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50 years of the Cumbrian Railways Association

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Discover why a passion for railways can be so enduring at our latest free exhibition in the Community Gallery . Created by members of the Cumbrian Railways Association, the display celebrates a half-century of the organisation and reflects on its future.

FREE ENTRY

3 November – 23 December 2026

The Cumbrian Railway Association (CRA) is charitable organisation founded in 1976 and is celebrating its 50th Anniversary this year. Run by volunteers and with around 500 members, the CRA aims to improve the knowledge and understanding of the railways of Cumbria, past, present and future.

The Association collects, preserves and archives historical documents/images to prevent their loss and thereby help researchers and future generations.

We support and encourage research into the history of railways in Cumbria particularly:
  • how they impacted the growth and development of Cumbrian settlements, society, tourism and industry
  • how they were run
  • the people working and using them

We have an archive of around 60,000 images, a wide range of archived historic documents and we have published around 30 books relating to the railways of Cumbria, as well as quarterly journals and newsletters.

This exhibition provides an insight into what the CRA does and has achieved. It also shows images from our photographic collection highlighting some of the changes to the railways in Cumbria over the past fifty years and views of the now closed Penrith to Cockermouth/Workington railway line.

This community gallery exhibition is free to enter, and will be on display throughout November and December 2026.

Why not take a trip upstairs to the Keswick Museum too? We have a range of specialist books, gifts and artwork inspired by the history of the railways in our shop, plus artefacts from the historic Keswick-Threlkeld Railway Line (1864-1972) in our galleries.

Several items relating to Keswick’s railway heritage were researched by volunteers as part of our Tourism in Keswick project. You can explore some of these objects and stories here.

To find out more about the Cumbrian Railways Association, please visit their website.

About the Community Gallery

The Community Gallery is a dedicated exhibition space for local groups, organisations, and individuals to share their work, stories, and heritage. Since 2022, the gallery has been part of Our Community’s Voice, a project funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund. Over this time, we’ve proudly showcased a range of exhibitions from local artists, social historians, craft specialists, university researchers, and enthusiastic school groups.

The project allowed Keswick Museum to collaborate with 281 members of the community to co-curate 17 exhibitions in our Community Gallery, with over 22,000 people visiting the space over the course of the project.

The Community Gallery is located on the museum’s lower floor beside Café West at the Fitz Park level.

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