Keekle Viaduct
Keekle Viaduct | |
|---|---|
 Keekle Viaduct in 2005 | |
| Coordinates | 54°31′57.0″N 3°32′22″W / 54.532500°N 3.53944°W |
| Carries | Ex-Cleator and Workington Junction Railway |
| Crosses | River Keekle |
| Locale | Keekle Terrace, Cumbria, England |
| Characteristics | |
| Design | 7 stone arches[1][2] |
| Width | Twin Standard Gauge Rail |
| History | |
| Opened | 1 October 1879[3] |
| Closed | 16 September 1963[4] |
| Location | |
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Keekle Viaduct is a former railway viaduct near Keekle, Cumbria, England.
Cleator & Workington Junction Rly | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Context
[edit]The viaduct is a substantial structure which carried the double-track C&WJR's Cleator Moor West to Siddick Junction via Workington Central main line over the River Keekle.[5]
It is situated between the former stations of Cleator Moor West and Keekle Colliers' Platform.
Opened in 1879, it consists of seven equal stone arches across the river.[6][7]
Timetabled passenger services over the viaduct ended on 13 April 1931. Goods and mineral trains, with very occasional passenger excursions and diversions continued to use the line until it closed completely on 16 September 1963.
The tracks were subsequently lifted. The structure was offered for sale for £1 in 1992, but there was no initial response, as any purchaser would have to maintain and repair it, rather than demolish it and recover the stone.[8]
Modern Times
[edit]In 2013 satellite imagery showed that the viaduct still stood.
References
[edit]- ^ Th viaduct in use, via Cumbrian Railways Association
- ^ Joy 1973, p. 63.
- ^ Marshall 1981, p. 164.
- ^ McGowan Gradon 2004, p. 59.
- ^ McGowan Gradon 2004, pp. 6, 11 & 40.
- ^ Anderson 2002, p. 312.
- ^ Marshall 1981, Opposite p.143.
- ^ News 1992, p. 254.
Sources
[edit]- Anderson, Paul (April 2002). Hawkins, Chris (ed.). "Dog in the Manger? The Track of the Ironmasters". British Railways Illustrated. 11 (7). Clophill: Irwell Press Ltd.
- Joy, David (1973). Railways of the Lake Counties. Clapham, via Lancaster: Dalesman Publishing. ISBN 0-85206-200-1.
- McGowan Gradon, W. (2004) [1952]. The Track of the Ironmasters: A History of the Cleator and Workington Junction Railway. Grange-over-Sands: Cumbrian Railways Association. ISBN 0-9540232-2-6.
- Marshall, John (1981). Forgotten Railways: North West England. Newton Abbot: David & Charles. ISBN 0-7153-8003-6.
- News, Whitehaven (August 1992). Peascod, Michael (ed.). "Not even for £1". Cumbrian Railways. 4 (16). Pinner: Cumbrian Railways Association. ISSN 1466-6812.
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External links
[edit]- The line in green (search for Keekle) via Rail Map Online
- The viaduct on overlain OS maps surveyed from 1898, via National Library of Scotland
- The railways of Cumbria, via Cumbrian Railways Association
- Photos of Cumbrian railways, via Cumbrian Railways Association
- The railways of Cumbria, via Railways_of_Cumbria
- Cumbrian Industrial History, via Cumbria Industrial History Society
- Furness Railtour using many West Cumberland lines 5 September 1954, via sixbellsjunction
- A video tour-de-force of the region's closed lines, via cumbriafilmarchive
- The viaduct and Keekle Terrace, via flickr
- [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M_1fsDwh4yk