Prior to the expansion and improvement works authorised under the Carlisle Citadel Station Act of 1873, the Glasgow and South-Western Railway (G&SWR) used the locomotive stabling and servicing facilities of the Caledonian Railway (CR), which were located at the northeast end of Citadel Station. However, this site was to be cleared in order to facilitate significant alterations to the track layout north of the station. The Act authorised the construction of replacement facilities at Etterby, but the Midland Railway (the G&SWR's key business partner for Anglo-Scottish traffic) offered to construct suitable facilities in a spare corner of its land beside the Petteril Bridge Goods Depot.
The construction contract was awarded to John Bayliss, who also held the contract for the construction of the goods depot and the Midland's own locomotive facilities at nearby Durran Hill. Work on the urgently needed 'temporary' engine shed progressed quickly, but on the night of the 20th/21st January 1875 (just a few weeks before the facilities were due to be handed over), a great storm hit the Carlisle area and it completely demolished the almost finished G&SWR engine shed. The structure was quickly rebuilt and it was ready for use just a few months later.
(Extract reproduced courtesy of Carlisle Library © cumbriaimagebank.)
A building believed to be the G&SWR's 'temporary' engine shed at Petteril Bridge is depicted on "Arthur's Plan of Carlisle" published in 1880 (see Figure 1). A second (slightly smaller) structure is depicted alongside it and this was probably either a more substantial (permanent) engine shed, or some sort of maintenance / repair shop for G&SWR use. However, we've not yet found 'primary source' evidence to confirm this hypothesis.
The G&SWR used the locomotive facilities at Petteril Bridge for two decades, but doing so incurred a significant ongoing expense (in terms of rent payments to the Midland Railway Company and track access payments to the North-Eastern Railway Company). Also, the constraints of the site prevented any significant expansion of the G&SWR's facilities and this began to cause operational difficulties. In order to address these issues, the G&WSR purchased some land beside the River Caldew (to the south of the city) and constructed "engine sheds more in accordance with the wants of their system". The necessary works (and the associated running powers over the nearby Maryport and Carlisle Railway) were authorised via the Glasgow and South Western Railway Act of 1895 and the new facilities (known as 'Currock') opened in December 1895.
Photographic evidence suggests that the G&SWR's 'temporary' engine shed at Petteril Bridge was demolished prior to the end of 1897. The second (more substantial) structure was almost certainly retained (and subsequently re-purposed to become the Petteril Bridge Rifle Range & Mission Hall).