Rails and steelmaking in focus at new Workington station exhibition

A NEW exhibition titled The Rails Which Circled The World, about the importance of the railway industry in West Cumbria, has opened in Workington railway station with support from the Community Rail Network.

Iron and steelmaking in and around Workington employ thousands of people, producing industry-leading rails that still circumnavigate the globe to this day.

The Cumbria County Council exhibition highlights the hard shifts in local mines where both children and adults worked in extremely challenging conditions, and the locations where ships docked to be loaded for transporting Cumbrian steel rails all over the world. It also tells how local women stepped in at Workington steelworks during the war, and how the innovative Bessemer Convertor enables production 24 hours a day.

While passengers wait for their train, they can also watch a short film screened in the waiting rooms on both platforms. The film portrays personal stories of what life was like when the town was a world leader in rail technology, and those who contributed to Henry Bessemer's unique process.

A sculpture of the convertor, carved in Tendley carboniferous limestone, has been commissioned from local sculptor Shaun Williamson and will be displayed at the station in the future.

Replica Lynton & Barnstaple Railway Manning Wardle 2-6-2T No. 190 Lyd had its first run on the Ffestiniog Railway main line on May 25 following its first 10-year overhaul, during which it was retubed and other improvements were made, including the fabrication of a newly-designed ashpan, making the locomotive much easier to dispose at the end of the day. CHRIS PARRY/FF&WHR