Keekle Viaduct

Bridge in United Kingdom

54°31′57.0″N 3°32′22″W / 54.532500°N 3.53944°W / 54.532500; -3.53944 (Keekle Viaduct)CarriesEx-Cleator and Workington Junction RailwayCrossesRiver KeekleLocaleKeekle Terrace, Cumbria, EnglandCharacteristicsDesign7 stone arches[1][2]WidthTwin Standard Gauge RailHistoryOpened1 October 1879[3]Closed16 September 1963[4]LocationMap

Keekle Viaduct is a former railway viaduct near Keekle, Cumbria, England.

  • v
  • t
  • e
Cleator & Workington Junction Rly
Legend
Key
open line
C&WJR lines (all closed)
other closed lines
Solway Junction Railway
to Annan via Solway Viaduct
Linefoot
Linefoot Junction
Summit
Great Broughton
RNAD Broughton Moor
 Buckhill Colliery Halt
Camerton Colliery Halt
Siddick Junction
Seaton
Siddick Junction
Calva Junction
enlarge… Workington North
enlarge… Workington Main
Workington Central enlarge…
Bridgefoot
Derwent Ironworks
 
Moss Bay (north)
Ironworks (south)
 
Harrington
(Church Road Halt)
Rosehill
(Archer Street Halt)
High Harrington
Distington
Oatlands
Millgrove
Moresby Parks
Summit
Moresby Junction
Halt
Summit
Rowrah
Arlecdon
Keekle Colliers'
Platform
Keekle Viaduct
mine
Cleator Moor West
Cleator Moor East
Cleator Moor Junction
Moor Row Junction
Moor Row

Context

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

In 2013 satellite imagery showed that the viaduct still stood.

References

  1. ^ Th viaduct in use, via Cumbrian Railways Association
  2. ^ Joy 1973, p. 63.
  3. ^ Marshall 1981, p. 164.
  4. ^ McGowan Gradon 2004, p. 59.
  5. ^ McGowan Gradon 2004, pp. 6, 11 & 40.
  6. ^ Anderson 2002, p. 312.
  7. ^ Marshall 1981, Opposite p.143.
  8. ^ News 1992, p. 254.

Sources

  • 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. {{cite journal}}: |last= has generic name (help)

External links

  • 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