Askam railway station

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Askam

The north-bound platform

Location

Place

Askam-in-Furness

Local authority

Barrow-in-Furness

Operations

Station code

ASK

Managed by

Northern Rail

Platforms in use

Live departures and station information from National Rail

Annual Rail Passenger Usage

2004/05 *

46,956

National Rail - UK railway stations

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

* Annual passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Askam from Office of Rail Regulation statistics.

UK Railways Portal

Askam Railway Station is a train station serving the villages of Askam-in-Furness and Ireleth in Cumbria, England. It is a stop on the scenic Cumbrian Coast Line. Some through trains to the Furness Line stop here. It is operated by Northern Rail who provide all passenger train services. Originally, the station was built here to transport the iron ore being mined in Askam out of the village.

1 History
- 1.1 The line
- 1.2 The station
2 Gallery
3 Sources
4 External links

[edit] History

[edit] The line

The railway along the Cumbrian coast was completed over many years by numerous small firms, who often would refuse to work together. However, eventually 'Grouping' forced the companies to work together on the railway, instead of constantly competing. Further problems were encountered when the people building the railway ran out of money, and so the proposed Duddon Viaduct, from Askam to Millom, was abandoned. Instead, a different route, going by way of Foxfield, was planned. This saved £37,000.^[1]

The plans were drawn up in 1843, and shortly afterwards, sections of the Furness Railway were built. The original section through Askam, coming from Millwood Junction, and going on to Kirby Slate Warf was part of the original railway line. This was officially opened on June 3, 1846. A passenger service then began operating on August 24 of that same year.^[2]

[edit] The station

Originally, there was a simple stop in Askam. This was abolished in 1859; the later growth of Askam meant that it soon deserved a full sized station. The station that was built was actually originally designed for Millom, by Paley and Austin. The chalet-style station was opened on April 1, 1868.^[3]

Along with the station, sliding sheds were built next to the station. These were to store a banking locomotive, to aid trains with more than 16 wagons with the difficult climb to Lindal summit.^[2]

As well as carrying ore, there were dozens of smaller lines to practically every mine, furnace and factory in the area. For example, the Askam brick works had a 2ft gauge line to transport clay. This line was operational until 1968.^[4]