Ardrossan Railway | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
A flat bottomed and 15-foot (4.57 m) long section of Vignoles rail from the 1831 Ardrossan and Johnstone Railway. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Overview | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Locale | Scotland | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
History | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Opened | 1831 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Successor | Glasgow and South Western Railway | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Closed | 1854 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Technical | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Track gauge | 4 ft 6 in (1,372 mm) until 1840, 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
The Ardrossan Railway was a railway company in Scotland, whose line was built in the mid-19th century. It primarily ran services between Kilwinning and Ardrossan, as well as freight services to and from collieries between Kilwinning and Perceton. The line was later merged with the Glasgow and South Western Railway, and is today part of the Ayrshire Coast Line.
In the first years of the nineteenth century, the 12th Earl of Eglinton developed Ardrossan Harbour, intending it as a sea port for the City of Glasgow. The extensive works he had carried out cost over £100,000. At that time the River Clyde was not navigable to large vessels, and he proposed a canal to reach Ardrossan. In 1806 he obtained parliamentary authority to construct the Glasgow, Paisley and Ardrossan Canal. The authorised share capital was £140,000, but subscriptions disappointed him, amounting to only £44,342. Work proceeded from the Glasgow end, but the canal only reached Johnstone, all of the available money having been expended and debts of £71,209 incurred.
Glasgow, Paisley and Ardrossan Canal and Railway Act 1827 | |
---|---|
Act of Parliament | |
![]() | |
Citation | 7 & 8 Geo. 4. c. lxxxvii |
Dates | |
Royal assent | 14 June 1827 |
Text of statute as originally enacted |
The truncated canal traded for some years, but in the 1820s the idea was proposed to build a railway to close the gap. The Glasgow, Paisley and Ardrossan Canal and Railway Act 1827 (7 & 8 Geo. 4. c. lxxxvii) was obtained on 14 June 1827, the estimate for the work being £94,093; the debt of the canal enterprise was not assumed by the new railway company.
Once again subscriptions fell short of the desired value: they amounted to only £28,950, but work started, from the Ardrossan end, and once again the money was entirely expended, this time with debts of £20,000, after only part of the scheme was built. It reached only from Ardrossan to Kilwinning, but with a long eastward branch in an arc to the north of the grounds of Eglinton Castle that served collieries—most of them part of Eglinton's estate. By now the Clyde had been deepened and sea-going vessels could reach Glasgow. In comparison, even had the railway been completed, cargoes via Ardrossan would have required transshipment twice (from ship to railway and from railway to canal), and it was clear that shipping owners would find that unattractive. It is likely that the emphasis had shifted from making the Glasgow connection.
The line opened in 1831; it was horse-operated and the track gauge 4 ft 6 in (1,372 mm) (later sometimes referred to as the Scotch gauge). [1] For passenger services, a carriage held 24 passengers; 16 inside and 8 outside. [2] [3]
The rail was of the fish-bellied type, weighing 28 lb/yd (13.9 kg/m), supported at a pitch of 3 feet (0.91 m) on small freestone blocks. The principal goods traffic was coal from the collieries served; Whishaw says that "The amount of coals from the Eglinton coal-field is stated to be about 80,000 long tons (90,000 short tons; 81,000 t) per annum ; and the average number of passengers, for the three years ending September 1839, about 31,000 annually. There are about 440 wagons in use on this line, which belong to the coal-proprietors." That is, the line provided the track for hauliers to use, for a toll.
