Silloth Battery Extension railway station

Silloth Battery Extension
Location
Place	Silloth
Area	Allerdale
Coordinates	54°51′27″N 3°24′05″W / 54.8576°N 3.4013°WCoordinates: 54°51′27″N 3°24′05″W / 54.8576°N 3.4013°W
Grid reference	NY101523
Operations
Original company	Carlisle & Silloth Bay Railway & Dock Company
Pre-grouping	North British Railway
Post-grouping	London and North Eastern Railway
Platforms	1[1]
History
1886	Opened
About 1928	Closed[2]
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
UK Railways portal

Carlisle and Silloth Bay Railway
Locale Cumbria Dates of operation 1854 – 1964 Predecessor Carlisle & Silloth Bay Railway Successor NBR Track gauge 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 ^1⁄2 in)
Legend
Silloth Battery Extension Silloth Convalescent Home Silloth Docks and Pier Silloth Causewayhead Blackdyke Halt Abbey Town Solway Junction Railway southbound Abbey Junction Sleightholme Solway Junction Railway northbound Kirkbride New Dykes Brow Port Carlisle Glasson Drumburgh Burgh-by-Sands Kirkandrews Waverley Line northbound Port Carlisle Junction Carlisle Canal West Coast Main Line northbound Carlisle Citadel West Coast Main Line southbound

Silloth Battery Extension railway station was the terminus of the Blitterlees Branch, which turned southwards off the Carlisle and Silloth Bay Railway's Silloth Branch a short distance east of Silloth station.^[3] The larger railway ran from Carlisle, England. The Bitterlees Branch does not appear on standard railway maps,^[4] but it is clear on OS maps, though the station is not identifiable as such.^[5]

The station's sole purpose was to serve the naval gun testing battery, built by Armstrong Whitworth.^[6] Most trains to the site consisted of military supplies, the passenger station was built to carry battery personnel and visitors, including royalty on at least one occasion. In 1895 the Shalzada of Afghanistan and Suite observed naval firing, but was said to be especially impressed with the Maxim machine gun.^[7][3]

Trains to the station were run on an ad hoc basis, the station never appeared on public timetables.

The station opened in 1886 and closed in 1928 when the battery closed, its operations being moved south to Eskmeals, near Drigg.

See also

• List of closed railway stations in Britain

References

1. The station, via Cumbrian Railways Association
2. Quick 2009, p. 353.
3. Suggitt 2008, p. 103.
4. Jowett 2000, Map 36.
5. Puxley 2009, p. 32.
6. Images of the battery, plus local talk, via BBC and others
7. Thomlinson 1983, p. 12.

Sources

• 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 1-8526-0086-1. OCLC 22311137.
• Puxley, Chris (2009). The Port of Silloth 1858 - 2009: A Pictorial History Through 150 Years of a Solway Port. Portishead, Bristol: Bernard McCall. ISBN 978-1-902953-42-7.
• Quick, Michael (2009) [2001]. Railway passenger stations in Great Britain: a chronology (4th ed.). Oxford: Railway and Canal Historical Society. ISBN 978-0-901461-57-5. OCLC 612226077.
• Robinson, Peter W. (2002). Cumbria's Lost Railways. Stenlake Publishing. ISBN 1 84033 205 0.
• Suggitt, Gordon (2008). Lost Railways of Cumbria (Railway Series). Newbury: Countryside Books. ISBN 978-1-84674-107-4.
• Thomlinson, G. (May 1983). Peascod, Michael, ed. "Rails on the Solway". Cumbrian Railways. Pinner: Cumbrian Railways Association. 2 (14). ISSN 1466-6812.

Further reading

• Bradshaw (1986) [1922]. Bradshaw's July 1922 Railway Guide (reprint). Guild Publishing London.
• Edgar, Stuart; Sinton, John H. (1990). The Solway Junction Railway. Catrine, Ayrshire: The Oakwood Press. ISBN 978-0853613954. Locomotion Papers LP176.
• Marsh, John; Garbutt, John (1999). Cumbrian Railways. Alan Sutton Publishing Ltd. ISBN 0750920432.
• Mullay, Alexander J. (2006). Rails Across the Border. Tempus. ISBN 075243666X.
• Robinson, Peter W. (August 1995). Peascod, Michael, ed. "Maryport & Carlisle 150". Cumbrian Railways. Pinner: Cumbrian Railways Association. 5 (12). ISSN 1466-6812.
• Robinson, Peter W. (1985). Railways of Cumbria. Clapham, via Lancaster: Dalesman Books. ISBN 0 85206 815 8.
• Webb, David R. (September 1964). Cooke, B.W.C., ed. "Between the Solway and Sellafield: Part One". The Railway Magazine. London: Tothill Press Limited. 110 (761).
• White, Stephen (1984). Solway Steam: The Story of the Sillath and Port Carlisle Railways, 1854-1964. Carlisle: Carel Press Limited. ISBN 0950909610.

External links

• The station on a navigable Edwardian OS map, via National Library of Scotland
• The station on the branch, with mileages, via Railway Codes
• The line with period photographs, via Holme St Cuthbert History Group
• The line and station, via Cumbrian Railways Association
• The convalescent home, via Its own website
• The station via Rail Map Online

Preceding station	Disused railways			Following station
Black Dyke Halt Line and station closed		North British Railway Carlisle and Silloth Bay Railway		Terminus