Carnforth Railway Station

Carnforth has, over the years, described its platforms with many systems.

In 1846 Carnforth was just a small halt / station with one north-bound and one south-bound platform. These were probably just referred to as the "up" and "down" platforms. (By convention "up" is always towards London)

In 1857 the Ulverstone and Lancaster Railway opened the line between Carnforth, and Ulverston. It is probable that there were two platforms for the Lancaster and Carlisle line, and one for the line to Furness.

In 1867 the Carnforth- Wennington line was opened. Initially, a temporary station was built near to Warton Road, but this was only open for a short period before a permanent station was built close to Hagg Farm. This was Carnforth F+M (Furness and Midland) station.

In 1880 The London and North Western Railway (re)constructed the station, and built a new Southbound platform and buildings, on the main line. A new bay was built to the south of the new buildings, this eventually became platform 1.
By this time, the eastern curve, from the main Carnforth Station to the Wennington line, was in place and the F+M Station was closed.

In 1904 Carnforth had 5 Platforms, They were known as:-

L.&N.W. Up Platform
L.&N.W. Bay
L.&N.W. Down Platform
Midland Bay
Furness (Arrival and Departure Platform)

In approximately 1937/8 , the "Ridge and Furrow" Trainshed was demolished, and a new concrete platform was built, replacing a supporting wall and a carriage siding, which had been known as "Snatchems"
This became platform 6.

By 1945, when "Brief Encounter" was filmed at Carnforth, there were 6 or 7 platforms:-

Platform 1, was the Main Line South, (Lancaster and London)
Platform 1 (bay 1) South facing bay platform
Platform 1 (bay 2) South facing bay platform constructed of wood, and next to the roof supporting wall.
Platform 2, was the Main Line North. (Carlisle and Scotland)
Platform 3, was the Southbound Line from Barrow in Furness (and also Skipton, Hellifield and Leeds Southbound,)
Platform 3 (bay), was the bay platform which served Skipton, Hellifield and Leeds.
Platform 4, was the Northbound line to Barrow in Furness, (and also Skipton, Hellifield and Leeds)

By the mid 1960's the numbering system had changed to:-

Platform 1, South facing Bay platform, often known as the "Morecambe" Bay,
Platform 2 Up, main line to the South, (Lancaster and London)
Platform 3 Down mail line to the North, (Carlisle and Scotland)
Platform 4 was the Southbound Line from Barrow in Furness (and also Skipton, Hellifield and Leeds Southbound,)
Platform 5 Bay platform, parallel to Platform 4, local trains, known as the "Hellifield" Bay
Platform 6 Furness line platform to the North West (Barrow) and also to the East (Leeds and Bradford)

Currently, Carnforth only has two platforms:-

Platform 1, Southbound trains from Barrow in Furness (and also Skipton, Hellifield and Leeds towards London,)
Platform 2, Northbound trains to Barrow in Furness (or Skipton, Hellifield and Leeds)

By the early 1960's, Platform 1 (The Morecambe Bay) was out of use, Carnforth lost its main line platforms on the 4th May 1970, and the Hellifield Bay was not in use by the mid 1970's.

Click here to download a plan of Carnforth Station, originally drawn after the building of the Furness platform, so probably 1945 or so. This plan is a GIF image, in a ZIP file.

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