 When Coniston Lake (as Coniston station was originally called) opened in 1858 Barrow was at its early stages of emergence as an industrial town, with Ulverston (then commonly written as "Ulverstone") remaining the local market town, as it had since the Middle Ages.The May 1865 Down (towards Coniston Lake) timetable shows three arrivals at Coniston Lake - morning midday and evening - from Monday to Saturday (the days are implied, not stated) with two on Sundays; all these trains travelled direct from Ulverstone, with connections shuttling between Barrow and Ulverstone along what was described as "The Barrow Branch.