| Furness Railway | |
|---|---|
Furness Railway locomotive No. 20 |
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| Dates of operation | 1846–1922 |
| Successor | London, Midland and Scottish Railway |
| Track gauge | 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) (standard gauge) |
The Furness Railway (Furness) was a railway company operating in the Furness area of Lancashire in North West England.
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The company was established on May 23, 1844 when the Furness Railway Act was passed by Parliament. The line, as originally laid, was intended principally for mineral traffic (slate and iron ore), and extended from Kirkby-in-Furness to Dalton-in-Furness, this was later extended to Rampside. A later line was built from Dalton to Barrow. That portion was opened on August 11, 1846. Passenger traffic began in December 1846.
Subsequent extensions took the railway to Ulverston in April 1854; the Whitehaven and Furness Junction Railway was taken over in 1865 thus extending the Furness Railway to Whitehaven, Carnforth (where the Furness linked with the London and North Western Railway and thence to Lancaster (see below), Coniston and Lakeside). The line was linked to Lancaster on August 27, 1857 by the Ulverston and Lancaster Railway, which was bought out by the Furness Railway in 1862.
The Furness Railway was connected to the Midland Railway by the Furness and Midland Joint Railway in 1867. Also in 1867 the Hincaster Branch from Arnside to the Lancaster and Carlisle Railway at Hincaster was opened.[1]
The original main line did not run through Barrow, though its headquarters and engineering works were adjacent to St. George's Square. Through trains had to run into the terminal station and then out again to continue their journey. The new Barrow Central railway station was not opened until 1882, when through working became possible.
The first locomotive superintendent, recruited from Bury, Curtis and Kennedy in 1846, was later to be knighted as Sir James Ramsden, a leading civic figure and first Mayor of Barrow. No locomotives were actually built in the local works itself: they were generally standard designs, purchased from other manufacturers. By 1921, fifteen different works were represented. However, W. F. Pettigrew, who had taken over operations in 1896, was to introduce some measure of standardisation.
There were also carriage and wagon-building shops, and repairs and maintenance was carried out on the equipment of Barrow Docks.
Details given are those shown for 1912:
Barrow-Fleetwood service - four paddle steamers; lake steamers - two on Coniston Water; six on Windermere; three Barrow steam tugs
| Ship | Launched | Tonnage (GRT) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lady Evelyn | 1900 | 295 (1900–04)[3] 342 (1904–40)[3] |
Lengthened in 1904, requisitioned by the Admiralty in 1914. Sold in 1920 to W H Tucker & Co Ltd. Sold in 1923 to P & A Campbell Ltd and renamed Brighton Belle. Hit a wreck in The Downs on 28 May 1940 and sank.[3] |
| Lady Margaret | 1895 | 369[4] | Bought in 1903 from P & A Campbell Ltd. Sold to the Admiralty in 1908 and renamed Liberty. Renamed Wanderer in 1913 and Roamer in 1919. Scrapped in 1923.[4] |
| Lady Moyra | 1905[5] | 562[5] | Built for the Barry Railway in 1905 as Gwalior. Bought in 1910 for £22,750 and renamed Lady Moyra. Requisitioned during the First World War and subsequently returned to the FR. Sold in 1933 to P & A Campbell Ltd and renamed Brighton Queen. Bombed on 1 June 1940 and sunk at Dunkirk.[5] |
| Philomel | 1889 | 564[6] | Bought from the General Steam Navigation Company for £5,250 in 1908. Scrapped at Preston in November 1913.[6] |
| Ship | Launched | Tonnage (GRT) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gondola | 1859 | In service until the First World War, then resumed service after the war until 1936. Converted to a houseboat in 1945. To the National Trust in the 1970s. Restored and returned to service in 1979. | |
| Lady of the Lake | 1859[7] | In service until 1908 when replaced by another boat of the same name.[7] | |
| Lady of the Lake | 1908[7] | In service until 1939.[8] |
| Ship | Launched | Tonnage (GRT) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Britannia | 1879[9] | Built for Colonel Ridehalgh at a cost of £12,000. Bought by FR in 1908 for £550. Scrapped in 1918.[9] | |
| Cygnet | 1879[9] | Capacity 326 passengers.[10] Scrapped in 1955.[9] | |
| Raven | 1871[11] | Cargo boat, withdrawn in 1927.[9] Preserved at the Windermere Steamboat Museum.[11] | |
| Rothay | 1865[9] | Built for Windermere United Steam Yacht Co in 1865. Bought by FR in 1869. Withdrawn in 1900 and scrapped in 1922.[9] | |
| Swift | 1869[9] | Capacity 781 passengers.[10] Scrapped in 1938.[9] | |
| Swift | 1890[9] | Built by TB Seath of Rutherglen, Glasgow 1900.
Capacity 780 passengers. Diesel engine fitted in 1958. Scrapped in 1998.[9] |
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| Teal | 1879[9] | Capacity 326 passengers.[10] Withdrawn in 1927.[9] | |
| Tern | 1891[9] | Built by Forrest & Sons, Essex 1891.
Capacity 633 passengers.[10] Still in service on Windermere.[9] |
| Ship | Launched | Tonnage (GRT) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arthur Gordon | 1854[12] | 136[12] | Sold in 1858 to James Fisher, Barrow in Furness. Sank on 6 March 1860 after colliding with ST Independence off the West Hoyle Bank.[12] |
| Cartmel | 1907[13] | 304[13] | Sold in 1934 to Leith Salvage Ltd and renamed Bullger. Struck a mine on 13 March 1941 and sank off in Druridge Bay.[13] |
| Furness | 1898[14] | 225[14] |
The Furness Railway operated as an independent company until December 1922, when it was merged as one of the constituent companies of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway following the Railways Act 1921.
Information contained in this article is extracted from Railway Year Book (Railway Publishing Company) for 1912
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