Murder mystery on the CK&P.
Tucked away on the edge of Bassenthwaite Lake near the hamlet of Dubwath is the former Bassenthwaite Lake railway station on the one time CK&P (Cockermouth, Keswick & Penrith) Railway line. It was a Beeching era closure that saw the line west of Keswick close outright on the 18/4/1966. To make the situation worse the remaining branch to Keswick from Penrith on the West Coast mainline subsequently closed on 6/3/1972.
Step forward to 2019 and the derelict Bassenthwaite Lake station was bought and renovated by a local couple to become a cafe, seeing as the station still had a platform and track bed the new owners set about sourcing some suitable carriages to put in the station thus increasing seating capacity as the station building was quite small. Quite by luck they came across the carriages and locomotive built as props for the 2017 Holywood film 'Murder on the Orient Express' the coaches and locomotive had been part of a failed sale to a buyer in Ireland and languished in a haulage yard in Stoke-on-Trent (possibly Reid Freight Services, unconfirmed). There were four carriages and a French class 241A (4-8-2) that had been built for the film by BGI Supplies Ltd of Longcross in Surrey. 3 of the 4 carriages and the locomotive were purchased and moved to their new home at Bassenthwaite Lake. They are very convincing mock ups especially the locomotive. The observant will however notice the large internal dimensions of the rolling stock as they were purpose built wide to accommodate movie film cameras and crew. Its like walking through a Spanish 5ft 6in gauge carriage.
In this view looking north along the platform the Fourgon (Baggage/Brake) is marshalled with a saloon car either side of it, the one nearest the building also incorporates the bar.
Murder mystery on the CK&P.
Tucked away on the edge of Bassenthwaite Lake near the hamlet of Dubwath is the former Bassenthwaite Lake railway station on the one time CK&P (Cockermouth, Keswick & Penrith) Railway line. It was a Beeching era closure that saw the line west of Keswick close outright on the 18/4/1966. To make the situation worse the remaining branch to Keswick from Penrith on the West Coast mainline subsequently closed on 6/3/1972.
Step forward to 2019 and the derelict Bassenthwaite Lake station was bought and renovated by a local couple to become a cafe, seeing as the station still had a platform and track bed the new owners set about sourcing some suitable carriages to put in the station thus increasing seating capacity as the station building was quite small. Quite by luck they came across the carriages and locomotive built as props for the 2017 Holywood film 'Murder on the Orient Express' the coaches and locomotive had been part of a failed sale to a buyer in Ireland and languished in a haulage yard in Stoke-on-Trent (possibly Reid Freight Services, unconfirmed). There were four carriages and a French class 241A (4-8-2) that had been built for the film by BGI Supplies Ltd of Longcross in Surrey. 3 of the 4 carriages and the locomotive were purchased and moved to their new home at Bassenthwaite Lake. They are very convincing mock ups especially the locomotive. The observant will however notice the large internal dimensions of the rolling stock as they were purpose built wide to accommodate movie film cameras and crew. Its like walking through a Spanish 5ft 6in gauge carriage.
In this view looking north along the platform the Fourgon (Baggage/Brake) is marshalled with a saloon car either side of it, the one nearest the building also incorporates the bar.