The line was one of the fruits of the rapid industrialisation of West Cumberland in the second half of the nineteenth century, specifically being born as a reaction to oligopolistic behaviour by the London and North Western and Whitehaven, Cleator and Egremont Railways. The station was on the line from to. Both line and station opened to passengers on 1 October 1879. All lines in the area were primarily aimed at mineral traffic, notably iron ore, coal and limestone, none more so than the new line to Workington, which earned the local name "The Track of the Ironmasters". General goods and passenger services were provided, but were very small beer compared with mineral traffic. The founding Act of Parliament of June 1878 confirmed the company's agreement with the Furness Railway that the latter would operate the line for one third of the receipts.
Services
Passenger trains consisted of antiquated Furness stock hauled largely by elderly Furness engines referred to as "rolling ruins" by one author after a footplate ride in 1949. No Sunday passenger service was ever provided on the line. The initial passenger service in 1879 consisted of
two Up trains a day, leaving at 09:20 and 13:45, calling at, Moresby Parks,, High Harrington and terminating at Workington, taking 30 minutes in all.
they returned as Down trains, leaving Workington at 10:30 and 16:00
In 1880 the extension northwards to was opened. The service was extended to run to and from Siddick and an extra train was added, with
three up trains a day, leaving Moor Row at 07:40, 10:12 and 14:45, taking 30 minutes to Workington and an extra four to proceed to Siddick, where connections were made with the MCR.
Down trains left Siddick at 08:45, 12:22 and 17:00
five up trains a day from Moor Row through to Siddick, leaving Moor Row at 07:20, 09:50, 13:15, 16:50 and 1820.
one train Mondays to Fridays Only from Moor Row to Workington, leaving at 13:45 and also calling at, making that halt qualify as a publicly advertised passenger station
one Saturdays Only train leaving Cleator Moor at 12:50 for Workington
one Saturdays Only train leaving Moor Row at 19:35 for Workington
There was one fewer Down train, as the 09:50 Up was provided to give a connection at Siddick with a fast MCR train to with connections beyond. Two Saturdays Only trains left at 16:05 and 21:35 for Workington, calling at Distington and High Harrington, with balancing workings leaving Workington at 15:30 and 21:00. There were also trains using the Lowca Light Railway plying between and Workington; they turned off the main line at Harrington Junction and therefore served no "pure" C&WJR stations other than Workington Central. As with advertised passenger trains, in 1920 workmen's trains ran on the company's three southern routes:
between Workington Central and Lowca using the Lowca Light Railway
between and on the single track "Baird's Line", and
on the "main line" between Siddick Junction and Moor Row
* from Siddick Junction to Moor Row, calling at all passenger stations except Moresby Parks, calling at instead
* from Moor Row to, calling at Cleator Moor and
The situation in 1922 was similar. The 1920 Working Time Table shows relatively few Goods trains, with just one a day in each direction booked to call at High Harrington. Mineral traffic was an altogether different matter, dwarfing all other traffic in volume, receipts and profits. The key source summarises it "...the 'Track of the Ironmasters' ran like a main traffic artery through an area honeycombed with mines, quarries and ironworks." The associated drama was all the greater because all the company's lines abounded with steep inclines and sharp curves, frequently requiring banking. The saving grace was that south of Workington at least, most gradients favoured loaded trains. During the First World War especially, the company ran "Double Trains", akin to North American practice, with two mineral trains coupled together and a banking engine behind, i.e. locomotive-wagons-guards van-locomotive-wagons-guards van-banker. Such trains worked regularly between and. The practice was discontinued after dark from 1 April 1918. Most stations on the company's lines had heavy industrial neighbours, such as ironworks next to Cleator Moor West, or served primarily industrial workforces, such as Keekle Colliers' Platform. Throughout its working life High Harrington was more isolated, with heavy industry visible but not next to the station. By 2013 the station site was flanked substantial housing estates. Like any business tied to one or few industries, the railway was at the mercy of trade fluctuations and technological change. The Cumberland iron industry led the charge in the nineteenth century, but became less and less competitive as time passed and local ore became worked out and harder to win, taking the fortunes of the railway with it. The peak year was 1909, when 1,644,514 tons of freight were handled. Ominously for the line, that tonnage was down to just over 800,000 by 1922, bringing receipts of £83,349, compared with passenger fares totalling £6,570.
Rundown and closure
The high water mark for tonnage was 1909, the high water mark for progress was 1913, with the opening of the Harrington and Lowca line for passenger traffic. A chronology of the line's affairs from 1876 to 1992 has almost no entries before 1914 which fail to include "opened" or "commenced". After 1918 the position was reversed, when the litany of step-by-step closures and withdrawals was relieved only by a control cabin and a signalbox being erected in 1919 and the Admiralty saving the northern extension in 1937 by establishing an armaments depot at Broughton. High Harrington station closed on 13 April 1931 when normal passenger traffic ended along the line. Diversions and specials, for example to football matches, made use of the line, but it was not easy to use as a through north-south route because all such trains would have to reverse at Moor Row or. An enthusiasts' special ran through on 6 September 1954, the only one to do so using main line passenger stock. The next such train to traverse any C&WJR metals did so in 1966 at the northend of the line, three years after the line through High Harrington closed.
Afterlife
By 2013 aerial images clearly show the line of route and that the area around the station site had been transformed by housing. The trackbed through the station site was used by the West Cumbria Cycle Network.
