Barrhead Branch

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Barrhead Branch
exLUECKE
- - Paisley Canal Line
exBHF
Paisley West
exABZlf exSTRlg
Corsebar Junction
exSTR exABZfg exHSTR exSTRlg
Meiklerigs Junction
exABZrg exSTRrf exSTR
Potterhill Junction
exLUECKE exSTR
- - Paisley Canal Line
exBHF
Potterhill
exLUECKE exSTR
- - Paisley and Barrhead District Railway
exKDSr exKRZo exHSTR exABZrf
Gleniffer Goods Depot
exSTRlf exABZlr exKRZu exHLUECKE
- - Paisley and Barrhead District Railway
exSTRrg exKRZo exABZrl exSTRlg
exSTR exSTRlf exSTRlg exSTR
STRrg xKRZu eABZ3rg xKRZo eABZ3lf
- - Glasgow, Barrhead and Kilmarnock Joint Railway
STR exABZrg exSTRrf exSTR
STR exSTR exBHF
Barrhead (New)
STR exKBFe exSTR
Barrhead Central
BHF exSTR
Barrhead
STR exLUECKE
- - Paisley and Barrhead District Railway
LUECKE
- - Glasgow, Barrhead and Kilmarnock Joint Railway

The Barrhead Branch was a short lived branch line of the Glasgow and South Western Railway in Scotland] that connected the G&SWR Paisley Canal Branch to the G&SWR / CR Glasgow, Barrhead and Kilmarnock Joint Railway.


Contents

[edit] History

1923 map of central Barrhead showing the railway lines
1923 map of central Barrhead showing the railway lines

The line opened on 1 June 1886.[1] Passenger services ceased between Barrhead and Potterhill in 1913. After Potterhill closed to passengers on 1 January 1917,[2] freight trains continued to use the line for some time, including trains delivering to the nearby Cadbury's Depot until the late 1960s.[3] The line closed on 2 March 1970.[4][5]

There was one passenger train after 1917; a rail tour operated by the Stephenson Locomotive Society on 1 September 1951. [6] [7] The train started at Paisley East Goods on the Paisley and Barrhead District Railway at Cecil Street and made its way to Barrhead South. It then travelled , via Elderslie and Johnstone to Paisley West, and from there to the goods station at Gleniffer Depot on the Barrhead Branch. On the return journey, the train called at Paisley for some of the passengers to alight, and then continued to St Enoch railway station.[8]

[edit] Description of route

The line started at Paisley West railway station. There was only one intermediate railway station at Potterhill and a short branch to Gleniffer Goods Depot that served Glenfield works (Fulton Textile Mills) which closed in 1966.[3] A very large stone bridge, still visible today was built where the branch crossed the Paisley and Barrhead District Railway near Caplethill Road, Paisley.[9] It had a terminus independent of the Caledonian Railway at Barrhead Central. It is possible to follow the route of the former railway from Paisley West to Potterhill on the current online Ordnance Survey map by entering grid reference NS479627.[10]

[edit] Connections with other lines

There was no connection with Paisley and Barrhead District Railway which was routed close by with several bridges over the G&SW Barrhead Branch.


[edit] References

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Butt, page 190
  2. ^ Butt
  3. ^ a b Wham
  4. ^ Closed railway lines in Britain and Ireland - Scotland. Retrieved on 2007-09-19.
  5. ^ Gammell
  6. ^ Seller and Stevenson
  7. ^ Photographs of only passenger train journey in 1951. Retrieved on 2007-10-06.
  8. ^ The Railway Magazine
  9. ^ Barrhead Branch web page
  10. ^ Ordnance Survey map. Retrieved on 2007-11-08.

[edit] Sources

  • Butt, R.V.J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations: details every public and private passenger station, halt, platform and stopping place, past and present, 1st, Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 1-8526-0508-1. OCLC 60251199. 
  • Seller, W.S.; Stevenson, J.L. (1980). The Last Trains, Volume 2: Glasgow & Central Scotland. Edinburgh: Moorfoot Publishing. ISBN 0-9066-0602-0. OCLC 25917538. 
  • Stansfield, G. (1999). Ayrshire & Renfrewshire's Lost Railways. Ochiltree: Stenlake Publishing. ISBN 1-8403-3077-5. 
  • The Railway Magazine Nov 1951 issue page 784
  • Wham, Alasdair (2000). The Lost Railway Lines South of Glasgow. Wigtown: G.C. Book Publishers. ISBN 1-8723-5008-9.