Giffen railway station

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Giffen
The remains of Giffen station in 2006
Location
Location	Near Barrmill
Area	Ayrshire
Operations
Original company	Lanarkshire and Ayrshire Railway
Pre-grouping company	Caledonian Railway
Platforms	3
History
3 September 1888	Opened as Kilbirnie Junction
1 October 1889	Renamed Giffen
4 July 1932	Closed
Disused railway stations in Scotland
Closed railway stations in Britain A B C D-F G H-J K-L M-O P-R S T-Z

Giffen railway station was a railway station approximately one mile south-west of the village of Barrmill, North Ayrshire, Scotland. The station was part of the Lanarkshire and Ayrshire Railway.

[edit] History

The station opened on 3 September 1888 and was known as Kilbirnie Junction, however it was renamed Giffen on 1 October 1889.^[1] Giffen had three platforms, a small station building, and at one point at least seven members of staff.^[2] Giffen station closed on 4 July 1932.^[1]

Today the platforms of Giffen still exist (although overgrown and in disrepair), and a single intact line runs through the station from Lugton to RNAD Beith. This track was used regularly to transport supplies into the base, however the track became disused in 1996 and the majority is now overgrown.

The track did see one more recent use on 2 September 2000 when it was used in a rail crash simulation in order to test emergency response times as a result of the Paddington rail crash in 1999.^[3]

[edit] References

1. ^ ^{a b} Butt, R.V.J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations, Patrick Stephens Ltd, Sparkford.
2. ^ *Reid, D.L. & Monahan, I.F. (eds.) (1999). Yesterday's Beith: A Pictorial Guide, Printall, Glasgow.
3. ^ "Rail disaster plan test", BBC News, 2 September 2000.

Preceding station	Historical Railways			Following station
Brackenhills Line and station closed		Caledonian Railway  Lanarkshire and Ayrshire Railway		Lugton High Line and station closed
Auchenmade Line and station closed		Caledonian Railway  Lanarkshire and Ayrshire Railway