Furness and Midland Joint Railway

These initially ran to a temporary depot near Furness & Midland Junction where the two lines met, as the connecting curve to the main Carnforth Joint station was not completed until 1880.

The two companies agreed from the outset, that the Midland would work all traffic over the line and operate the stations; whilst the Furness would maintain the track and structures from its Engineer's Office in Barrow.

Soon after opening, the Midland transferred its existing Irish & Isle of Man steamer services from Morecambe (where the harbour was prone to silting and difficult to reach at low tide) to the newly extended dock facilities at Piel Pier, near Barrow and began running connecting trains over the Joint line to serve it.

The line also carried significant quantities of freight - mainly minerals from the Barrow area headed for West & South Yorkshire and worked by the F.R as far as the exchange yards at Carnforth, where Midland locos would take over.

The boat trains were transferred to a new station adjacent to the deep water Ramsden Dock at Barrow-in-Furness in 1881 but would end altogether in 1904 when the Midland opened its new rail-served port at Heysham[2] and moved its ferry routes there also.