Carnforth Station gained notoriety following the 1945 hit film ‘Brief Encounter’ by David Lean. I will be the first to confess that I had never heard of this film before, nor did I appreciate its importance, yet the fact an entire heritage centre has been built on the former main line platforms dedicated entirely to the film and the station history speaks volumes. The whole premise of the film is set around a chance encounter between two individuals at a railway station from which a romantic connection grows. In the film, the majority of the exterior shots of the station were filmed on location, however interior shots like the refreshment rooms were filmed on closed sets. 1945 was the final year of the Second World War, and wartime blackout regulations at night made filming such scenes at night impossible and dangerous nearer to London. Carnforth was chosen due to its remote location in Northern England which allowed nighttime filming to take place without violating those regulations.
Up until 1970, Carnforth was a significant station serving the West Coast Mainline services with lines to Barrow-in-Furness, Skipton and Leeds. The main line platforms were closed in 1970 due to the withdrawal of some stopping services 2 years earlier and sat in an derelict state. In 2003, a group of volunteers restored the station platforms and opened a heritage centre on one of them in order to celebrate this once important station and the history that it played in cinema.
The below is a brief history of the station:
- 1846 – Station opened by the Lancaster and Carlisle Railway (L&CR). Originally named Carnforth-Yealand
- 1857 – Station becomes a junction with the arrival of the Ulverstone and Lancaster Railway. This station was named Carnforth
- 1864 – L&CR rename station to Carnforth
- 1880 – Stations of L&CR and U&LR combined into one
- 1939 – Further expansion of the station leads to 6 usable platforms
- 1945 – Brief Encounter filmed
- 1968 – Cessation of stopping services between Lancaster and Carlisle
- 1970 – West Coast Mainline Platforms closed
- 2000-2003 – Station buildings refurbished and Heritage Centre opened
- 2011 – Network Rail reject proposals to reopen the main line platforms, citing low passenger footfall to justify slowing down trains
In the film ‘Brief Encounter’, the station clock was repeatedly seen throughout and became a powerful icon. In 2020, the clock was removed for renovation and as of March this year, it is back in place, once more becoming the core focal point of the now unused mainline station platforms.
Inside the heritage centre, there are all sorts of railway related artifacts and nods to the history of the station. In one of the rooms is a map of the station in 1950. You can see the two main lines and platforms which were still in use at the time. Accompanying this is a signal box diagram of Carnforth from around the same period. I find these sorts of diagrams fascinating as it’s quite some skill to be able to interpret these at speed to know exactly what is happening with the trains, signals and points at any one moment.
In another room, the history of the station is retold, capturing the various different railway companies which operated through the station over the years as well as celebrating the film. There’s a LOT of information to take in here. In the adjacent room, is what they called the ‘Steam Room’ and it houses a large variety of railway artifacts such as station totems, signals, block instruments and even locomotive nameplates, all of which relate to the railway over the years.
One of the heritage centres standout features has to be the purpose built mini cinema called ‘Kinema’. It’s a compact space but has flip-up style seats typical of the period and plays Brief Encounter on a loop. Visitors can drop in and out whenever they like to see the film. The walls are adorned with various pictures of the sets as well as the actors in the film along with promotional film posters of the time. It is well worth a drop in to experience a small slice of yesteryear.
