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Lancaster And Carlisle Railway




The railways opened in two sections:

The line was built by coast. The main engineering features of the Railway are the bridge at Lancaster; three substantial viaducts; and a high embankment between Grayrigg and Low Gill . The embankment south of Tebay was laid in the bed of the River Lune , which had been diverted from its course.

The cutting at Shap Summit was cut through rock, is about 0.5 mile in length, and is between 50-60 feet in depth. The approach from the south, thirty miles away at Carnforth is in two sections:
  • Carnforth to Grayrigg, 20 miles, the final five miles being at 1 in 131/1 in 106

  • Grayrigg to Shap Summit: the first five miles to Tebay relatively level, followed by five miles at 1 in 75

  • The approach from the north is again of thirty miles:

  • Carlisle to beyond Penrith, twenty miles at varying gradients between 1 in 131/1 in 228

  • thence to Shap Summit, ten miles mainly at 1 in 125


The L&CR was connected to the south with the Lancaster And Preston Junction Railway a mile to the south of the town; the new station Lancaster Castle . In the north, trains ran into Carlisle (Citadel) , opened on 1 September 1847 .

In 1859 the L&CR was leased to the London And North Western Railway ; it became part of the latter in 1879; after 1923 the LMSR . It now forms part of the West Coast Main Line .



Information for this article came from ''The Railway Magazine'' article on the railway, August 1951


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