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The Ardrossan Railway was a
In the first years of the 19th century, the 12th Earl of Eglinton developed
railway
Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...
company in Scotland
Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...
, whose line was built in the mid-19th century. It primarily ran services between Kilwinning
Kilwinning (, ; ) is a town in North Ayrshire, Scotland. It is located on the banks of the River Garnock in Ayrshire, west/central Scotland, about southwest of Glasgow. Kilwinning's neighbours are the coastal towns of Stevenston to the west an ...
and Ardrossan
Ardrossan (; ) is a town on the North Ayrshire coast in southwestern Scotland. The town has a population of 10,670 and forms part of a conurbation with Saltcoats and Stevenston known as the 'Three Towns#Scotland, Three Towns'. Ardrossan is loca ...
, as well as freight services to and from collieries
Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground or from a mine. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extrac ...
between Kilwinning and Perceton
Perceton is a medieval settlement and old country estate in North Ayrshire, Scotland, near the town of Irvine. The ruined church in Perceton is one of the oldest buildings in the Irvine district. The earliest legible gravestone dates from 1698, th ...
. The line was later merged with the Glasgow and South Western Railway
The Glasgow and South Western Railway (G&SWR) was the third biggest of the five major Scottish railway companies prior to the 1923 Grouping. It served a triangular area of south-west Scotland between Glasgow, Stranraer and Carlisle, Cumbria, Ca ...
, and is today part of the Ayrshire Coast Line
The Ayrshire Coast Line is one of the lines within the Strathclyde suburban Railway, rail network in Scotland. It has 26 stations and connects the Ayrshire coast to Glasgow. There are three branches, to , and , all running into the high leve ...
.
History
In the first years of the 19th century, the 12th Earl of Eglinton developed Ardrossan
Ardrossan (; ) is a town on the North Ayrshire coast in southwestern Scotland. The town has a population of 10,670 and forms part of a conurbation with Saltcoats and Stevenston known as the 'Three Towns#Scotland, Three Towns'. Ardrossan is loca ...
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
The River Clyde (, ) is a river that flows into the Firth of Clyde, in the west of Scotland. It is the eighth-longest river in the United Kingdom, and the second longest in Scotland after the River Tay. It runs through the city of Glasgow. Th ...
was not navigable to large vessels, and he proposed a canal to reach Ardrossan. In 1806 he obtained authority in the Glasgow, Paisley and Ardrossan Canal Act 1806 ( 46 Geo. 3. c. lxxv) to construct the Glasgow, Paisley and Ardrossan Canal
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 wa ...
. 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
Johnstone (,
) is a town in the
) is a town in the
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
Part of Ayrshire
(top left Section) 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
Sheet XVI
an
Sheet XVII
Survey date: 1856. The railway provided a route to the huge
Early Scottish Railways and Stone Sleepers
{{Historical Scottish railway companies Pre-grouping British railway companies Early Scottish railway companies Glasgow and South Western Railway 4 ft 6 in gauge railways in Scotland Standard gauge railways in Scotland Railway lines opened in 1831 Horse-drawn railways 1831 establishments in Scotland 1817 establishments in Scotland Railway companies established in 1817 Railway companies disestablished in 1854 British companies established in 1817 British companies disestablished in 1854 Ardrossan−Saltcoats−Stevenston Kilwinning History of North Ayrshire
Eglinton Castle
Eglinton Castle was a large Gothic castellated mansion in Kilwinning, North Ayrshire, Scotland.
History
The castle
The ancient seat of the Earls of Eglinton, it is located just south of the town of Kilwinning. The original Eglinton Castle w ...
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 (later sometimes referred to as the Scotch gauge
Scotch most commonly refers to:
* Scotch (adjective), a largely obsolescent adjective meaning "of or from Scotland"
**Scotch, old-fashioned name for the indigenous languages of the Scottish people:
*** Scots language ("Broad Scotch")
*** Scottish ...
).David Ross, ''The Glasgow and South Western Railway: A History'', Stenlake Publishing Limited, Catrine, 2104, For passenger services, a carriage held 24 passengers; 16 inside and 8 outside.C J A Robertson, ''The Origins of the Scottish Railway System, 1722 - 1844'', John Donald Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh, 1983, Lewin, pages 17 - 18
The rail was of the fish-bellied type, weighing , supported at a pitch of 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 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.Whishaw
In 1839 the railway was upgraded to standard gauge with heavier rails, and gradients on the main line improved.
