St Thomas Cross Platform railway station

St Thomas Cross Platform was a railway station used by workmen's trains on the Moor Row to Sellafield line on what is now the southeastern, Cringlethwaite, edge of Egremont, Cumbria, England.

St Thomas Cross Platform
Location
PlaceCringlethwaite, Egremont, Cumbria
AreaCopeland
Coordinates54.4765°N 3.5224°W / 54.4765; -3.5224
Grid referenceNY014100
Operations
Original companyLNWR & FR Joint Railway
Post-groupingLondon Midland and Scottish Railway
PlatformsUnknown
History
15 January 1912[1]opened for workmen's services
by 1933Closed[2][3]
Disused railway stations in the United Kingdom
Closed railway stations in Britain
A B C D–F G H–J K–L M–O P–R S T–V W–Z

History and location

The line on which the halt was built was one of the fruits of the rapid industrialisation of West Cumberland in the second half of the nineteenth century. Tracks were laid southwards from Whitehaven and Moor Row as far as Egremont by the Whitehaven, Cleator and Egremont Railway, opening to passengers on 1 July 1857. By the 1860s the company sought to extend southwards from Egremont to meet the coastal line at Sellafield, aiming for Millom, Barrow-in-Furness and beyond. The Furness opposed this, but the two companies came to an accommodation and built the Egremont to Sellafield extension as a joint line.

St Thomas Cross Platform was a Twentieth Century addition to the line.[4] A service from Moor Row to Beckermet Mines, calling at Woodend, Egremont and St Thomas Cross was started on 15 January 1912, though it is possible that other workmen's services called before then, as Florence Mine was nearby.

The use of the term "Platform" usually signified that a station was an unstaffed halt. The halt must have been closed by 1933, when the structure was demolished.[1] It was used by workers at the nearby Florence mine,[2] which went on to be the last operating iron ore mine, as opposed to quarry, in Western Europe. It closed in 2008.

The halt does not appear on the relevant 1928 Railway Clearing House junction diagram or in Jowett.[5]

The station is not marked on contemporary OS maps up to 6" to the Mile, but an unlabelled building with a footpath to the road is shown in the right place on the Cumberland 1:2,500 scale OS map linked below via Old OS Maps.

Afterlife

By 2013 the trackbed through the halt was clearly visible on satellite images, but the site itself appeared to be privately occupied.

Preceding station   Disused railways   Following station
Egremont (Cumbria)
Line and station closed		   London Midland and Scottish Railway
LNWR & FR Joint Railway		   Beckermet Mines
Line and station closed
    Beckermet
Line and station closed

See also

References
  1. Robinson 1989, p. 39.
  2. Croughton, Kidner & Young 1982, p. 122.
  3. Butt 1995, p. xxx.
  4. Suggitt 2008, p. 55.
  5. Jowett 1989, Map 36.

Sources
  • Butt, R. V. J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations: details every public and private passenger station, halt, platform and stopping place, past and present (1st ed.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 978-1-85260-508-7. OCLC 60251199.
  • Croughton, Godfrey; Kidner, R. W.; Young, Alan (1982). Private and Untimetabled Railway Stations, Halts and Stopping Places. The Oakwood Press. ISBN 978-0-85361-281-0. OCLC 10507501.
  • 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.
  • Robinson, Peter W. (February 1989). Peascod, Michael (ed.). "Workmen's Trains to Beckermet Mines". Cumbrian Railways. Pinner: Cumbrian Railways Association. 4 (3). ISSN 1466-6812.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Suggitt, Gordon (2008). Lost Railways of Cumbria (Railway Series). Newbury: Countryside Books. ISBN 978-1-84674-107-4.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)

Further reading
  • Anderson, Paul (April 2002). Hawkins, Chris (ed.). "Dog in the Manger? The Track of the Ironmasters". British Railways Illustrated. Clophill: Irwell Press Ltd. 11 (7).CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Bradshaw (1986) [1922]. Bradshaw's July 1922 Railway Guide (reprint). Guild Publishing London.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • British Railways Pre-Grouping Atlas And Gazetteer. Shepperton: Ian Allan Publishing. 1997 [1958]. ISBN 0-7110-0320-3.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Atterbury, Paul (2009). Along Lost Lines. Newton Abbot: David & Charles. ISBN 0-7153-2706-2.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Bairstow, Martin (1995). Railways In The Lake District. Martin Bairstow. ISBN 1-871944-11-2.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Bowtell, Harold D. (1989). Rails through Lakeland: An Illustrated Journey of the Workington-Cockermouth-Keswick-Penrith Railway 1847-1972. Wyre, Lancashire: Silverling Publishing Ltd. ISBN 0-947971-26-2.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • 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.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Quayle, Howard (2007). Whitehaven: The Railways and Waggonways of a Unique Cumberland Port. Pinner: Cumbrian Railways Association. ISBN 978-0-9540232-5-6.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Smith, Paul; Turner, Keith (2012). Railway Atlas Then and Now. Ian Allan Publishing. ISBN 978 0 7110 3695 6.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Joy, David (1983). Lake Counties (Regional History of the Railways of Great Britain). Newton Abbot: David & Charles. ISBN 094653702X.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Marshall, John (1981). Forgotten Railways: North West England. Newton Abbot: David & Charles. ISBN 0 7153 8003 6.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Western, Robert (2001). The Cockermouth, Keswick and Penrith Railway OL113. Usk: Oakwood Press. ISBN 0-85361-564-0.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
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