The Age of Steam
Originally just a single platform, Carnforth Railway Station was opened in 1846 by the Lancaster and Carlisle Railway Company. In 1857, it became a junction and a small engine shed was built.
Ten years later, the recent connection of the Furness and Midland Railway lines enabled a small station to be built. The station was only open for about a year, when a replacement was built, which remained open until 1st August, 1880. Trains were then able to run into a new Midland Railway bay and Carnforth was now under the control of three railway companies - the Furness Railway, the Midland Railway and London and North Western Railway.
In 1937, the London Midland and Scottish Railway company announced a government-funded improvement scheme for Carnforth, in excess of £53,000. The station was completely rebuilt and an 890 ft long platform was added for the Furness trains. When completed, the station had the longest unsupported single piece concrete roof in Britain, and perhaps, even the world.
Then in the 1960s, great changes were made to steam railways. Thirteen depots were closed in the north-west of England during the first six months of 1968, leaving just three - one of them was Carnforth. The station became the northernmost shed in England, although very few steam trains now ventured north.
As with the two other depots, Carnforth was to receive its due compliment of locomotives to be used on specials - many are now preserved. In March 1968, the London-Midland region announced that only twenty-five passenger trains were to be operated by steam. Carnforth was to be mostly concerned with freight services but was nevertheless regenerated in the
preservation era and once again, the shed saw many black Class 5's and other visiting locomotives within its boundaries.
The last day of steam was Sunday 11th August, 1968. It hit national headlines and special attention was given to its participants. Lancashire hosted the last train and crowds turned out to see its swansong journey. The depots were left in silence, until the locomotives were removed - some for preservation, most for the scrapyard. The days of steam were at an end, as well as the duties of thousands of enginemen. More than 16,000 locomotives were disposed of and most depots were closed and built over.
It was the end of an era that now only exists in memory.
In 2000, Alison Evans, who was then a Post Graduate student at the University of Plymouth, approached the Friends of Carnforth Station to ask if she could produce a website about Carnforth Station , as one her modules towards an MA in Publishing.
This website is the website that she produced.
The original website was created in 2000., and apart from one or two factual corrections (different telephone numbers / contact addreses etc.) The website is as created.
Since then the Station rejuvenation has been completed, and the station is now open as a fully fuctional railway station, and a visitor center. For the latest information about the station, please visit
http://www.carnforth-station.co.uk
