Glasson railway station was a

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

in Glasson,

Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in North West England, bordering Scotland. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local government, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. Cumb ...

, England. It was the last station before the terminus on the

Port Carlisle Railway There were two interlinked railways on the south shore of the Solway Firth. The Port Carlisle Dock and Railway Company was opened in 1854, following the route of a former canal, intended to connect Port Carlisle, to which sea-going ships could ...

branch, serving the small village of that name. Nothing now remains of the station.

History

A port was built in 1819 at

Port Carlisle Port Carlisle is a coastal village in Allerdale, Cumbria, England. It is in the civil parish of Bowness-on-Solway. Its original name was Fisher's Cross, but when it became the terminus of the Carlisle Canal it was renamed Port Carlisle. During ...

and in 1821, the eleven and a half mile long Carlisle Navigation Canal was built to take goods to

Carlisle Carlisle ( , ; from xcb, Caer Luel) is a city that lies within the Northern England, Northern English county of Cumbria, south of the Anglo-Scottish border, Scottish border at the confluence of the rivers River Eden, Cumbria, Eden, River C ...

. The canal was closed in 1853 and the canal basin at Carlisle and parts of the canal were filled in by the Port Carlisle Railway Company who constructed a railway that started passenger services in 1854, discontinuing them two years later when the Carlisle & Silloth Bay Railway & Dock Company's (C&SBRDC) new railway to

Silloth Silloth (sometimes known as Silloth-on-Solway) is a port town and civil parish in the Allerdale borough of Cumbria, England. Historically in the county of Cumberland, the town is an example of a Victorian seaside resort in the North of Engl ...

opened, utilising the Port Carlisle Branch as far as Drumburgh. A brief resurgence of business at Port Carisle had taken place upon the opening of the railway, taken away however by the new port at

and the transfer of the steamer service to

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

To reduce costs a horse-drawn service was provided in 1856 between

Drumburgh Drumburgh ( ) is a small settlement in Cumbria, England. It is northwest of the city of Carlisle and is on the course of Hadrian's Wall, near to Burgh by Sands. The village is sited on a gentle hill with a good view in all directions over the ...

, Glasson, and

for a number of years. The horse-drawn train did not always stop and the passengers were sometimes obliged to carefully jump off; not so difficult as its sounds for 3rd Class passengers as they sat outside on benches. The last horse-drawn train ran on Saturday, 4 April 1914 and the first steam-powered train ran on 6 April 1914. In an attempt to stave off closure one of the first steam railmotors was built and this service to Port Carlisle railway station via Glasson from

lasted until the branch was closed in 1932.Port Carlisle Railway
Retrieved : 1 August 2012 Freight services had been withdrawn in 1899. The construction of the Solway railway viaduct of the

Solway Junction Railway The Solway Junction Railway was built by an independent railway company to shorten the route from ironstone mines in Cumberland to ironworks in Lanarkshire and Ayrshire. It opened in 1869, and it involved a viaduct long crossing the Solway Fi ...

caused

harbour to silt up and lose trade; this contributed to the abandonment of the Port Carlisle to Carlisle railway via Glasson. The Port Carlisle Railway Company had agreed to supply a locomotive if the C&SBRDC provided rolling stock. The

North British Railway The North British Railway was a British railway company, based in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was established in 1844, with the intention of linking with English railways at Berwick. The line opened in 1846, and from the outset the company followe ...

leased the line from 1862, it was absorbed by them in 1880, and then taken over by the

London and North Eastern Railway The London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) was the second largest (after LMS) of the " Big Four" railway companies created by the Railways Act 1921 in Britain. It operated from 1 January 1923 until nationalisation on 1 January 1948. At th ...

in 1923.Cumbria Railway
Retrieved : 1 August 2012

Infrastructure

The station sat close to the village, reached by an entrance off one side of the overbridge; it had a single short platform and a small shelter. No sidings were present. At Canal Junction the Port Carlisle line made an end on junction with the earlier goods branch from London Road and it was this section on to

(pronounced drum-bruff) that was taken over by the Carlisle & Silloth Bay Railway & Dock Company. Immediately west of Drumburgh station the line branched off from the line to Silloth, passing under a minor road to Port Carlisle. The branch ran close to the south bank of the

Solway Firth The Solway Firth ( gd, Tràchd Romhra) is a firth that forms part of the border between England and Scotland, between Cumbria (including the Solway Plain) and Dumfries and Galloway. It stretches from St Bees Head, just south of Whitehaven in ...

and the course of Hadrians Wall at Glasson and elsewhere, heading over low ground to the terminus of the line at Port Carlisle. The old overbridge, built in 1819–23, in Glasson (NY254606) is a listed structure. It was originally built as a bridge over canal. It has a cast-iron parapet. The Plinth with rounded corners was originally the supporting structure for the canal drawbridge, increased in height to convert it to a railway bridge. An old canal lock keepers cottage also survives.

Micro-history

Port Carlisle was one and a quarter miles away by train and Drumburgh was also one and a quarter miles away. The journey time was around four minutes, although Glasson was a request stop. Four horse-drawn 'Dandy cars' built by the North British Railway. The Dandy car was originally preserved at Carlisle, before being moved to the National Railway Museum at York. The

line became a day tourist attraction to Carlisle Victorians.Visit Cumbria
Retrieved : 1 August 2012 The 'Flower of Yarrow' Sentinel Railcar used on the line was driven by James Grey with T. Jackson as the fireman worked on the Port Carlisle Railway in 1932 before its final closure.

References

;Notes ;Sources * * *

History

Infrastructure

Micro-history

References

External links