[8][9] The line to Egremont was one of the fruits of the rapid industrialisation of West Cumberland in the second half of the nineteenth century, opening to passengers on 1 July 1857.

Stations and signalling along the line south of Rowrah were changed during the Joint regime to conform to Furness Railway standards.

Life flickered briefly in Spring 1940 when workmen's trains were reinstated to support a period of high activity building the Royal Ordnance Factory at Drigg, but that lasted less than a month.

[7] A public Sellafield-Egremont-Beckermet-Moor Row-Whitehaven service was reinstated on 6 May 1946, only to be "suspended" on 16 June 1947, a victim of the post-war fuel crisis.

Initially this comprised eight steam-hauled carriages, ending typically formed of a pair of Derby Lightweight 2-car units.