The trackbed of Lord Carlisle's Railway east of Halton-Lea-Gate
Introduction
The photograph on this page of The trackbed of Lord Carlisle's Railway east of Halton-Lea-Gate by Mike Quinn as part of the Geograph project.
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The trackbed of Lord Carlisle's Railway east of Halton-Lea-Gate
Image: © Mike Quinn Taken: 27 Feb 2013
The (former) railway, part of which was in use in the 18th C, was built by Lord Carlisle without an Act of Parliament as it was built on his own land. It carried coal from the various collieries along the line of what is now the A689 to Brampton. By the mid-19th C, the line connected the Haltwhistle to Alston line (at Lambley) with Brampton on the Newcastle to Carlisle line. It was one of the first non-Stephenson railways to convert and adopt the standard gauge of 4’8½" and in 1836 the ‘new railway’ opened officially under steam traction with The Rocket http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/victorians/launch_ani_rocket.shtml in use from the following year. For more info see http://www.cumbria-railways.co.uk/brampton_railway.html. The line crossed the A689, with a level crossing, at a very acute angle - see the satellite image http://wtp2.appspot.com/wheresthepath.htm?lat=54.919823369785156&lon=-2.5388234853744507&gz=18&oz=8>=1. The plume of smoke in the distance (left) is from controlled heather burning on Plenmeller Common.
Images are licensed for reuse under creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0
Image Location
Latitude
54.920657
Longitude
-2.532293