He goes on, "The carriages hitherto used on this line were drawn by horses; each carriage holding twenty-four passengers, viz. sixteen inside and eight outside ... The outside seats are on the same level as those within; the one being in front, the other behind. ... Previously to November 1838, the passenger's fare was set at the rate of one penny per mile; but was raised in consequence of the Government duty to 8d. per six miles, or 1.333d. per mile." About a hundred passengers a day is a remarkable number for a line with a limited network. [4]
In 1839 the railway was upgraded to standard gauge with heavier rails, and gradients on the main line improved. [4]
The main line of the railway followed the route towards Johnstone shown in John Thomson's Atlas of Scotland. From Ardrossan, the proposed line goes east through Saltcoats then to the south of Stevenston before turning north between Dubbs and Todhills to pass to the west of Kilwinning, [5] where the railway terminated. The Doura mineral railway branch to collieries ran east from a junction north of Dubbs (Dubbs Junction) to a bridge across the River Garnock (at Dirrans), then turned northeast to serve a broad arc of collieries to the north of the grounds of Eglinton Castle. After passing Eglinton Colliery and Corsehill Head, the track turned east to a bridge over Lugton Water before a branch line north to the Fergushill colliery. The mineral railway continued southeast past Benslie pit then ended turning north to coal pits at Doura. The mineral line was later extended south to coal and fireclay workings at Perceton. [4] [6]
The railway provided a route to the huge Eglinton Tournament of 1839. One spectator described a crowded paddle steamer from Liverpool which landed at Ardrossan pier: "Disembarking, we seized upon a sort of carriage which plied upon a coal train and carried a large assortment of passengers, all drawn by one horse, and set out for the little town of Irvine." [7]
When the Glasgow, Paisley, Kilmarnock and Ayr Railway was opened in 1840, the Ardrossan railway now became a branch line joining this new railway at Kilwinning, and the new line south from Kilwinning to Irvine crossed over the Doura branch line a short distance to the west of the Garnock bridge. [6]
In 1840 the line was regauged to standard gauge and connected with the Glasgow, Paisley, Kilmarnock and Ayr Railway at Kilwinning station. The permanent way was largely relaid with heavier equipment to accommodate locomotive operation, and the line was doubled. In 1854 both lines merged with the new Glasgow and South Western Railway.
The majority of this line is still in use as part of the Largs branch, carrying passenger services marketed as the Ayrshire Coast Line. The Doura branch from Dubbs closed, and the short section at Ardrossan which later served Ardrossan Winton Pier railway station was shortened to Ardrossan Harbour railway station).
The Glasgow, Paisley and Ardrossan Canal, later known as the Glasgow, Paisley and Johnstone Canal, was a canal in the west of Scotland, running between Glasgow, Paisley and Johnstone which later became a railway. Despite the name, the canal was never completed down to Ardrossan, the termini being Port Eglinton in Glasgow and Thorn Brae in Johnstone. Within months of opening, the canal was the scene of a major disaster.
The Glasgow and South Western Railway (G&SWR) was a railway company in Scotland. It served a triangular area of south-west Scotland between Glasgow, Stranraer and Carlisle. It was formed on 28 October 1850 by the merger of two earlier railways, the Glasgow, Paisley, Kilmarnock and Ayr Railway and the Glasgow, Dumfries and Carlisle Railway. Already established in Ayrshire, it consolidated its position there and extended southwards, eventually reaching Stranraer. Its main business was mineral traffic, especially coal, and passengers, but its more southerly territory was very thinly populated and local traffic, passenger and goods, was limited, while operationally parts of its network were difficult.
Kilwinning is a town in North Ayrshire, Scotland. It is on the River Garnock, north of Irvine, about 21 miles (34 km) southwest of Glasgow. It is known as "The Crossroads of Ayrshire". Kilwinning was also a Civil Parish. The 2001 Census recorded the town as having a population of 15,908. The estimated population in 2016 was 16,460.
The Ayrshire Coast Line is one of the lines within the Strathclyde suburban rail network in Scotland. It has 26 stations and connects the Ayrshire coast to Glasgow. There are three branches, to Largs, Ardrossan Harbour and Ayr, all running into the high level at Glasgow Central.
The Paisley Canal line is a branch railway line in Scotland running between Glasgow and Paisley. The line currently terminates at Paisley Canal railway station, although it previously continued through Paisley West station, near Ferguslie, to Elderslie junction where it met and crossed under the main Glasgow and South Western Railway line running from Paisley Gilmour Street station to Johnstone, and beyond. After Elderslie, the line terminated at North Johnstone, however another junction allowed services from the Paisley Canal line to continue onto the Bridge of Weir Railway and Greenock and Ayrshire Railway to the latter's terminus at Greenock Princes Pier.
