Foxfield Railway Station - History

History

The station dates from 1848, when the Furness Railway extended its line from Barrow to Kirkby-in-Furness to nearby Broughton-in-Furness with the intention of serving local copper mines. It was opened on 1 August 1848 and consisted of an island platform 13 feet 6 inches (4.11 m) long. Its west face was enclosed in a passenger shed 100 feet (30 m) long. There was also a goods shed 70 feet (21 m) long, and a very small booking office at the north end of the platform.

Two years later, the Whitehaven & Furness Junction Railway completed its line down the coast from Whitehaven to join the FR line from Barrow, making Foxfield a junction of some importance in the process. The line from Broughton was extended further northwards to Coniston by the Coniston Railway Company on 18 June 1859, although it wasn't long before the Furness took it over (along with the W&FJR - both companies having been absorbed by the FR by 1865).

In 1879 an enlarged station was built, designed by the Lancaster architects Paley and Austin and built by the Barrow contractor William Ormandy. The island platform was widened to 29 feet (9 m), and a new canopy for passengers was provided.

For much of its life the Coniston line was well-used by locals and visitors alike, with the branch passenger service connecting with main line trains at one end of the route and with steamer services on Coniston Water at the other. However it fell victim to road competition in the late 1950s, passenger services being withdrawn from 6 October 1958, and the line closing completely in 1962. The coast line remains in operation though, with the passenger trains supplemented by a number of freight services running to and from the nuclear reprocessing plant at Sellafield, operated by Direct Rail Services.