SOURCES OF INFORMATION

The copyright of the book covers is acknowledged

As an 'Old Carliol' I have a wealth of memories of Carlisle Citadel going back to about 1946, with the emphasis being on the late Forties and early Fifties. However, as I have maintained a railway interest in my personal reading, I have always had 'an eye out' for information and photographs concerning the railways in and around the Border City. Below are given comments on my main sources of information. It is not exhaustive for as well as books there have been numerous periodicals which have contributed to my information, the main magazines which I have drawn on are listed at the end of this page.

BOOKS

Jowett's Railways Centres - Vol 1 (Patrick Stephens Ltd 1993) Carlisle forms the first chapter of Jowett's magnificently researched work into the development and history of several major railway centres. His information and detailed descriptions are most impressive. He does not deal with the detailed track layout of the Citadel station, but does provide a complete picture of the routes into Carlisle as well as their development and in some cases their demise. Strongly recommended a source book for Carlisle and of the other railway centres in this volume.

Carlisle Citadel Station by Dennis Perriam and David Ramshaw (P3 Publications - 1998)This is just about unique as a railway book because of its style and content. It is a pot pourri of information, pictures and trivia of the station. It provides some excellent line drawing of the station buildings in the various stages of development to the present day. Additionally it has some useful maps showing actual track layout in and around the station. All in all an interesting and intriguing production.

Carlisle (Citadel) Railway Scene by CC Dorman (George Allen & Unwin, 1972)This is the first book I possessed which was dedicated to the Citadel. It gives a good outline of the development of the system, and has over one hundred of photographs of various eras as well as useful diagrams of the Kingmoor yard. It also gives an interesting description of traffic patterns. This is almost certainly out of print,

Rail Centres - Carlisle - Peter W Robinson (Ian Allan, 1986) Robinson's book is an excellent combination of photographs and text giving the historical development of the railways of Carlisle. There is also a very good section outlining the passenger train operations over the years. He has several very useful diagram, some by his own pen. Altogether a very pleasing book to own

Calling Carlisle Control - Peter Brock (Ian Allan, 1990) Peter Brock was a firemen at Carlisle Canal for much of his early career on the railways. Later he 'graduated' to being an official British Railways photographer. He gives an account of his railway career, starting at the bottom (before he should have been employed!). His story is full of anecdotes and his book is laced with photographs, mostly his own, of workings and staff in the Carlisle area and other routes, mainly to the North.

Regional Rail Centres - North West. - Rex Christiansen (Ian Allan, 1995) In broad intention, Christiansen's book is similar to that of Alan Jowett, namely it covers several railcentres and gives a summary history of the various lines reaching Carlisle, together with diagrams showing the development and track layout in various eras. It is accompanied by a good selection of photographs which are not usually found elsewhere in collections.

British Rail Track Diagrams - 4 London Midland Region (Quail Map Co. 1990) Excellent in every way in what it sets out to do, namely show every track as it was in October 1990. Obviously the Carlisle area constitutes only a small part of the book's content, but it is most helpful to see how things were, and almost still are!

Eric Treacy's various books. Treacy's various collections almost always contained some excellent photographs of Carlisle - his captions did not quite match the quality of pictures! However the books do give valuable information which is helpful about the track layout, engine changes and many other details of the Carlisle scene. The following have been to hand:

Portrait of Steam (Ian Allan 1967, reprinted 1991, Promotional Reprint Co. Ltd.)

Treacy's Routes North (edited by Whitehouse and Powell, published by David and Charles, reprinted by Book Club Associates 1985)

Spell of Steam (Ian Allan, 1973)

Treacy's British Rail - ed Whitehouse and Powell (David and Charles 1990)

Other books:

Through the Links at Crewe - P J Johnson (Xpress publishing).

Xpress Publishing also produce Locomotive Registers covering the locomotives of the former SR, LMS and LNER. giving shed allocations, transfers and withdrawal dates covering 1950 to 1960. This includes diesels, electrics over the period.

Line by Line Vol 1, the West Coast Mainline - Buck and Rawlinson (Freightmaster Publ'ing) similar to the Quail publication in giving the track diagrams, more limited in scope, but includes gradient profiles of the whole route and one photographs per page for each section of the route.

British Railways Past and Present No. 1, Cumbria - John Broughton and Nigel Harris (Silver Link Publications 1985)

Railways of Cumbria - Peter W Robinson (1980 - Dalesman Books)

Over Shap to Carlisle - Harold Bowtell (1983 Ian Allan)

Railways of the Lake Counties - David Joy (1973 Dalesman)

ABC British Railways Locomotives - Combined Volume (Winter 1955 / 56 Editione (Ian Allan - 1955 - Reprinted 1999) This volume includes shed allocations of all locos. listed.

MAGAZINES

Railway Magazine

Steam World

Ordnance Survey Maps of various vintages have been consulted.

COMPUTER SOFTWARE

I can recommend the follow computer simulations of train control (signalling) for the Carlisle area.

TRACK ATTACK - This simulation is of the present day Carlisle Power Box. The diagram covers the whole of the territory from beyond Gretna Junction, to near Carnforth. Altogether there are six routes into the Citadel, plus three armed services installations, as well as Kingmoor freight yard. The timetable operated is imaginary, but is akin to current patterns. Trains are shown as blocks moving through the diagram, giving information on destinations and time due in and out. The object is to get trains through the system with as little time loss as possible. It is quite demanding. You have the choice of running in real time, faster or slower. The firm offer a cheap sample of the system called CITY which is an imaginary terminus, with passing trains and a Metro. This gives the feel of the system and may well tempt you, for they have a range of locations available. Last known contact address:

Track Attack, c/o 17 Windmill Way, Kegworth, Derby DE74 2FA

PC Rail - More limited in scope but outstanding in presentation, the area covered in the modern series is from the signals just North of the Station to beyond Upperby Junction. There are a variety of timetables available all of which are authentic. That for 1956 (the steam era with the Goods Avoiding Line and much local trip working) has over 500 movements for 24 hours of operation. Again there is a choice of real time or faster / slower. A trial version is downloadable from the internet, giving 40 minutes of a modern timetable, to get the feel. Also available as a trial version is a semaphore signal version for a signal box near Kettering. This is an outstanding teaching tool! Try me and Buy me, applies here! Contact: Internet - www.pcrail.co.uk

Mail - PC Rail Simulations PO Box 27, Cromer, Norfolk, NR27 0HA

There are other simulations available from other sources, but I have not used them

CD ROM

CUMBRIA RAILWAYS (published by Cumbria Couty Council Library Services)

A varied coillection of 750 photographs, maps, plans and engravings covering the railways of the whole of Cumbia spanning the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Available from Tullie House Museum, Castle St., Carllisle

LINKS TO OTHER WEBSITES

UNFORTUNATELY ALL THE LINKS WHICH I INCLUDED WHEN FIRST PUBLISHING THIS SITE HAVE BECOME NON OPERATIONAL. HOWEVER THE FIRST OF THE FOLLOWINGOPERATIONAL. IN DUE COURSE I WILL INCLUDE CURRENTLY ACTIVE LINKS AND CHECK THEM FROM TIME TO TIME! AS OF 24 NOV 06 THIS IS OK.

• CUMBRIAN RAILWAY ASSOCIATION
• National Railway Museum