Kilwinning railway station is a railway station serving the town of Kilwinning, North Ayrshire, Scotland. The station is managed by ScotRail and is on the Ayrshire Coast Line 26 miles (42 km) south of Glasgow Central, as well as the Glasgow South Western Line 69 miles (111 km) north of Stranraer. British Transport Police maintain an office here.
Barassie railway station is a railway station serving Barassie, South Ayrshire, Scotland. The station is managed by ScotRail and is on the Ayrshire Coast Line.
The Lanarkshire and Ayrshire Railway (L&AR) was an independent railway company built to provide the Caledonian Railway with a shorter route for mineral traffic from the coalfields of Lanarkshire to Ardrossan Harbour, in Scotland.
The Dalry and North Johnstone Line was a branch of the Glasgow and South Western Railway (G&SWR) in Renfrewshire and Ayrshire, Scotland, connecting the stations in Elderslie and Dalry via a route running parallel to the existing line built by the Glasgow, Paisley, Kilmarnock and Ayr Railway. This provided additional line capacity for Ayrshire Coast and Kilmarnock services. The loop line was used for passenger services until the mid-1960s, when it was closed by the Beeching Axe. The majority of the line's trackbed has since been absorbed into the Sustrans National Cycle Network.
The Glasgow, Paisley, Kilmarnock and Ayr Railway (GPK&AR) was a railway in Scotland that provided train services between Glasgow, Kilmarnock and Ayr. It opened its first line, between Glasgow and Ayr, in stages from 1839 to 1840. The section between Glasgow and Paisley was made jointly with the Glasgow, Paisley and Greenock Railway. Later it built a line from Dalry via Kilmarnock to Cumnock, linking there with the Glasgow, Dumfries and Carlisle Railway, and together forming a through route from Glasgow to Carlisle. The two companies merged to form the Glasgow and South Western Railway.
The Glasgow, Barrhead and Kilmarnock Joint Railway was a railway jointly owned by the Caledonian Railway and the Glasgow and South Western Railway, completed in 1873, and giving the latter a shorter access to its Carlisle main line. A branch to Beith was also built.
Montgreenan railway station was a railway station near the village of Benslie, three miles north east of the town of Kilwinning, North Ayrshire, Scotland. The station was opened by the Glasgow and South Western Railway on the former Glasgow, Paisley, Kilmarnock and Ayr Railway.
The Kilmarnock and Troon Railway was an early railway line in Ayrshire, Scotland. It was constructed to bring coal from pits around Kilmarnock to coastal shipping at Troon Harbour, and passengers were carried.
The Largs Branch is a railway line in Scotland, serving communities on the north Ayrshire Coast, as well as the deep water ocean terminal at Hunterston. It branches from the Glasgow to Ayr line at Kilwinning.
The Irvine New Town Trail is a recreational cycleway and footpath around Irvine, North Ayrshire, Scotland. The route is 19 kilometres (12 mi) long. The trail is used by many dog walkers and cyclists in the area.
Benslie is a small village in North Ayrshire, in the parish of Kilwinning, Scotland. Map reference NS 336 429.
Fergushill is a small community in North Ayrshire, Parish of Kilwinning, Scotland. The Barony of Fergushill was held by the Fergushill family of that Ilk and the area has a complex history.
The Eglinton Castle estate was situated at Irvine, on the outskirts of Kilwinning, North Ayrshire, Scotland in the former district of Cunninghame. Eglinton Castle, was once home to the Montgomeries, Earls of Eglinton and chiefs of the Clan Montgomery. Eglinton Country Park now occupies part of the site.
The Lands of Doura, Dawra, Dawray, DowreyDowray, Dourey or Douray formed a small estate, at one time part of the Barony of Corsehill and Doura, situated near the Eglinton Estate in the Parish of Kilwinning, North Ayrshire, Scotland.
The Glasgow and South Western Railway operated a number of cross-country lines in Ayrshire.