Glasgow and South Western Railway
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Glasgow and South Western Railway
Locale	Scotland
Dates of operation	1850–1923
Predecessor	Glasgow, Paisley Kilmarnock and Ayr and Glasgow, Dumfries and Carlisle Railways
Successor	London, Midland and Scottish Railway
Track gauge	4 ft 8½ in (1,435 mm) (standard gauge)
Length	1,128 miles (1,815 km)
Headquarters	Glasgow

The Glasgow and South Western Railway (G&SWR), one of the pre-grouping railway companies, served a triangular area of south-west Scotland, between Glasgow, Stranraer and Carlisle. It assumed its title following an amalgamation in 1850¹ and became a constituent of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway at the 1923 grouping of the railways.

Extent

The main line ran from Glasgow along the west coast and to Gretna. The railway also served Paisley, Greenock, Ardrossan, Troon and the ports on the west coast, between which it had regular steamer services. It also owned the harbours at Troon and Ayr. The headquarters were at St Enoch Station, Glasgow. In 1921 the railway comprised 1,128 miles of line and the company’s capital was about £19 million.¹

The G&SWR, in association with the Midland Railway, provided a third Anglo-Scottish route, intermediate between the West Coast and East Coast routes. It was as a result of the Midland connection that Glasgow St Enoch station was designed in a style heavily influenced by London St Pancras.

History

• The first railway in Scotland authorised by Act of Parliament (27 May 1808), which was to become part of the G&SWR, was the Kilmarnock and Troon Railway, opened in 6 July 1812, built to carry coal; it was not taken over by the G&SWR until July 1899.
• The main line between Glasgow and Carlisle was opened in stages:
  • 12 August 1840 - Glasgow, Paisley, Kilmarnock and Ayr Railway (GPK&AR) opened between Glasgow and Ayr, with a branch to Kilmarnock. The eastern end, the Glasgow and Paisley Joint Railway, was jointly owned with the Glasgow, Paisley and Greenock Railway.²
  • 4 April 1843 - Dalry - Kilmarnock.
  • ? May 1848 - Irvine - Crosshouse
  • 8 August 1848 - Kilmarnock - Muirkirk.
  • 9 August 1848 - Kilmarnock - Galston.
  • 23 August 1848 - Dumfries - Gretna Junction.
  • 20 May 1850 - Auchinleck - New Cumnock.
  • 28 October 1850 - New Cumnock - Closeburn.

On that latter date the GPK&AR amalgamated with the Glasgow, Dumfries and Carlisle Railway (GD&CR), to form what became the Glasgow and South Western Railway. Services could now operate between Glasgow, Bridge Street railway station, and Carlisle.

Other lines

The Prince's Pier, Greenock, in use today as a shipping terminus

• Ardrossan: The Ardrossan Railway was built by the Glasgow, Paisley and Ardrossan Canal company. The canal, opened in 1810, was intended to connect Glasgow to Ardrossan by canal, but linked Glasgow and Paisley only as far as Johnstone.³ The final link was to be made by the canal-owned Ardrossan to Johnstone Railway, incorporated on 14 June 1827. Work started at Ardrossan but it reached only Kilwinning, in 1831, when the company ran out of money. In 1840 the railway was separated from canal company ownership and on 20 August 1840 it reopened as a standard gauge, double-track, line connected to the GPK&AR at Kilwinning. Ardrossan henceforth developed as a shipping port; later the line was extended to Largs.
• Paisley Canal Line: The Glasgow, Paisley and Johnstone Canal was bought in 1869 by the G&SWR. In 1881 an Act of Parliament closed the canal and much of the route was used to construct the Paisley Canal Line.
• Renfrew: in 1847 the 4 ft 6 in (1,372 mm) gauge Paisley and Renfrew Railway was bought by the Glasgow, Paisley, Kilmarnock and Ayr Railway and was regauged to standard gauge. It was then linked to the Glasgow and Paisley Joint Railway at Arkleston Junction; but ownership was retained by the Glasgow and South Western Railway.
• The Dalry and North Johnstone Line was built to provide additional capacity between Elderslie and Dalry.
• The Ayr main line was extended southwards as follows:
  • 1857 - to Maybole
  • 1860 - to Girvan
  • 1887 - to Dunragit (Challoch Junction). From here to Stranraer the line was operated as the Portpatrick and Wigtownshire Joint Railway.
• The Firth of Clyde line, consisting of two lines, the Bridge of Weir Railway and the Greenock and Ayrshire Railway was opened in 1869, to meet demand for connections to Clyde steamers. The G&SWR built their lines, via Kilmacolm, to Greenock (Princes Pier); where they built a large and imposing terminus. Later this quay was extended, providing a landing-stage nearly 1,400 ft (420 m) long.⁴
• Direct railway via Kilmarnock: the Glasgow, Barrhead and Kilmarnock Joint Railway, opened on 26 June 1873, and operated as a joint line with the Caledonian Railway (CR); it had been the Glasgow, Barrhead and Neilson Direct Railway, with a Kilmarnock "extension".²
• Glasgow St Enoch Station was opened by the City of Glasgow Union Railway in 1876.² On 29 June 1883 it was taken over by the G&SWR; St Enoch Station became the headquarters of the G&SWR.² The St Enoch Hotel was opened in 1879.
• Later lines opened:
  • 1902: Paisley - Barrhead
  • 1903: the Catrine branch
  • 1903: the Glasgow & Renfrew District Railway: nominally owned by the Glasgow and Paisley Joint Railway.
  • 1 March 1905: the Cairn Valley Light Railway to Moniaive. Closed to passenger traffic on 3 May 1943.
  • 1906: the Maidens and Dunure Light Railway, via Turnberry. The golf links and the G&SWR hotel were also opened. The line closed to passenger traffic on 1 December 1930.

