Cleator Moor, Parton, Rowrah & Whitehaven RJD 075

The Rowrah and Kelton Fell Railway was a

standard gauge A standard-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge of . The standard gauge is also called Stephenson gauge (after George Stephenson), International gauge, UIC gauge, uniform gauge, normal gauge and European gauge in Europe, and SGR in Ea ...

mineral railway An industrial railway is a type of railway (usually private) that is not available for public transportation and is used exclusively to serve a particular industrial, logistics, or military site. In regions of the world influenced by British ra ...

Cumberland Cumberland ( ) is a historic county in the far North West England. It covers part of the Lake District as well as the north Pennines and Solway Firth coast. Cumberland had an administrative function from the 12th century until 1974. From 19 ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, which was operated by William Baird and Company of

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

. It opened in 1877 and closed in 1926.

Route

The line ran south from

Rowrah Rowrah is a village in Cumbria, England, and spans the civil parishes of Arlecdon and Frizington and Lamplugh. The majority of Rowrah is within Arlecdon and Frizington. The parish boundaries are formed from the Windergill Beck and Colliergate B ...

to Sheriff Gate where it branched into three. One line ran south-west to Salter Hall Quarry; a second ran south to Stockhow; a third ran east to Kirkland, for Bankstead mine. The Kirkland branch continued east to Kelton Fell and Knockmurton mines. There were junctions with both the

Whitehaven, Cleator and Egremont Railway The Whitehaven, Cleator and Egremont Railway was an English railway company which built and operated a standard gauge railway in Cumberland, England intended to open up the hematite orefield to the south-east of Whitehaven. It opened for go ...

and the

Cleator and Workington Junction Railway The Cleator & Workington Junction Railway (C&WJR) was located in West Cumberland in Northern England, serving the towns of Cleator Moor and Workington and intermediate villages. It was mainly used for coal, limestone and iron ore traffic for the ...

near

Locomotives

Closure

Knockmurton mine closed about 1920; Bankstead mine closed 1921; Salter Hall quarry and the railway closed 1926. The track was lifted in 1934.

References

Sources

External links

Route in Google Maps
Rail transport in Cumbria History of Cumbria Railway lines opened in 1877 1877 establishments in England {{England-rail-transport-stub