Railways of Ayrshire E-Book

Gordon Thomson

• Herausgeber: Crowood
• Kategorie: Lebensstil
• Sprache: Englisch

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2016

Beschreibung

In the early 1800s, Ayrshire was already established as a prosperous, mainly rural agricultural county. The realization that there was abundant coal and (to a lesser extent) iron ore deposits to be exploited, together with the coming of the Industrial Revolution, rendered the area wide open to the 'railway mania' that swept Britain in the mid to late 1800s. The proximity of the county north to Glasgow and south to Carlisle (and thence south) made it an attractive proposition for early railway developers. Gordon Thomson explores the history and development of the railway routes in Ayrshire; how the coming of the railways changed the face of the area and supported the growth of industry. It looks at how services evolved through the eras of LMS, nationalization and privatization, and the preservation and heritage scene in Ayrshire. Superbly illustrated with 273 colour and black & white photographs.

Leseprobe

Railways

of Ayrshire

GORDON THOMSON

THE CROWOOD PRESS

First published in 2016 by

The Crowood Press Ltd

Ramsbury, Marlborough

Wiltshire SN8 2HR

www.crowood.com

This e-book first published in 2016

© Gordon Thomson 2016

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

ISBN 978 1 78500 148 2

Acknowledgements

In putting this account of the history of the railways of Ayrshire together, I am grateful to many friends and acquaintances for supplying me with information, reminiscences and photographs of the county’s railways. In no particular order, my thanks go to Jim Davidson, Andrew Arnot, Archie Thom, Arthur Wilson, Max Fowler, all members of the Ayrshire Railway Preservation Group, Terry Harrison and Stuart Rankin of the Glasgow and South-Western Railway Association. I have had fantastic support from my family, and especially from my wife Helen, in writing and preparing this book.

The contents of this book are intended to give a fairly detailed overview of the establishment, development and consolidation of the railways in Ayrshire, together with the current position and prospects for the future. This is based on personal observations and recording of the main-line railways as a resident in the county, and studying the plentiful literature previously written on railways in south-west Scotland, in particular, and Scotland in general. Also my involvement with the Ayrshire Railway Preservation Group for over thirty years has given me an insight into the industrial aspect of railway operation and the opportunity to play a very small part in its preservation.

Ayrshire’s rich railway heritage has fascinated me for the three decades and more that I have lived here, and through the pages of this book I hope to inspire a similar fascination.

Finally, my thanks to The Crowood Press for giving me the opportunity to put my thoughts into print.

Except where otherwise stated, photographs are from the author’s collection

Contents

Introduction

Chapter 1 Early Beginnings: to 1850

Chapter 2 Glasgow and South-Western – the Network Evolves: 1850–80

Chapter 3 Later Additions: 1880–1923

Chapter 4 The London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) Era: 1923–48

Chapter 5 Nationalization and British Railways: 1948–98

Chapter 6 Privatization

Chapter 7 Present Day

Chapter 8 Industrial Railways and Preservation

Appendix I: Ayrshire’s Railway Stations: Opening and Closure Dates

Appendix II: Railway Abbreviations

Bibliography

Index

Introduction

Ayrshire – the name suggests a county in the lowlands of Scotland, and will not mean much to the average British railway enthusiast. So exactly where is it and what attraction does it hold for the visitor, and in particular the railway enthusiast?

Ayrshire is located immediately to the south-west of Scotland’s largest city, Glasgow, on the shores of the Firth of Clyde, the shoreline extending 84 miles from Skelmorlie in the north to just north of Cairnryan, 6 miles from Stranraer. The county covers approximately 1,140 square miles (2953km2). Its population totals 366,800, a little more than the populations of Coventry, Cardiff or Bradford. The traditional county town is Ayr (population 46,900), with other principal towns Kilmarnock (population 46,200) and Irvine (population 39,500), which are the administrative centres for the local authority areas of South Ayrshire, East Ayrshire and North Ayrshire, respectively. The county encompasses the Isles of Arran, Great Cumbrae and Little Cumbrae, as well as the uninhabited island of Ailsa Craig. Anywhere on the coastline offers superb views over the Firth of Clyde towards Arran and beyond.

Inland, Ayrshire has borders with the old counties of Renfrewshire, Lanarkshire, Dumfriesshire and Wigtownshire. The countryside in those areas is very unspoilt, consisting of gentle hills and upland moorland, rising in the south-east to the scenic Galloway hills. It is in these hills that we reach the highest point in Ayrshire.