Route
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,''John Thomson's Atlas of Scotland'', 1832, Imprint: Edinburgh : J. Thomson & Co., 1828Part of Ayrshire
(top left Section) 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
The River Garnock (), the smallest of Ayrshire's six principal rivers, has its source on the southerly side of the Hill of Stake in the heart of the Clyde Muirshiel Regional Park. About a mile and a half south of this starting point the untested s ...
(at Dirrans), then turned northeast to serve a broad arc of collieries to the north of the grounds of Eglinton Castle
Eglinton Castle was a large Gothic castellated mansion in Kilwinning, North Ayrshire, Scotland.
History
The castle
The ancient seat of the Earls of Eglinton, it is located just south of the town of Kilwinning. The original Eglinton Castle w ...
. 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
Benslie is a small village in North Ayrshire, in the parish of Kilwinning, Scotland. Map reference NS 336 429.
History
This village, previously Benislay (1205),Eglinton Country Park archive. Beinslay (Timothy Pont 1604 - 08),Pont, Timothy (1604 ...
pit then ended turning north to coal pits at Doura. The mineral line was later extended south to coal and fireclay workings at Perceton
Perceton is a medieval settlement and old country estate in North Ayrshire, Scotland, near the town of Irvine. The ruined church in Perceton is one of the oldest buildings in the Irvine district. The earliest legible gravestone dates from 1698, th ...
.Ordnance Survey, Six-inch 1st edition, AyrshireSheet XVI
an
Sheet XVII
Survey date: 1856. The railway provided a route to the huge
Eglinton Tournament of 1839
The Eglinton Tournament of 1839 was a reenactment of a medieval joust and revel held in North Ayrshire, Scotland between 28 and 30 August. It was funded and organized by Archibald, Earl of Eglinton, and took place at Eglinton Castle in Ayrshir ...
. One spectator described a crowded paddle steamer
A paddle steamer is a steamship or steamboat powered by a steam engine driving paddle wheels to propel the craft through the water. In antiquity, paddle wheelers followed the development of poles, oars and sails, whereby the first uses were wh ...
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.''"
When the Glasgow, Paisley, Kilmarnock and Ayr Railway
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 b ...
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.
Locomotive operation
In 1840 the line was regauged tostandard gauge
A standard-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge of . The standard gauge is also called Stephenson gauge (after George Stephenson), international gauge, UIC gauge, uniform gauge, normal gauge in Europe, and SGR in East Africa. It is the ...
and connected with the Glasgow, Paisley, Kilmarnock and Ayr Railway
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 b ...
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 Glasgow and South Western Railway (G&SWR) was the third biggest of the five major Scottish railway companies prior to the 1923 Grouping. It served a triangular area of south-west Scotland between Glasgow, Stranraer and Carlisle, Cumbria, Ca ...
, the Ardrossan Railway being merged into the by the ( 17 & 18 Vict. c. clxxxii).
Connections to other lines
*Glasgow, Paisley, Kilmarnock and Ayr Railway
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 b ...
at Kilwinning
Current operations
The majority of this line is still in use as part of the Largs branch, carrying passenger services marketed as theAyrshire Coast Line
The Ayrshire Coast Line is one of the lines within the Strathclyde suburban Railway, rail network in Scotland. It has 26 stations and connects the Ayrshire coast to Glasgow. There are three branches, to , and , all running into the high leve ...
. 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).
References
Further reading
* * . * * *External links
Early Scottish Railways and Stone Sleepers
{{Historical Scottish railway companies Pre-grouping British railway companies Early Scottish railway companies Glasgow and South Western Railway 4 ft 6 in gauge railways in Scotland Standard gauge railways in Scotland Railway lines opened in 1831 Horse-drawn railways 1831 establishments in Scotland 1817 establishments in Scotland Railway companies established in 1817 Railway companies disestablished in 1854 British companies established in 1817 British companies disestablished in 1854 Ardrossan−Saltcoats−Stevenston Kilwinning History of North Ayrshire