BDY26 - Cockermouth, Keswick & Penrith Railway

This route recreates the 30 ¼ miles of the Cockermouth, Keswick and Penrith Railway in Cumberland (now Cumbria), England suitable for the period between 1930 and 1966. A short section of the West Coast Mainline from Penrith to Clifton & Lowther, and the Eden Valley Railway from Eden Valley Junction to Weatheriggs, and the section of the Cockermouth & Workington Railway from Cockermouth Goods Station to Brigham are also included for operational interest.

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CKPR is a route by Ben Yates (aka BDY26), and is made available on a freeware basis via various sites and subject to conditions set out in the disclaimer on page 8 in the manual. Please read that before installing. 

 

Built late in the “railway mania” era and opened in 1864, it completed a link between the industries of West Cumberland and the coalfields of South Durham via the Eden Valley, Stainmore and Stockton & Darlington. Whilst CKPR was built for the heavy mineral traffic of iron ore, coal and coke, this fell away by the mid 1920s, but local freight and quarry traffic continued until the line closed. It is no understatement to say the line was one of the most beautiful railway journeys in the world – CKPR through lush green farmland, the wilds of Divison Moor and Troutbeck, under the dominating slopes of Blencathra (2848ft), twisting and turning through the Greta Gorge, and for 4 miles right along the western shore of Bassenthwaite Lake with its stunning views of Skiddaw (3054ft). A frequent passenger service operated, including through trains to Manchester and Liverpool, a daily summer service “The Lakes Express” to and from London Euston, summer weekend specials from Leeds, Glasgow and Newcastle, and the “Budd Specials” bringing Christians to the annual Keswick Convention every July. The line was one of

the first to adopt the new technology of the diesel railcar in 1955, which were very popular but not enough to make the line, in British Railway’s eyes at any rate, sufficient to save the line. 

 

The line was scheduled for closure by the Beeching Report which led to the closure of the line west of Keswick in April 1966. The line from Penrith to Keswick saw a temporary and partial reprieve, being singled and working “one engine in steam”, all signalling removed and all stations unmanned with a passenger service only until March 1972. There is an ongoing campaign to reopen the line at Keswick Railway plc but the severing of the trackbed by the A66 and development at Flusco makes this is no simple task. Of all the Beeching closures, CKPR is arguably the most lacking in forsight given the demands now placed on its transport infrastructure. As with other closures, political demands for road building and dubious accounting justifications were probably its downfall.

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Included with this pack is not only the route itself, But an array of custom assets constructed by multiple UKTrainSim developers which are ideal for route builders!

 

Addon Author: Ben Yates (BDY26)

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Note: This route is undergoing a major overhaul, Ben has specified that this is not the final version of the route and he is currently working on a more up to date version. However at present is not near completion.

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If you have any questions, query's or issues with the route please contact Ben Yates of Vulcan Productions.

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 Disclaimer: British Locomotive Studios does not offer support for this addon, if you have any issues with the pack please contact the designated addon author listed above.