The Railway Magazine. 119 (868). London: Tothill Press Limited. {{cite journal}}: |last= has generic name (help)
• 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.

Bibliography

• Bairstow, Martin (1995). Railways In The Lake District. Martin Bairstow. ISBN 1-871944-11-2.
• British Railways Pre-Grouping Atlas And Gazetteer. Shepperton: Ian Allan Publishing. 1997 [1958]. ISBN 0-7110-0320-3.
• Croughton, Godfrey; Kidner, Roger W.; Young, Alan (1982). Private and Untimetabled Railway Stations, Halts and Stopping Places X 43. Headington, Oxford: The Oakwood Press. ISBN 0-85361-281-1.
• Haynes, James Allen (April 1920). Cleator & Workington Junction Railway Working Time Table. Central Station, Workington: Cleator and Workington Junction Railway.
• 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 094653702X.
• Marshall, John (1981). Forgotten Railways: North West England. Newton Abbot: David & Charles. ISBN 0-7153-8003-6.
• 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 0-9540232-2-6.
• 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 (September 2009). Railway Passenger Stations in Great Britain - a Chronology. Railway & Canal Historical Society. ISBN 978-0-901461-57-5.
• Robinson, Peter W. (2002). Cumbria's Lost Railways. Stenlake Publishing. ISBN 1-84033-205-0.
• Robinson, Peter W. (1985). Railways of Cumbria. Clapham, via Lancaster: Dalesman Books. ISBN 0-85206-815-8.
• 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: Countryside Books. ISBN 978-1-84674-107-4.

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 line railwaycodes
• The Harrington collieries Haig Pit Mining Museum