Steamtown Carnforth

[Buzby]

It has been on my radar (and bucket list) for way too long - but I may have left it too long? A search pulls up info that Steamtown is no longer open to the public and their website is offline, then there’s FB which has tales of exhibits being sold off. Has it had its time, and will I have to make do with the Carnforth Heritage Station as a compromise? Any up to date info gratefully received! TIA

 

[matt]

It's now West Coast Railway's main depot and has been closed to the public for many years apart from the occasional open day.

 

[Baxenden Bank]

It has been on my radar (and bucket list) for way too long - but I may have left it too long? A search pulls up info that Steamtown is no longer open to the public and their website is offline, then there’s FB which has tales of exhibits being sold off. Has it had its time, and will I have to make do with the Carnforth Heritage Station as a compromise? Any up to date info gratefully received! TIA

Too long by quite a margin.

From Wikipedia:

With increasing Health and Safety Executive regulations, and an increased reliance on revenue from supplying and servicing steam locomotives to power enthusiast trains, the commercial decision was taken not to reopen Carnforth as a museum or visitor attraction for the 1998 season.

 

[Iskra]

I turned up too late in 1998, as a child taken by my parents. Unfortunately, this was just after closure. However, the staff took pity and gave me a footplate ride on a Black Five that was shunting at the time, which more than made up for any disappointment!

 

[Buzby]

Oh well - At leat I didn’t have a wasted journey! Tks all for the info….

 

[D365]

The diesel and steam depot staff occasionally host visiting parties, however these are becoming less and less.

 

[Falcon1200]

I visited Steamtown back in 1993 with my (then) small daughter, she was greatly looking forward to a 'steam train ride' (ie shuttle within the yard), only for them to announce that rides were cancelled as they were busy shunting stock. We never went back and given the overall ambience of the place I was not at all surprised when it closed to the public.

 

[GarethW]

I went when at Lancashire Poly in the late Eighties even then it seemed more like a working junk yard than a tourist attraction which I rather liked.

 

[Bletchleyite]

I went when at Lancashire Poly in the late Eighties even then it seemed more like a working junk yard than a tourist attraction which I rather liked.

Agree with that - it was like a bigger Steamport (Southport) - that had a similar air of interesting dilapidation

 

[DRS37412]

Can you walk along the edge of Carnforth depot as I see online different vantage points with pictures, if so where is the best location to go to see locos around Carnforth steamtown please??
Thank you.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

A quick look on Google Maps shows the site is adjoined by farmland fields with no sign at all of any footpath; they also seems to have grown desnse trees and hedges all along the boundary.

Best bet might be to hire a light aircraft from wherever the nearest airfield is and ask the pilot to overfly the site at the legal minima ( 1,500ft over built up areas ) while you get busy with a zoom lens...?

 

[sprinterguy]

According to the Ordnance Survey, there's a right of way along an access track from Shore Road by the north end of the depot throat - runs parallel to the west side of the depot complex before branching off as a footpath across to Crag Bank Lane. There seem to have been a number of photos online taken from this, though I can't vouch for the density of foliage along there these days, especially in summer.

 

[driver9000]

According to the Ordnance Survey, there's a right of way along an access track from Shore Road by the north end of the depot throat - runs parallel to the west side of the depot complex before branching off as a footpath across to Crag Bank Lane. There seem to have been a number of photos online taken from this, though I can't vouch for the density of foliage along there these days, especially in summer.

It's grown quite thick along the path at the back of the depot and visibility was poor when I walked along it late last summer.