Life-size Hollywood film prop will give tourists the wow factor as Lake District station reopens
A FORMER Lake District station is due to reopen in August as a café and tourist destination, complete with a full-size replica steam locomotive and luxury carriages, following a major environmentally-friendly and job creation project by couple Di and Simon Parums.
Bassenthwaite Lake was opened by the Cockermouth Keswick & Penrith Railway in January 1865 and closed by BR in April 1966. The Up eastbound platform and goods yard have disappeared under the A66 Cockermouth-Keswick road, but the Down platform, station building, stationmaster's house and signalmen's cottage, have survived, and are now owned by Di and Simon.
Eighteen months ago the couple acquired a replica 4-8-2 continentalstyle steam locomotive and three carriages that played a central role in the 2017 multi-million dollar blockbuster film Murder On The Orient Express, based on the 1934 Agatha Christie novel, and had them transported to the station site.
The full-size steel locomotive was built for the film, which starred
Kenneth Branagh as detective Poirot and grossed £265 million worldwide. It has a real firebox, electronicallyoperated bogies to provide propulsion, moving parts and steam.
Since the 90ft-long locomotive's arrival, 53-year-old Di, 55-year-old Simon and a team of contractors and volunteers have transformed the whole area, turning the derelict station building into a café and refurbishing the carriages to also be used for catering.
The platform has been cleared of undergrowth and equipped with ex-Cockermouth station railway benches rescued from a yard in Hexham – “they are now back on the line where they belong,” said
Di – while spectacular floral displays which were a major attraction of the station in its operational days will once again adorn the platform.
In addition, no fewer than 3000 trees and shrubs have been planted, complementing the environmental theme the couple were determined to adopt.
Everything recycled
“We are proud of the minimal waste we have generated,” Di told Heritage
Railway. “All the logs from the fallen and felled overgrown hedge and stone from the station wall have been reused. Stone from the cottage, which will have to be rebuilt, has been used to create a disabled access path to the lower level of a woodland walk. We have used no skips whatsoever and recycled absolutely everything we possibly could.”
Di said that because the carriages were built for use in the movie they were less robust than the real thing, so some of the props had to be discarded, including replacing the fibreboard dining tables with walnut veneered tables and the theatrical 500-watt bulb lighting with sevenwatt LEDs. “The locomotive's original front lights no longer fuse the whole valley, and if visitors think their replacements look like Land Rover headlights, they will have discovered our secret!”
Of the overall project, she said: “The toughest part has been making the right decisions, with the real challenge being balancing the creation of an accurate and original replica with the budget, but we think we have got it right. We are not pretending that the train is real, and we have said all along that we would approach this thing as a bit of fun, and we hope that will come over in our enthusiasm and some of the poetic licence we have taken.
“We think the station building restoration is as good as it gets and retains the original character and atmosphere, and the blood and custard colour scheme is a pretty accurate replication of the LMS – except we preferred BR cream to the custard.”
Although the schedule remains tight, it is hoped to open the café and restaurant car in early August, with the rear carriage providing overflow space and a quiet area, while access will be possible to the nearby woodland walk and bird hide.
“We have linked the carriages to allow customers to walk through the length of the train, and we plan to allow access to the loco's footplate and into the tender later in the year,” said Di.
A core team of four will be running the business, and it is hoped to take on another 25 people, of whom 10 would be full-time. “We look forward to welcoming visitors in what will hopefully be a long, hot summer,” said Di.