Lakeside and Haverthwaite Railway

The Lakeside and Haverthwaite Railway (L&HR) is a 3.2-mile-long (5.1 km) heritage railway in Cumbria, England.

Lakeside and Haverthwaite Railway
Locale	Cumbria, England
Terminus	Lakeside
Commercial operations
Name	Ulverston to Lakeside Line
Built by	Furness Railway
Original gauge	4 ft 8 ^1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Preserved operations
Operated by	Lakeside and Haverthwaite Railway
Stations	3
Length	3.2 mi (5.1 km)
Preserved gauge	4 ft 8 ^1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Commercial history
Opened	1 June 1869
Closed	6 September 1965
Preservation history
Opened	2 May 1973
Headquarters	Haverthwaite

Lakeside and Haverthwaite Railway
Lakeside Windermere Newby Bridge River Leven Haverthwaite Greenodd Ulverston Furness Line

Location

The L&HR runs from Haverthwaite at the southern end of the line via Newby Bridge to Lakeside at the southern end of Windermere. Some services are timed to connect with sailings of the diesel excursion vessels or steam vessels on Windermere, sailing from Lakeside to Bowness and Ambleside.

Furness Railway operation of the branch line

The railway is a former branch line of the Furness Railway (FR) and was opened on 1 June 1869.[1] The line was served by local passenger trains which started their journey at Ulverston on the FR's mainline from Carnforth to Barrow-in-Furness. The FR branch trains travelled east to the triangular junction at Plumpton and then turned north via Greenodd and on to stations at Haverthwaite, Newby Bridge halt and Lakeside. The FR's weekdays passenger service in July 1922 comprised eight trains in each direction. There were advertised train-to-boat connections that were established in 1869. During the summer season, excursion trains from Lancashire and elsewhere used the east-to-north side of Plumpton Junction to reach Lakeside, where their passengers joined the boat sailings on the lake.

Closure of the branch and re-opening by L&HR

British Railways closed the line to passengers on 6 September 1965, and to all traffic two years later.[2]

A group of enthusiasts chaired by Dr Peter Beet formed the Lakeside Railway Estates Company, with the idea of preserving both the line and the former LMS 10A locomotive shed at Carnforth, to provide a complete steam operating system. However, although backed by then transport minister Barbara Castle, the need to build a number of motorway bridges and re-routing of the A590 road from Haverthwaite via Greenodd to Plumpton Junction, meant that the complete vision was unsuccessful. Beet acquired 10A in partnership with Sir William McAlpine, 6th Baronet, which became the visitor attraction Steamtown from 1967. The venture folded as a public access visitor attraction in 1997, but the preserved site was taken over by businessman David Smith to become the base for his West Coast Railway Company.[3]

Resultantly, Austin Maher became chairman of the LREC, which then re-opened the truncated 3.5-mile (5.6 km) L&HR as a heritage railway on 2 May 1973.[4] Maher and fellow L&HR director Jim Morris each bought one LMS 2-6-4T Class 4MT, Nos. 42073 (Maher) and 42085 (Morris), which eventually restored as L&HR Nos. 3 and 4 became the lines core steam power units.

In fiction

In Christopher Awdry's book "Thomas & Victoria", the Lakeside & Haverthwaite Railway is featured as part of the railway route where Victoria worked before going to Sodor. In the Thomas the Tank Engine TV series, the railway was filmed for a series of short educational segments entitled "Down at the Station."

In the adaptation of Agatha Christie's novel, Dumb Witness, by ITV for its television series, Agatha Christie's Poirot, the opening scene was filmed at the Lakeside & Haverthwaite Railway, at the Lakeside terminus.

The railway and Haverthwaite station are featured in the video to Never Went to Church by alternative hip hop band The Streets.[5]

Locomotives

Steam

Number	Built	Builder	Type	Formerly	Notes
Operational
1245	1911	Barclay	0-6-0T	National Coal Board	often known as Thomas by staff; painted in NCB dark blue
2333 David	1953	Barclay	0-4-0ST	Millom Ironworks	boiler ticker expires in 2029; painted in maroon lined out in black and yellow
2682 Princess	1942	Bagnall	0-6-0ST	Preston Docks	boiler ticket expires in 2019; painted in dark blue lined out in black and red
2996	1951	Bagnall	0-6-0ST "Victor"	Port Talbot Steelworks	boiler ticket expires in 2024; painted in maroon lined out in black and yellow
3794 Repulse	1950	Hunslet	0-6-0ST WD Austerity Tank	War Department	boiler ticket expires in 2026; painted in lined black
42073	1950	LMS	2-6-4T Class 4MT		returned to service in 2014; painted BR black with late crest
Inactive
42085	1951	LMS	2-6-4T Class 4MT		undergoing overhaul; painted BR black with early emblem
46441	1951	LMS	2-6-0 Class 2MT		awaiting overhaul; painted BR maroon with late crest[6]

Number	Built	Builder	Type	Formerly	Notes
Formerly based at Haverthwaite
5	1929	Hudswell Clarke	0-6-0ST works Nº 1631		acquired November 1970
6	1919	Hudswell Clarke	0-6-0ST works Nº 1366	Renishaw Ironworks 6	acquired November 1970
1550 Sir James	1917	Barclay	0-4-0F		on static display at HM Factory, Gretna
1900	1936	Peckett	0-4-0T		operated during the summer of 1983
3794 Cumbria	1953	Hunslet	0-6-0ST Austerity Tank		operational at the Ribble Steam Railway in Preston; boiler ticket expires in May 2025; painted in FR red
44806 Magpie	1944	Derby Works	4-6-0 Stanier Class 5	British Railways	acquired November 1970; moved to Steamport Southport; now at North Yorkshire Moors Railway with plans to return to the mainline

Diesel

Number	Built	Builder	Type	Formerly	Notes
8	1959	British Rail	0-6-0DM Class 03	British Rail D2117	operational
20	1952	Jones	0-4-0 KL100 crane		operational
AD601	1945	British Rail	0-6-0DE Class 11	British Rail	operational; ex-Industrial lookalike
D2072	1959	British Rail	0-6-0DM Class 03	British Rail TOPS 03 072	operational;
D5301	1958	Birmingham	Bo-Bo Class 26	British Rail	operational
20 214	1967	English Electric	Bo-Bo Class 20	British Rail	operational
52071+52077	1961	Birmingham/Drewry	Class 110 DMU	British Rail	operational
Rachel	1924	Motor Rail & Tram Car Co.	0-4-0	Burneside Paper Mills Tramway	on display, undergoing restoration

Rolling stock

• 5 BR Mk. 1 Tourist Standard Open coaches
• 2 BR Mk. 1 Second Corridor coaches
• 2 BR Mk. 1 Brake Second Corridor coaches
• 1 BR Mk. 1 Brake Standard Open coach
• Selection of assorted goods vehicles

References

Notes

1. Butt 1995, p. 109
2. Butt 1995, p. 115
3. "Obituray - Dr Peter Beet". The Guardian. 7 December 2005. Retrieved 2 January 2011.
4. Butt 1995, p. 252
5. Video on YouTube
6. https://ribblesteam.org.uk/exhibits/steam/br-ivatt-46441-1950/

Bibliography

• 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.

External links

• Official website
• Photos of the entire railway