The halt never appeared on any public timetable, as it was provided to enable workmen to get from Whitehaven to the isolated colliery, coke ovens and bi-products plant on the hilltop at Lowca.

[7][8] It is not to be confused with Parton which in 2015 remained on the Cumbrian Coast Line 25 chains (0.50 km) to the south of the site of the halt.

All lines in the area were primarily aimed at mineral traffic, notably iron ore, coal and limestone, few more so than the Gilgarran Branch.

Many iron mines, quarries, collieries and attendant works were situated in inaccessible areas with low populations, making workmen's trains a natural add-on service.

A Thursdays and Saturdays only (Market Days) service was run from Distington to Whitehaven, calling or changing at Parton from autumn 1913 (sources disagree whether from October or November) to September 1914,[9] these trains passed the site of the future Parton Halt, but served a different purpose.

[11] Incoming coal from Solway Colliery was worked south along the coast line to Parton, where the train reversed 1 mile 11 chains (1.8 km) up the Gilgarron Branch, past the site of the halt to a junction known as "Bain's Siding" where it ran forward up the side of the valley to Lowca, effecting a zig-zag to gain the necessary height.