The economics of Ayrshire are (or were) a curious mix – steelmaking, coal-mining and large-scale manufacturing, going hand in hand with agriculture. There were, and still are, rich coal deposits, leading to large-scale coal-mining for the past 200 years. There was steelmaking in the north of the county, at Glengarnock, into the 1980s. Coalmining, traditionally deep mines but now opencast, continues. There was much ‘production line’ manufacturing also, particularly in Kilmarnock, such as Glenfield & Kennedy (valves, pipes and equipment for the water industry), Massey Ferguson (tractors), Blackwood Morton Carpets (more commonly known as BMK – Blackwood Morton, Kilmarnock), Andrew Barclay, Sons & Co. (locomotive manufacturers) and the world-famous Johnnie Walker whisky, which originated in the town. Just about all of these industries have gone. Agriculture contributes immensely to Ayrshire’s economy; it is one of the most fertile areas of Scotland. The famous ‘Ayrshire tatties’ are grown near the coast, and other root vegetables, together with strawberries and raspberries, are extensively cultivated. Cattle farming is also a large element, producing both beef and milk, with sheep farming on the higher ground.

The important international airport at Prestwick remains in operation, a significant link for both passenger and freight traffic. There was also aircraft manufacturing at Prestwick, which ceased in 1998; but components and other elements continue to be produced there.

Having such a long coastline, there are many harbours both large and small. From the north, there are harbours at Largs, Fairlie, Ardrossan, Irvine, Troon, Ayr, Dunure, Girvan and Ballantrae – all still function: Largs (for Cumbrae), Ardrossan (for the Isle of Arran), and Troon (for Belfast – summer only) are ferry ports; commercial traffic still uses Troon and particularly Ayr, and all handle sea fishing.

Several world-famous people have their origins in Ayrshire. The best known is Scotland’s most famous poet, Robert Burns (1759–96), who was born and brought up in Alloway, a couple of miles south of Ayr, and spent most of his life in the county. John Dunlop (1840–1921), who invented the pneumatic tyre, came from Dreghorn, near Irvine. Scottish legend Robert the Bruce (1274–1329) was reputed to have been born at Turnberry Castle, near Girvan. Bill Shankley (1913–81), distinguished and highly successful Liverpool FC manager in the 1960s and 1970s, came from the mining community of Glenbuck, near Muirkirk.

Sir Tom Hunter, wealthy entrepreneur and philanthropist, is based in Ayrshire, and Scotland’s current (2015) First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, is from Dreghorn near Irvine. Sam Torrance, a successful professional golfer, and ex-Ryder Cup captain, hails from Largs. Numerous Scottish football players from Ayrshire have worn the colours of their clubs and country with distinction.

Ayrshire must have the highest density of golf courses per square mile in the United Kingdom – the game is played extensively. The world-class links courses at Turnberry (established by the railway with its famous hotel) and at Royal Troon regularly host the biggest and most prestigious tournament in the world: the Open Golf Championship.

In the early 1800s, Ayrshire was already established as a prosperous, mainly rural agricultural county. The realization that there was abundant coal and, to a lesser extent, iron-ore deposits to be exploited, together with the coming of the industrial revolution generally throughout the United Kingdom, rendered the area wide open to the ‘railway mania’ that swept Britain in the mid- to late 1800s. The proximity of the county north to Glasgow and south to Carlisle (and thence south) made Ayrshire an attractive proposition for early railway developers.

So that’s a brief overview of the county of Ayrshire – what of its railways? That is the purpose of this book, so let’s get started.

Note: in 1965 ‘British Railways’ was rebranded as ‘British Rail’. At the same time, a move was made from the 12-hour clock to the 24-hour clock for the expression of train times; this convention has been followed here.

CHAPTER 1

Early Beginnings: to 1850

Early Wagon-Ways

The first railways, not in the sense we know nowadays but more accurately described as ‘wagonways’, appeared in the district round the county town of Ayr, to link the primitive early coal-mines in the districts of Auchincruive and Annbank with the town and harbour. There is little or no written record of these early wagon-ways, only a study of old maps prove their existence, plus some remains of structures such as bridges and embankments, now long reclaimed by nature. There is certainly no photographic record. There appear to have been several in existence – mostly short in length and in the time they were in use. The biggest and longest appeared to be one that eventually stretched from Ayr Harbour all the way to Annbank, some 5 miles, with various spurs and short branches to various small coal-mines. All were powered by horse and would have had cast-iron rails of undefined gauges. The technology of rail transport had thus been proved, and these early wagon-ways were shortly to be superseded by the real thing.

Kilmarnock and Troon

A little further north from Ayr, the Kilmarnock and Troon Railway is generally regarded as one of the first railways to be built in Scotland, if not the United Kingdom; certainly the first in Scotland to be built under an Act of Parliament.

Kilmarnock; BR Standard 5MT 4-6-0 73102 with a train for Glasgow St Enoch.