The section of railway between Whitehaven Bransty and Harrington was largely constructed at the foot of active sea cliffs - and as such has been under attack by the sea ever since. Itis continued operation is a marked tribute to the work of the railway's engineers.

If you can supply any information about breaches of this section of railway, please go to the comment section on the home page.

All photos taken by or from the collection of Richard L Pattinson, taken in the 1930s.

One of the major engineering features of the West Coast Main Line is Carlisle Bridge at Lancaster, first contructed in the mid-1840s to the design of Joseph Locke to carry the Lancaster and Carlisle Railway at a high level over the River Lune. In total the bridge (or viadcut) consists of 11 spans, starting at teh south end with seven masonry arches each of 32ft 9in span followed by three spans over the river supported on masonry pillars, each of these spans being about 130 feet each. To the north is a further masonry span over the former Midland line to Morecambe. The river spans were originally constructed in laminated timber, these being replaced about 1866 with wrought iron girders. The current version consists of steel girders which were erected in a major operation during 1963-4. These pictures concentrate on this latter period. If you can provide any information or further photographs about this operation please email via the comments panel on the right hand side of the site index page.

Ths collection of photos all raise queries about where they were taken, what do they actually show, who were the people shown, etc., although some of the images may be quite familiar. If you can throw any light on these pics please comment via crchat - or if not a member then via the comments panel on the right hand side of the home page

Photos from the CRA collections showing the two largest of BR's standard classes (except the 8P Pacific) at work on trains round the Cumbrian coast

In response to the interest arising from the CRA visit to Millom on 15th November 2009 - and queries which arose at that time - the Association collections have been trawled to find images showing the railways of Millom at their full extent. I have not individually captioned all the images as most should readily identifiable. PA images were taken by Richard L Pattinson in the 1930s, SH images by Bill Shillcock in the 1950s, and I have also added a few AR images from the county-wide photographic survey by the Association in 1999. A drawing of the Millom Signal Box diagram can be found at http://cra.photos.gb.net/p55567576.html

A selection of historic pictures of the bridges of Workington, drawn from the collections of the Association. Most of these (PA refs) were taken by Richard L Pattinson during the 1930s and show a very different urban landscape from today. Bridges depicted include Northside Bridge, the former Cleator & Workington Junction Railway bridge, Workington (now Calva) Bridge. and Camerton Bridge

A collection of pictures of work underway to clear the line in Dentdale during March 1947 when the Settle & Carlisle railway was blocked for about six weeks. The images were taken by Robert J Powell who was then LMS Chief Controller in Carlisle. A rare shot of the experimental jet engine snow plough in Carlisle station is also included.

Scanned from faded prints the quality of these images is not always of the best, but

This interesting small class of seven locomotives were rebuilt by the Furness Railway during the 1890s from a number of the Sharp Stewart-built 2-4-0s for branch line and light services as they were replaced on main line work by new 4-4-0s. Only one lasted until after the 1923 grouping, the last being withdrawn in that year, probably still bearing its FR number 71A, though allocated LMS 10620

Images from the CRA's Pearsall collection showing this characterful class of locos at work during the 1960 on lines around Cumbria and north Lancashire

All photos recently published in "Cumbrian Railways" plus a few more from elsewhere in the CRA collections.

Mainly 1950s shots of railways around Dumfries, all from the cameras of the brothers Ian and Alan Pearsall.

Images of stations on the S&C before withdrawal of local services in 1970. Not all yet covered - still looking for more !

Images from the CRA collections, plus some from Peter Robinson, depicting both the main line and Risehow Colliery lines

A selection of photoghaphs from the Association's collection which may be of help to those enthused to model this fascinating location. Apart from a couple of much earlier images all date from the 1950s or early 1960s.

Just a preliminary upload at present without full captions to help me identify some locations.

Will come back shortly with full caption information

Having had its passenger servicie withdrawn in the early 1950s this attractive route was little known, though it had at one time had the potential to have been the route by which the traffic of the Midland Railway would have reached Scotland but railway politics led instead to the creation of the Settle & Carlisle line. Instead, this line became a rural backwater any excitement coming only when traffic was diverted from the S&C because of snow or engineering blockages. It was finally closed and lifted around 1967.

The photos shown here relate to the former LNWR section of the line, from Low Gill to north of Ingleton.

Early colour photos do not feature strongly in the CRA's collections, but Kendal photographer Alec Mayor did venture some work with colour negatives during the 1960s, mostly around Oxenholme on the main line and on the Windermere branch.

A further selection of photos of these fascinating routes taken in the 1950s by Ian Pearsall

The Stainmore lines in Cumbria included those built by the South Durham & Lancashire Union and Eden Valley Railways and were completed in the early 1860s. Soon absorbed into the North Eastern Railway they fulfilled a vital role in supplying coke from the South Durham coalfield to the iron & steel industries of West Cumberland and the Furness district of Lancashire. With the decline of this industry after WW2 the lines closed as a through route over the Pennines in January 1962.

Kirkby Stephen was the operating centre for this small network on the west side of Stainmore Summit, surmounted only by many miles of gradients as steep as 1 in 60.

This small selection of photos by the Rev J Jackson dates from the early 1950s.

2009 marks the 100th anniversary of the introduction by the Midland Railway of electrified train services between Lancaster, Morecambe and Heysham. These services ran for nearly 50 years and then became a test-bed for high voltage electrification before final closure of the lines in 1966. These photos from the camera of Ian Pearsall depict some scenes on electric units at work on this small network of electrified lines