View source for Hincaster branch line

{{Short description|Closed railway line in Cumbria, England}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2014}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2014}}
{{Infobox rail line
| name                            = Hincaster branch line
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| image                           = Bela Viaduct.jpg
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| caption                         = Bela Viaduct about 1930
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| locale                          = [[Cumbria]], England
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| open                            = {{Start date|1876|df=y}}
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| close                           = {{Start date|1966|df=y}}
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{{Hincaster branch}}
[[File:Adlington, Blackburn, Cherry Tree, Chorley, Hincaster Ingleton & Wennington RJD 103.jpg|thumb|right|Junction at Hincaster]]
The '''Hincaster branch'''  was a single-track railway [[branch line]] of the [[Furness Railway]] which ran from {{stnlnk|Arnside}} on the Furness main line to a junction with the [[Lancaster and Carlisle Railway]] (later the [[London and North Western Railway]]) at [[Hincaster]].<ref>Conolly, 1997, p.24</ref> Intermediate stations were provided at {{stnlnk|Sandside}} and [[Heversham]], with the main engineering work being a substantial [[Bela Viaduct|26-arch viaduct]] over the [[River Bela]] near Sandside.<ref>[https://www.lakesguides.co.uk/html/lgaz/lk00733.htm "Bela Viaduct"] ''Old Cumbria Gazetteer''; Retrieved 26 June 2017</ref>

==Traffic==
The {{convert|5.25|mi|adj=on}} line was built primarily for use by mineral trains carrying [[Coke (fuel)|coke]] and [[iron ore]] from [[County Durham]] to various [[ironworks]] in and around [[Barrow-in-Furness]] which had previously had to travel (and reverse) via the busy junction at {{stnlnk|Carnforth}}.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Broughton |first1=John |last2=Harris |first2=Nigel |title=British railways past and present No. 1; Cumbria |date=1985 |publisher=Past and present |location=Peterborough |isbn=0-9479-7104-1 |page=81}}</ref><ref>Marshall, p.104</ref>  The branch was opened to goods traffic on 3 June 1876<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.hincastertrailway.co.uk/?Welcome:The_story_so_far|title=Hincaster Railway}}</ref> and also carried a passenger service between {{stnlnk|Grange-over-Sands}} and {{stnlnk|Kendal}} known locally as the ''Kendal Tommy''.<ref>[http://www.heversham.org/heversham_history_bingham_3.html Heversham - A Website history by R.K Bingham] www.heversham.org; Retrieved 2009-06-24</ref> Both  the Furness Railway, and the Midland Railway, considered building a line from Hincaster Junction to {{rws|Garsdale}} (Hawes Junction) on the [[Settle–Carlisle line]] to connect with the [[Wensleydale Railway]], in an effort to shorten the route for coke trains, and to prevent the traffic having to use the main line section between {{rws|Tebay}} and {{rws|Oxenholme}}. It was noted that this line would a challenge as "considerable tunnelling" would be required.<ref>{{cite news |title=North country news - Midland Railway extension |work=Northern Echo |issue=4283 |date=6 November 1883 |page=3|oclc=6685296}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Railway developments in Furness and Westmorland |work=The Glasgow Herald |issue=265 |date=5 November 1894 |page=4 |oclc=10888009|quote=The scheme which is now under consideration is for the construction of a line from Hincaster, a few miles south of Kendal, {{sic|a station on the Furness Line}}, to Hawes, and so obtain a direct connection with Darlington. The undertaking would be a somewhat expensive one, as considerable tunnelling would be required. At present, all the coke for Barrow, Askham, Ulverston, and Millom, has to be brought via Tebay and Carnforth.}}</ref>

Due to the railway rising from Sandside where it was at sea level to {{convert|200|ft}} in under {{convert|2|mi}} (a constant gradient of 1-in-50), the coke traffic still travelled for reversals at Carnforth. Heavier traffic at Carnforth during the First World War prompted the railway company to employ adequate motive power for the trains to use the Hincaster branch.<ref name="MB"/>

==Closure==
The passenger service ended on 4 May 1942 and the track between Sandside and Hincaster Junction was lifted in 1966 (through traffic having ceased three years earlier).<ref>{{cite book |last1=Robinson |first1=Peter |title=Cumbria's lost railways |date=2002 |publisher=Stenlake |location=Catrine |isbn=1840332050 |page=9}}</ref><ref name="MB">{{cite book |last1=Bairstow |first1=Martin |title=Railways in the Lake District |date=1995 |publisher=Bairstow |location=Halifax |isbn=1871944112 |page=87}}</ref>  A short stub from Arnside to Sandside lasted until 1972 to serve local quarries.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Broughton |first1=John |last2=Harris |first2=Nigel |title=British railways past and present No. 1; Cumbria |date=1985 |publisher=Past and present |location=Peterborough |isbn=0-9479-7104-1 |page=81}}</ref>

Sections of the old trackbed survive and are used as a footpath and cycleway, though the viaduct and both intermediate stations have been demolished.

==Notes==

{{Reflist}}

==References==

* Conolly, W.P. [1958](1997) ''British Railways Pre-Grouping Atlas and Gazetteer'', 5th Ed., Shepperton: Ian Allan, {{ISBN|0-7110-0320-3}}.
* Marshall, J (1981) ''Forgotten Railways - North-West England'', David & Charles (Publishers) Ltd, Newton Abbott, {{ISBN|0-7153-8003-6}}.

==External links==
* [http://www.railscot.co.uk/Hincaster_Branch/frame.htm Railscot - Hincaster Branch]
* [https://twitter.com/grizleymire/status/1195264608623366149/photo/1 photo of train on Bela Viaduct about 1949]
* [https://www.geocaching.com/geocache/GC17CFW_dallam-delights-3-rail-river-sea?guid=900843b8-9586-40d1-b786-bfa677df5079 photo of Bela Viaduct from Haverbrack Hill]
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{{s-bef|rows=2|before=[[London and North Western Railway]]}}
{{s-ttl | title  =[[Lancaster and Carlisle Railway]]}}
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{{Railway lines in North West England}}

[[Category:Closed railway lines in North West England]]
[[Category:Railway lines opened in 1876]]
[[Category:Rail transport in Cumbria]]
[[Category:1876 establishments in England]]


{{England-rail-transport-stub}}