Closures

St Enoch Station no longer exists, it closed in 1966 and it became a car park; the roof was demolished in 1975. In the mid 1980s, the site was redeveloped as the St Enoch Centre, opening in May 1989.

The Bridge of Weir Railway and the Greenock and Ayrshire Railway to Greenock Princes Pier was closed between Princes Pier and Kilmacolm in 1966. However, in 1971 the Princes Pier stub was connected to the Inverclyde Line, at Cartsburn junction, in order to serve the Clyde Port Authority container terminal. The Paisley Canal Line closed completely in January 1983, and the original Paisley Canal station, on the east side of Causeyside Street, became a steak house. In the 1980s / 1990s the course of the line beyond Paisley was made into a footpath and cycle path. This connects Lady Octavia Park in Greenock, through upper Port Glasgow, Kilmacolm, past Quarrier's Village, and on to Paisley. It forms a section of the Sustrans scheduled National Cycle Route from Edinburgh to Gourock.⁵

The G&SWR Castle Douglas and Dumfries Railway closed in June 1965, as did the joint G&SWR/Caledonian Railway owned line between Castle Douglas and Challoch Junction (between Dunragit and Glenluce). The Dalry Junction to Kilmarnock portion of the Carlisle main line lost it's local passenger service in 1966 and was closed completely in October 1973 (following the completion of WCML electrification work), all services to Glasgow henceforth running over the Glasgow, Barrhead and Kilmarnock Joint Railway via Stewarton.

The G&SWR today

The various lines of the G&SWR still operate today out of the former Caledonian Railway's Glasgow Central station. They are the Paisley Canal Line (now truncated at Paisley Canal railway station) and the Ayrshire Coast Lines of the SPT network; the Glasgow South Western Line to Dumfries and Carlisle; and to Stranraer.

In 1990 the Paisley Canal Line reopened from Glasgow Central station as far as a new Paisley Canal railway station on the west side of Causeyside Street.

See also

• Locomotives of the Glasgow and South Western Railway
• G&SWR 'Austrian Goods' 2-6-0

References

Notes

1. ^ ^{a b} Hammerton (1921)
2. ^ ^{a b c d} John Thomas (1971)
3. ^ Robertson (1983).
4. ^ "Greenock". Encyclopedia Britannica (1911).
5. ^ "Leisure - Sports". Inverclyde Council.

Sources

• Awdry, Christopher (1990). Encyclopaedia of British Railway Companies. Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 1-8526-0049-7. OCLC 19514063. 

• Robertson, C.J.A. (1983). The Origins of the Scottish Railway System: 1722-1844, 1st, Edinburgh: John Donald Publishers Ltd. ISBN 0-8597-6088-X. 

• The Railway Year Book: 1912. London: Railway Publishing Company. OCLC 12305143. 

• Hammerton, John Alexander (1920). Harmsworth's universal encyclopedia, 1st Edition, London: Educational Book Co. OCLC 52464434. 
• Hammerton, John Alexander (1925). Harmsworth's universal encyclopedia, Revised Edition, London: Educational Book Co. OCLC 219858827. 

• Thomas, John (1971). A Regional History of the Railways of Great Britain. Volume VI Scotland: The Lowlands and the Borders, 1st edition, Newton Abbot, Devon: David & Charles. ISBN 0-7153-5408-6. OCLC 16198685. 
• Thomas, John; Paterson, Rev A.J.S. (1984). A Regional History of the Railways of Great Britain. Volume VI Scotland: The Lowlands and the Borders, 2nd edition, Newton Abbott, Devon: David & Charles. ISBN 0-9465-3712-7. OCLC 12521072. 

• The Glasgow & South Western Railway Association
• RAILSCOT on Glasgow, Paisley, Kilmarnock and Ayr Railway: map and historical notes
• RAILSCOT on Glasgow, Dumfries and Carlisle Railway: map and historical notes