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 for freight on 13 September 1869.
Whitrigg | |
|---|---|
| General information | |
| Location | Whitrigg, Allerdale England |
| Coordinates | 54.908174°N 3.212369°W |
| Grid reference | NY223577 |
| Platforms | 1 |
| Other information | |
| Status | Disused |
| History | |
| Original company | Solway Junction Railway |
| Pre-grouping | Caledonian Railway |
| Key dates | |
| 1 October 1870[1] | Opened |
| 1 September 1917 | closed |
| 1920 | opened |
| 1 September 1921[2] | Station closed to all traffic |
Solway Junction Railway | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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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goods train and in September 1917 this was suspended,[6] but was reinstated in 1920.[7] Passenger services were finally withdrawn in 1921 and the line south of Annan over the Solway Viaduct was closed completely.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
- Quick 2009, p. 410.
- Edgar & Sinton 1990, p. 59.
- Mullay 1990, p. 139.
- Edgar & Sinton 1990, p. 19.
- "Solway Junction Railway - Caledonian Railway Appendix 1915". Retrieved 25 August 2012.
- Edgar & Sinton 1990, p. 58.
- "The Solway Viaduct - Southern End". Retrieved 2 August 2012.
- Edgar & Sinton 1990, p. 43.
- Edgar & Sinton 1990, p. 21.
- 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 & Canal Historical Society. ISBN 978-0-901461-57-5. OCLC 612226077.
- Further reading
- 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.
- Jowett, Alan (2000). Jowett's Nationalised Railway Atlas (1st ed.). Penryn, Cornwall: Atlantic Transport Publishers. ISBN 978-0-906899-99-1. OCLC 228266687.
- Railways of the Solway Plain