Cumberland and Westmorland Convalescent Institution railway station was a terminus off the short Blitterlees Branch off the Carlisle and Silloth Bay Railway, within Silloth itself.[6] The larger railway ran from Carlisle, England. The station does not appear on standard railway maps,[7] but it can be discerned with a magnifying glass on at least two published maps[8] and clearest of all on the 1914 25" OS map.[9]

Cumberland and Westmorland Convalescent Institution
The station with a typical train, around the beginning of the 20th century
General information
Location	Silloth, Allerdale England
Coordinates	54.8651°N 3.3967°W / 54.8651; -3.3967
Grid reference	NY104531
Platforms	1[1][2]
Other information
Status	Disused
History
Original company	Carlisle & Silloth Bay Railway & Dock Company
Pre-grouping	North British Railway
Post-grouping	London and North Eastern Railway
Key dates
1862	Opened
Unclear,[3] either about 1928[4] or after 1937[5]	Closed
Location
Cumberland and Westmorland Convalescent Institution Location in present-day Allerdale, Cumbria Show map of Allerdale Cumberland and Westmorland Convalescent Institution Location in present-day Cumbria, England Show map of Cumbria

v t e Carlisle and Silloth Bay Railway
Overview Locale Cumbria Dates of operation 1854–1964 Predecessor Carlisle & Silloth Bay Railway Successor NBR Technical 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 Carlisle West Coast Main Line southbound│northbound

The station's sole purpose was to serve the convalescent home of the same name. Although this was the home's formal title, it was widely referred to as "Silloth Convalescent Home", as was the station. The station never appeared in public timetables.[10]

"Invalid Trains" to the station were run on an ad hoc basis, though for many years they commonly ran on Thursdays around 15:00, preceded by a shunter or a guard on foot, as the line to the station was a siding without signals or fencing.[5][11]

The unstaffed station was minimalist, consisting of a single wooden platform next to the single track.

The home and station opened in 1862. One source states that the station is believed to have closed around 1928, whilst another, with local knowledge, refers to it as both mentioned in the 1937 Sectional Appendix and "open during the Second World War".[5] In 2015 the home was still operating.[12]

See also

• List of closed railway stations in Britain

References

Sources

Further reading

External links

• The station on a navigable Edwardian OS map National Library of Scotland]
• The station on the branch, with mileages Railway Codes
• The line with period photographs Holme St Cuthbert History Group
• The line and station Cumbrian Railways Association
• The station Rail Map Online
• The station and institution from the air Britain from the Air (free login needed to zoom)
• The home and station Rail UK