Bowness railway station

Bowness was a station which served Bowness-on-Solway, a village in Cumbria on the English side of the Solway Firth. The station opened on 8 August 1870 by the Caledonian Railway on a line constructed from the Caledonian Railway Main Line at Kirtlebridge across the Glasgow South Western Line, then forming the Solway Junction Railway over the Solway Viaduct to Brayton. The line opened in 1869 and freight had run since 13 September 1869.

Not to be confused with Bo'ness railway station.

Bowness railway station
The former Bowness railway station pictured in 1961
Location
PlaceBowness-on-Solway
AreaAllerdale
Coordinates54.949214°N 3.229683°W / 54.949214; -3.229683
Grid referenceNY213623
Operations
Original companySolway Junction Railway
Pre-groupingCaledonian Railway
Platforms2
History
8 August 1870[1]Opened
1 September 1921[2]Station closed to all traffic
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
Solway Junction Railway
Caledonian Railway Main Line
Kirtlebridge
 Annan Shawhill
Annan
Glasgow, Dumfries and Carlisle Railway
Solway Viaduct over Solway Firth 
Scotland
England
 Bowness
 Whitrigg
Carlisle and Silloth Bay Railway
Kirkbride Junction
 Sleightholme
 Abbey Junction
Carlisle and Silloth Bay Railway
 Bromfield
Maryport and Carlisle Railway
Brayton
Maryport and Carlisle Railway

History

Bowness was opened by the Solway Junction Railway, then part of the Caledonian Railway The passenger service was never well patronised and reduced to being just one carriage at the front of an occasional goods train and in September 1917 this was suspended,[3] but was reinstated in 1920.[4] Passenger services were finally withdrawn in 1921 and the line south of Annan over the Solway Viaduct was closed completely.

The station was only built as an afterthought following a petition from local people.[5] It had two platforms, a signal box, cattle pens and an overbridge at the northern end. Old photographs show a carriage body on one platform as a shelter, etc.[6] In 1910 a watertank was located next to the overbridge and the platform beside the signal box had no buildings, not even a passenger shelter.[7] In 1915 the signalbox was open from 4 am to 8:30 pm.

Disused, the station became the property of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway in 1923 until sold together with the viaduct.[8]

The Solway railway viaduct

Beyond Bowness station the railway ran along an embankment and then crossed the estuary of the Solway upon an iron girder viaduct, one mile 176 yards in length.[9] The local people's frustration at the delay in reopening the Solway Viaduct after it was damaged in 1881 is recorded in the newspapers of the day.[7]

Preceding station Historical railways Following station
Annan Shawhill   Caledonian Railway
Solway Junction Railway
   Whitrigg

The site today

The station house is now a private dwelling.[4]

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References
Notes
  1. Quick 2009, p. 95.
  2. Edgar & Sinton 1990, p. 59.
  3. Edgar & Sinton 1990, p. 58.
  4. "The Solway Viaduct - Southern End". Retrieved 2 August 2012.
  5. Mullay 1990, p. 137.
  6. "Bowness-on-Solway Station". Cumbria Railways. Retrieved 2 August 2012.
  7. Mullay 1990, p. 139.
  8. Edgar & Sinton 1990, p. 57.
  9. "Bowness-on-Solway". Retrieved 2 August 2012.
Sources
  • Edgar, Stuart & Sinton, John M. (1990). The Solway Junction Railway. Oxford: Oakwood Press. ISBN 978-0853613954.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Mullay, A. J. (1990). Rails across the border: the story of Anglo-Scottish Railways. Wellingborough: Patrick Stephens Limited. ISBN 1-85260-186-8.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • 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.
Further reading
  • 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.
  • Jowett, Alan (2000). Jowett's Nationalised Railway Atlas (1st ed.). Penryn, Cornwall: Atlantic Transport Publishers. ISBN 978-0-906899-99-1. OCLC 228266687.
  • RAILSCOT on Solway Junction Railway
  • Railways of the Solway Plain
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