Cairn Valley Light Railway | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
The Cairn Valley Light Railway was a rural railway line built to connect Moniaive and other communities in the Cairn Valley with the main railway network at Dumfries. It opened in 1905 but usage was disappointing, and declined further when bus companies started competing. It was closed to passengers in 1943, and completely closed in 1949.
The Glasgow and South Western Railway (G&SWR) fully opened its main line between Glasgow and Carlisle via Dumfries in 1850, revolutionising transport facilities at the places served. Communities that were by-passed began to feel disadvantages of not having a railway connection.
As early as 1865 a branch railway to Moniaive was proposed: the G&SWR paid two-thirds of the cost of a survey. [1] [ page needed ] In 1867 a determined effort was made to start construction. The cost of a line connecting Moniaive to the G&SWR was estimated at £66,000, but local promoters only got commitment to £20,150 in subscriptions. They approached the G&SWR with a request to subscribe the difference, but the G&SWR took the view that any advantages would come to the inhabitants themselves, and it was for them to put up the money. The scheme came to nothing. A further scheme was proposed in 1872, the Glencairn Railway from Auldgirth to Moniaive; this scheme obtained Parliamentary authorisation, but was unable to raise the needed capital. Another unsuccessful proposal followed in 1879.
In 1896 two proposed lines were put forward; they planned different routes. One would strike east following the valley of the Shinnel Water to connect with the G&SWR main line at Thornhill; this was the shortest path to the main line, but would involve challenging gradients. The second proposed to descend south-south-east with the Cairn Water and the Cluden Water to join the G&SWR a short distance north of Dumfries, near Holywood. While also having significant gradients this route would be more moderate, and involved easier civil engineering, and had the advantage of reaching close to the County Burgh. [1] [ page needed ] [2] [ page needed ]
This time the G&SWR was persuaded of the advantage of having the railway constructed, and it adopted the Holywood scheme. The GS&WR Act of 6 August 1897 authorised the construction (along with several other G&SWR proposals): the line was named the Cairn Valley Railway, and its estimated cost was £165,840.
The Light Railways Act 1896 (59 & 60 Vict. c. 48) had been enacted in order to permit the construction of local railways with some of the requirements for main line routes somewhat relaxed, to allow cheaper construction, and the G&SWR belatedly considered that the Cairn Valley line was well suited to the arrangement. Some changes to the route were suggested by them at this stage, but they were advised that the Act authorising the line could not be varied without a further Act of Parliament. Inaction followed until the Board resolved to apply for a Light Railway Order (LRO) for the originally determined route, on 4 October 1898; the budget was reduced to £123,857. The official process of approving the LRO was not swift, and it was finally ratified on 29 December 1899.
If the authorisation process had been slow, the construction was little better, and the permitted construction period expired on 6 August 1902; a Provisional Parliamentary Order authorised an extension for two years, and this had to be repeated for a further extension on 1 August 1904. The contractor successfully claimed compensation for unforeseen difficult ground conditions and was awarded £40,000 (over a contract price of £100,000) at arbitration. [1] [ page needed ] [2] [ page needed ]
The Directors planned an official opening of the line for 31 December 1904, but this proved impossible as the Board of Trade Inspecting Officer was unable to schedule his visit to approve the opening; a celebratory dinner took place nonetheless. In fact the ceremonial opening took place on 28 February 1905 and the full public opening of the line followed the next day, 1 March 1905. There were three passenger trains each way daily, four on Wednesdays an Saturdays, and none on the Sabbath.
At this time the main line railways were introducing railmotors, light vehicles in which a small steam engine is closely coupled to a passenger coach with through driving controls, as an economic means of operating lightly used lines. The G&SWR decided to operate the Cairn Valley line with such a vehicle, and one was built at Kilmarnock Works for the purpose. Two more followed from November 1905. Railmotor no. 3 is shown at Dumfries in a photograph following page 56 of Smith's Tales. [3]
These units were not mechanically successful, and after an unsuccessful experiment in which the steam engine of the railmotor was decoupled, operating as an ordinary steam engine, the railmotor operation was discontinued, from 1909, and conventional locomotive operation instituted. An 0-4-4T no 269 became the mainstay on the line. [2] [ page needed ]
The passenger carryings on the line did not live up to early expectation, and in fact declined from 4,800 journeys in 1906 to 3,600 in 1913, 2,500 in 1918 and dropping to 1,000 in 1923. There was little goods traffic on the rural line.
In 1921 the passenger operation was losing £1,600 annually, and from that time local bus operators started operating bus services which were more convenient, further worsening custom on the railway. [2] [ page needed ]
During the Second World War the need for economy was extreme and continuation of the passenger service was considered to be unviable; the last passenger train ran on 1 May 1943, with closure being reckoned from 3 May 1943. The sparse goods service continued, but it too was closed, on 4 July 1949. The following winter saw long stretches of the formation washed away during winter storms, and any realistic hope of reinstatement was done away with. [2] [ page needed ]
There was a serious accident on 6 January 1911 at Irongray; a passenger train and a goods train were to cross at the station; the signalman (also the Station Master) operated the loop entry points prematurely as the goods train approached, and it collided with the other train. [2] [ page needed ]
When constructed, the line had a novel signalling system, consisting of a modification of Sykes Lock and Block system for single lines, obviating train staffs, and elevated disc fixed signals. Treadles at stations verified the passage of trains and interlocked signals for conflicting moves; if a train operated the treadle at the entrance to the line to the next block post, it had to proceed, there being no method of cancelling the movement.
