End Of The Line For The Croft Pit Incline.

A few years after the Peckett's arrival at Marchon it was briefly joined by STONE CROSS, a four-coupled Avonside belonging to the NCB and based at their William Pit shed at Whitehaven. This locomotive came to Marchon on loan in May 1958 but had been returned by August. Two years later, a Barclay 16in four-coupled locomotive (2192 of 1944) was purchased. It cost £700 coming second hand from the Workington Iron & Steel CO's works at Moss Bay Workington and it was hauled up the Corkickle Brake on 15th August 1960.

The 'B Special' class locomotive was a standard design for iron & steel works and had the heavy rugged appearance that went with such duties. The locomotive was quite popular at Marchon although the Peckett was generally preferred. The Barclay was withdrawn from service early in 1968 and scrapped by Peter Hanratty in March 1969 at the works. Marchon Works turned to diesel motive power in January 1962 with the acquisition of a Sentinel 230hp 4-wheel diesel hydraulic locomotive (10086 of 1961). This had previously been used by Sentinel for demonstration purposes. It came up the Corkickle Brake to the works. It was joined by sister locomotive 10085 in August 1969 after reconditioning by Thos Hill LTD of Kilnhurst. It having worked formerly at Bass's breweries in Burton on Trent. The locomotive is said to have arrived at Kells by road transport. Both gave good service for several years until a more powerful 325hp Rolls Royce locomotive (10206 of 1965) arrived, again after refurbishment by Thos Hill, in May 1979.

This had four-coupled wheels and the larger C8SFL engine. I weighed 40 tons in working order. 6 tons more than The older diesels, and was latterly the most used locomotive. About March-April 1986. The local scrap merchant Peter Hanratty came along again and cut up the two Sentinels. In their place, Hunslet 0-6-0 diesel hydraulic 7817 of 1971 was purchased from the NCB's William shed equipped with a Rolls Royce 400hp CSTFL engine, it is not thought to have been used by Marchon Works.

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During the last five years, traffic on the Corkickle Brake reduced considerably, although railway wagons had continued to be handled thoughout each day; the busiest period generally being between 8am and 10am. BR was introducing newer longer-wheel base wagons and these caused problems on the Brake, particularly in passing over the hump at the top of the incline. Only one wagon could be handled at a time instead of sets of 3 or 4 of the older wagons. Bogie wagons were of course prohibited on the Brake and the design of tank wagons was tending to move towards this type of vehicle. For some time, bogie wagons have been loaded in Preston Street Goods Yard from road tankers. This traffic seems likely to continue into the forseeable future. At least, BR has not lost out on this valuable bulk freight business to Lancashire, Cheshire, Merseyside and the Midlands.

The Corkickle Brake was used for the last time on 4th November 1986 when the final two locomotives were each lowered down the incline. Both were bound for the Derwent Railway Society preservation Site at Workington.

Acknowledgements are due to Bob Tate who supplied the first information, and a plan of the Works' layout, to Bob Speirs and Mike Clay of Albright and Wilson, the staff of the Whitehaven News, Steven Oakden and Peter Holmes The editor is particularly grateful for the substantial amount of information provided by Mike Lee.

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For more Information and pictures about the Corkickle Brake Incline Visit The wonderful Cumbria Railways website created by Peter Burgess at www.Cumbria-Railways.co.uk. The Cumbria Railways website is dedicated to the lost railways of Northern Cumbria which have all closed during the last century.