Wanlockhead | |
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General information | |
Location | South Lanarkshire Scotland |
Grid reference | NS 87419 12607 |
Platforms | 1 |
Other information | |
Status | Disused |
History | |
Pre-grouping | Caledonian Railway |
Post-grouping | London Midland and Scottish Railway |
Key dates | |
19 September 1902 | Open to freight [1] |
1 October 1902 | Station opens to passengers [2] |
31 December 1938 [3] | Last passenger train |
2 January 1939 | Line officially closed to passengers and goods [4] [5] |
Wanlockhead railway station was opened on 1 October 1902 [2] as the terminus on the Leadhills and Wanlockhead Light Railway and served the lead mining area, farms and the village of Wanlockhead. Elvanfoot railway station in South Lanarkshire was the junction for the branch and was located on the west coast main line. It remained open until 2 January 1939 for passengers and freight. [2] When Wanlockhead station opened in 1902, a year after Leadhills station, it became the highest standard gauge adhesion station in the United Kingdom at 1,413 ft (431 m), 7 miles 24 chains (11.7 kilometres) from Elvanfoot. [6] [7]
Leadhills and Wanlockhead Branch | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Operated by the Caledonian Railway, it became part of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway during the Grouping of 1923. The line had been closed and lifted before the Scottish Region of British Railways came into existence upon nationalisation in 1948. [5] The line suffered greatly from the closure of the lead mines and passenger traffic was slight, although the station was located near to the small village of Wanlockhead.
To save money, the platform was only slightly raised at Wanlockhead. It was demarcated by a wooden fence. Carriages were fitted with three levels step board which folded down to enable passengers to alight and board at the station.
The station had a 100 yd (91 m) passing loop, [8] a single siding served a loading bank and a goods shed. [8] The waiting room, stationmaster's office, ticket office and men's toilet were located in a wooden lean-to building built along the long side of the goods shed. [9] No signals were present, however a telephone was provided. [9] The points were worked manually by the train crews as there wasn't a signal box. In 1916 a new siding was installed at the north side of the line. [10]
The line officially closed to all traffic on 2 January 1939. By April 1939, the track had been lifted and all buildings at the station demolished. [3]
The Leadhills and Wanlockhead Railway narrow gauge line and station are to be extended from Glengonnar Halt towards the site of the old station and its trackbed in the near future (datum 2019). [6]
Preceding station | Historical railways | Following station | ||
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Leadhills | Caledonian Railway Leadhills and Wanlockhead Branch | Terminus |
The Ashover Light Railway was a 1 ft 11+1⁄2 in narrow gauge railway in Derbyshire, England that connected Clay Cross and Ashover. It was built by the Clay Cross Company to transport minerals such as limestone, fluorite, barytes and gritstone to its works at Clay Cross and for transport around the country by the LMS.
The Leadhills and Wanlockhead Railway is a 2 ft narrow gauge railway in South Lanarkshire, Scotland. It is laid on the trackbed of the former Leadhills and Wanlockhead Branch of the Caledonian Railway which led off the main line between Carlisle and Glasgow at Elvanfoot.
Auchenmade railway station was a railway station approximately three miles (4.8 km) north-east of Kilwinning on the B707, North Ayrshire, Scotland. It served the hamlet of Auchentiber and the surrounding rural area as part of the Lanarkshire and Ayrshire Railway. The station was 6.75 miles (10.86 km) from the Lugton East Junction.
The Leadhills and Wanlockhead Light Railway was a short branch railway built in Scotland to serve mining settlements, high in the Lowther Hills, connecting them to the Carlisle - Carstairs main line. The line was opened in 1901 - 1902, and was the highest standard gauge railway line in the British Isles. Hoped-for developments did not emerge, and when the world lead price slumped in the 1920s, the line sustained heavy losses. It was closed on 2 January 1939.
Elvanfoot railway station was a station which served Elvanfoot, in the Scottish county of South Lanarkshire. It was served by local trains on what is now known as the West Coast Main Line.
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Lissens Goods station or Lissens Sidings station was a railway freight facility located approximately two miles north-east of Kilwinning, North Ayrshire, Scotland. It served the industrial and agricultural requirements for transportation in the vicinity of Auchenmade and the surrounding rural area on behalf of the Lanarkshire and Ayrshire Railway. Lissens Goods was around seven miles from the Lugton East Junction and the railway workers employed here were supervised by staff from the nearby Auchenmade Station, the nearest passenger and goods station on the up line towards Lugton and Glasgow.
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Colinton railway station was opened in 1874 and served the area of the then village of Colinton that now forms part of the city of Edinburgh, with Colinton House nearby. Although primarily built as a goods line to serve the many mills on the Water of Leith, a passenger service was provided by the Caledonian Railway using the Balerno Loop and after grouping by the London, Midland and Scottish Railway, seeing formal closure to passenger traffic shortly after nationalisation.
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Leadhills railway station was opened on 1 October 1901 as the intermediate stop on the Leadhills and Wanlockhead Light Railway and served the lead mining area, farms and the village of Leadhills circa 5.5 miles (8.9 km) WSW of Elvanfoot railway station in South Lanarkshire until 2 January 1939 for passengers and freight. Until Wanlockhead station opened Leadhills was the highest standard gauge adhesion station in the United Kingdom.