The Cumbrian Railways Association has recently received an important donation of railway posters from the lines in West Cumberland dating from around 100 years ago. These provide a fascinating insight into leisure and entertainment in a pre-car world - as well into the monetary values of the time. For those unfamiliar with pre-decimal coinage one shilling converted to 5 new pence, and 12 old pennies made a shilling. One pound in 1910 would have the buying power of nearly £60 today.

As will be evident from these images, the originals are extremely fragile, and are seldom likely to be available for direct inspection.

The posters come originally from the collection of the late Mr W Dendy and were donated to the CRA by the Stephenson Locomotive Society.

Signal box diagrams from the Barrow area as recorded by Arthur Pilton, probably about 1960. Arthur was a signalman in the area for many years and his drawings have recently been donated to the Cumbrian Railways Association by his family

Gasworks are a frequent background subject in many photos of the CRA collections. Here is a selection of these long-disappeared features, in images where some appear as more than just a background incidental. Most photos believed to date from the 1930s

A small selection of photos taken on the Settle-Carlisle line at and around Garsdale

A selection of shots of the branch in the 60s with both steam and diesel at work

To mark the 60th anniversary of the nationalisation of railways in Great Britain a commemorative article has been published in the Spring edition of Cumbrian Railways, the journal of the Cumbrian Railways Association. The feature concentrates on the changing scene in Cumbria as our railways changed from mainly LMS to British Railways.

The article includes a number of appropriate photographs from the CRA's collection; a greater number for which prints may be supplied are listed in the March edition of Lakes Express, the CRA's newsletter. All those listed there may now be viewed here in this collection.

All images are from the Association's recently acquired Pearsall Collection, from the cameras of brothers Alan and Ian. This period was relatively early in the development of their photography and this is sometimes reflected in the technical quality of the images. However, the selection attempts to present some of the variety of the railway scene in and around Cumbria during the late 1940s.

Prints are available via fotopic, though image sizes will not permit reasonable prints larger than 6 by 4 inches. They are also available direct from the CRA for this and for larger sizes. Member should look up terms in their members' handbook for details.

Diesel trains commenced running on the Cockermouth, Keswick and Penrith line from early in 1955, providing most local services from that date. It was not until the last few years of the line's existence that main line diesels were seen, then only a couple of time a year hauling the annual special through train between Euston and Keswick at each end of the main week of the Keswick Convention

Sandside station was located on the single track line which linked the Lancaster & Carlisle line at Hincaster with the Furness line at Arnside. It had a chequered career but was at its busiest during the two World Wars, it forming a key part of the route for supplies of coke from the South Durham coalfield to the ieon furnaces of the Furness area of Lancashire. As well as a local passenger service between Grange-over-Sands and Kendal, the line also saw visitations of excursions to the Lake District from various points round the North of England, sometime hauled by locomotives as large as the LMS 6XP Jubilee 4-6-0s.

For the modeller the location has the further attraction of fronting on almost directly to the estuary of the River Kent, separated only by a road, with the land rising sharply behind the railway, with the limestone hillside pierced by a rail-served quarry. The quarry was owned by James Ward (later Northern Quarries Co., Ltd. from 1898, and New Northern Quarries Co., Ltd. from the 1920s), who under the tradename of "Quarrite" supplied tarred macadam for road surfacing over much of northern England.

From 1799 to the 1920s the engineering works just North of Parton on the West Cumbrian Coast provided equipment for local industry, including small industrial locomotives, colliery equipment, bridge girders, etc. The works operated under the various names of Tulk & Ley (from 1799), Fletcher, Jennings & Co., (From 1857), Lowca Engineering Co. (from 1885) and New Lowca Engineering Co. (from1905 to 1926).

These images are copies made by Richard Pattinson from a works catalogue, probably dating from around 1900.

Despite applying our wide knowledge of Cumbria and its railways, there are always some images which cannot be identified. From time to time some of these have have been published in "Cumbrian Railways" and sometimes positive identifications have been made.

Here is a collection of 36 photos taken by Richard Pattinson, mainly during the 1930s, for you to get your teeth into to try and identify the location. Most of these are believed to be on the former Furness Railway, with a small number towards the end on the route of the one-time Maryport & Carlisle Railway.

Members of the crchat email group should feed comments back via that group. Non-members are invited to use the comment facility on this website

Richard Pattinson had a special interest in the CK&P. His father, John William, had been a director of the Company from 1903 and chairman for the last few months of the Company in 1922. He was also the main proprietor of Pattinson's Flour Mill at Whitehaven, later taken over by Quaker Oats. Most of these images are from the camera of Richard in the mid-1930s

A selection of photos from the CRA collections taken on the Cleator & Workington Junction line, mainly in the 1930s

A good selection of photographs from the camera of Richard Pattinson and dating from the 1930s.

A variety of views of the Coniston branch taken shortly after its final closure in 1962

W Dendy worked as a railway officer in West Cumberland in the early 1950s. He obviously had a strong interest in local railway history and the then extensive remains of earlier eras, some of which he recorded on film

Photographs from the 1920s and 1930s by Richard L Pattinson

Photos taken during the 1930s by Richard L Pattinson.

A selection of photographs of the signalling on the lines of the former Furness as recorded in the 1930s by the camera of Richard Pattinson and in the 1950s from the camera of Bill Shillcock

The M&C was the first public railway in West Cumberland, being completed in short stages between 1840 and 1845. At its peak it was to fulfil the vital role of being the key link between the massive iron and steel industry of West Cumberland with the national rail system. With the final closure of the Workington rail mill in 2006 this function has now disappeared, partly replaced by the link the line now provides for the nuclear industry at Sellafield. No original M&C signal boxes remain in 2007

The "Joint Lines" were formerly those of the Whitehaven, Cleator & Egremont Railway which was tranferred to the joint ownership and management of the London & North Western and Furness Railways in 1878. Signal boxes since that date were generally supplied by the L&NWR, but some earlier boxes remained

The Cleator & Workington Junction Railway was a late-comer to the railway scene of West CUmberland, being opened during the early 1880s. Locally owned and managed, its raison d'etre largely disappeared at the Grouping of 1923. Much of the system hung on into the 1960s, but all has now totally disappeared

The LNWR in West Cumberland comprised the lines of the former Whitehaven Junction Railway and the Cockermouth and Workington Railway, both of which were taken over in 1866

Historic photographs of signal boxes on the line of the former Furness Railway which ran from Carnforth on the West Coast Main Line to Whitehaven in West Cumberland. Only a handful of original Furness Railway now survive - as indicated