The system was somewhat complicated, and it was removed in 1936, being then replaced by a conventional key token system between Cairn Valley Junction (on the main line) and Dunscore. The other passing places were abolished, and the line from Dunscore to Moniaive was operated under the One Engine in Steam arrangement, with a train staff. [2] [ page needed ]
The line was 17.5 miles (28.2 km) long and there were stations at Irongray, Newtonairds, Stepford, Dunscore, Crossford and Kirkland. Irongray, Newtonairds, Dunscore and Moniaive were considered to be "stations" and had passing facilities (until 1936), while Crossford, Kirkland and Stepford were designated "stopping places", and had a simple wooden platform and small shelter for passengers. There was originally planned to have been a station at Drumpark near Newtonairds, but the requirement was removed during the construction period.
The connection with the main line was at Cairn Valley Junction, a little over a mile north of Dumfries.
The line fell all the way from Moniaive to the main line; the ruling gradient for ascending trains was 1 in 80. The vertical interval was 270 feet (82 m). There was a seven-span viaduct over the Cluden Water. [1] [ page needed ] [2] [ page needed ] [4] [ page needed ]
The line is closed and lifted.
There was little left of the railway in 2011. The wood and brick station building at Moniaive survives in use as a farm shed but is slowly disintegrating. The Moniaive station goods shed, used as a farm store, was badly damaged by fire in 2012. Most of the other stations are intact as private houses. The graceful brick built three-arch Dunscore Viaduct survives but is partly hidden by trees. Part of the old trackbed is used as a farm track in places though much has been ploughed up. Near Dunscore a deep cutting has been filled in with stone waste.
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.
The Portpatrick and Wigtownshire Joint Railways was a network of railway lines serving sparsely populated areas of south-west Scotland. The title appeared in 1885 when the previously independent Portpatrick Railway (PPR) and Wigtownshire Railway (WR) companies were amalgamated by Act of Parliament into a new company jointly owned by the Caledonian Railway, Glasgow & South Western Railway, Midland Railway and the London & North Western Railway and managed by a committee called the Portpatrick and Wigtownshire Joint Committee.
The Castle Douglas and Dumfries Railway was a railway in Galloway in the south west of Scotland which linked Castle Douglas in Kirkcudbrightshire to Dumfries.
The Glasgow, Dumfries and Carlisle Railway was a railway company in Scotland, which constructed the line from near Cumnock to Gretna Junction, forming the route from Glasgow to Carlisle via Dumfries, in association with other lines. Its promoters hoped it would form the only railway between central Scotland and England, but it lost out to rival companies.
Dumfries railway station serves the town of Dumfries in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. It is located on the Glasgow South Western Line. The station is owned by Network Rail and managed by ScotRail who provide all passenger train services. It is staffed on a part-time basis throughout the week.
The Glasgow and Paisley Joint Railway was the section of railway line between Glasgow Bridge Street railway station and Paisley, in the west of Scotland. It was constructed and operated jointly by two competing railway companies as the stem of their lines to Greenock and Ayr respectively, and it opened in 1840. The Joint Committee, which controlled the line, built a branch to Govan and later to Cessnock Dock, and then Prince's Dock.
The Maidens and Dunure Light Railway was a railway in Ayrshire, Scotland built to open up coastal communities by connecting them to the main line railway network.
Catrine railway station served the village of Catrine in East Ayrshire, Scotland. Open 1903–1943, except for a temporary closure, the station was the only one on the Catrine branch line of the Glasgow and South Western Railway (G&SWR).
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 Ayr and Dalmellington Railway was a railway company in Scotland, which connected the growing ironworks community around Dalmellington with Ayr, in Ayrshire, Scotland. Its route was originally planned by the Ayrshire and Galloway Railway as part of a scheme to link Ayr with Castle Douglas, but lack of funds limited the construction to a very short section connecting the iron and coal pits of the Dalmellington Iron Company with its iron works, opening in 1849.
The Caledonian Railway main line in Scotland connected Glasgow and Edinburgh with Carlisle, via Carstairs and Beattock.
The Maybole and Girvan Junction Railway was a railway company that constructed a line between Maybole and Girvan. Although promoted independently, it was supported by the Glasgow and South Western Railway, and was seen as part of a trunk line connecting Glasgow with a ferry port for the north of Ireland.
Dunscore is a small village which lies 9 miles (14 km) northwest of Dumfries on the B729, in Dumfriesshire, in the District Council Region of Dumfries and Galloway, southwest Scotland.
Crossford is a closed station of the Cairn Valley Light Railway branch, from Dumfries. It served the rural area of Crossford in Dumfries and Galloway The line was closed to passengers in 1943.
Moniaive railway station is the closed station terminus of the Cairn Valley Light Railway (CVR) branch, from Dumfries. It served the rural area of Moniaive in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland.
The Dumfries, Lochmaben and Lockerbie Railway was a railway in Dumfriesshire, Scotland. It connected Dumfries with Lockerbie via Lochmaben. Promoted independently, it was absorbed by the Caledonian Railway to give access to Dumfriesshire and later to Portpatrick for the Irish ferry service. It opened in 1863, closed to ordinary passenger services in 1952, and closed completely in 1966.
Dunscore (NX858840) was one of the four principal stations on the Cairn Valley Light Railway (CVR) branch, from Dumfries. It served the rural area of Dunscore in Dumfries and Galloway. The line was closed to passengers during the war in WW2.
Kirkland railway station (NX810897) was one of the minor stations on the Cairn Valley Light Railway branch, from Dumfries. It served the rural area around Kirkland as a request stop, close to the terminus at Moniaive in Dumfries and Galloway The line was closed to passengers during WW2.
Irongray was one of the principal stations on the Cairn Valley Light Railway branch, from Dumfries. It served a rural area in Dumfries and Galloway The line was closed to passengers during WW2. Cairn Valley Junction lay to the east.
The Glasgow and South Western Railway operated a number of cross-country lines in Ayrshire.