37-469: The Barrhead Branch was a branch line built by the Glasgow and South Western Railway in Scotland. It connected Potterhill railway station on the south side of Paisley with a new Barrhead Central railway station . The line was sometimes known as the Barrhead Central Railway . It was made in reaction to competition for local passenger traffic, and for a time a circular service operated from Glasgow via Paisley and Barrhead . However income from
74-599: A factory for the confectionery manufacturer Cadbury was established with a private siding connection. The line closed to all traffic on 2 March 1970. A rail tour operated by the Stephenson Locomotive Society ran on the line on 1 September 1951. The train started at Paisley East Goods on the Paisley and Barrhead District Railway at Cecil Street and ran to Barrhead South. It then travelled via Elderslie and Johnstone to Paisley West, and from there to
111-506: A feature of workmen's trains". The tramway was authorised, and the desperate struggle to compete for local passenger business was obviously lost; the Caledonian reviewed its position, and although the passenger stations were substantially complete, it decided not to open the line for passengers. The western section, from Paisley St James to Blackbyres and Lyon Cross was opened in 1905 for goods traffic only. The eastern section suffered
148-464: A similar fate; it was opened in 1906 from Paisley East station, some distance south of the Joint Line at Gallowhill, to Blackbyres. The west and east curves that would have linked to the joint line were formed, but never connected. The line of route was therefore: Paisley East station was chiefly used as a coal depot for Paisley. Barrhead South station may never have been fully formed, although
185-525: A triangular junction immediately east of Paisley Gilmour Street, running south and joining the other section at a junction at Blackbyres, a short distance north of Barrhead. This section would give access for coal traffic from the Lanarkshire pits directly to Paisley, and was to be double track to handle the heavy trains. Construction of the line started on 15 August 1898. The route had been designed to skirt existing heavily built up areas, and construction
222-710: The Glasgow and South Western Railway (G&SWR) and the Caledonian Railway respectively. The two larger companies were keen rivals and over time expanded their area of influence in Scotland. The Barrhead and Neilston areas were already the home to much industrial activity, especially in the valley of the Levern Water , and in 1848 the Glasgow, Barrhead and Neilston Direct Railway opened. In 1873 that line
259-639: The Rootes Group constructed a motor car manufacturing plant at Linwood in 1961, a railway connection was laid in to serve it; it ran from the District Railway between Walkinshaw and Ferguslie. The Pressed Steel Company had opened a plant at the site making car bodies for Rootes, and they also produced body shells for railway passenger vehicles. The line south of the Linwood connection to Ferguslie closed on 30 September 1968. The Linwood Plant
296-453: The 1830s, it was natural that the town would be considered an important intermediate point, and in 1840 the Glasgow, Paisley, Kilmarnock and Ayr Railway opened; the following year the Glasgow, Paisley and Greenock Railway opened its line too. The two companies shared, and jointly operated, a route between Glasgow and Paisley, the Glasgow and Paisley Joint Railway . Those two railway companies were later merged with others, and became part of
333-488: The Barrhead Central Line, crossing over it in two places. The Barrhead Central Railway opened from Potterhill to Glenfield Works on 21 August 1899, for goods only. It was extended to Barrhead Central and open for all traffic on 1 October 1902. The north to east spur at Barrhill closed in 1910, and the section between Potterhill and Barrhead Central closed to passengers on 1 June 1913. Barrhead Central station
370-538: The G&;SWR and the Caledonian Railway (CR); both companies had a presence at both Paisley and Barrhead, and in 1897 the CR obtained Parliamentary authority to build the Paisley and Barrhead District Railway , serving the district between the two towns. The G&SWR had a Barrhead station on the Glasgow, Barrhead and Kilmarnock Joint Railway (GB&KJR) but the station there was inconveniently located, and on 19 August 1898
407-477: The G&SWR obtained an Act of Parliament for a number of developments, including an extension of the line from Potterhill to a new central station at Barrhead, with a spur to join the GB&;KJR, facing Glasgow. The line opened on 1 October 1902; the new Barrhead station was named Barrhead Central. A circular passenger service was operated from Glasgow St Enoch via Paisley, Potterhill, Barrhead Central and Nitshill;
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#1732790587411444-523: The G&SWR obtained an act of Parliament authorising a line from its Potterhill terminus to Barrhead, there joining the GB&KJR. The line opened in 1902 and a circular passenger service was operated from Glasgow. This was preceded on 6 August 1897 when the Paisley and Barrhead District Railway was authorised by the Paisley and Barrhead District Railway Act 1897 ( 60 & 61 Vict. c. clxxv). It
481-515: The GB&KJR main line, the branch turned south-west to cross under the GB&KJR, reaching Barrhead Central station terminus, lying south-east of the main line. A north to east spur gave access for goods trains from Potterhill towards Glasgow, and a connection from Barrhead Central station also gave access in that direction. When the Caledonian Railway opened its Paisley and Barrhead District Railway line in 1902, it ran very close to
518-399: The anti-clockwise service was described as the inner circle and the other direction was the outer circle . Barrhead Central was a terminus, and the circular service involved a reversal there. While the more frequent service found some success in the Glasgow and Paisley urban areas, competing against omnibuses and street tramways, patronage on the more rural area between Barrhead and Paisley
555-411: The convenience of stopping places in town and village centres, and the cheap fares were major advantages to which local railways could not respond. In May 1905 the Caledonian opposed the Paisley tramway operation's proposed route from Paisley to Barrhead: it said that the District Railway was to open on 1 June 1905, and that the company had spent £720,000 on the Paisley lines; the company said that it "made
592-524: The foot of the Gleniffer Braes , then east, turning south again to enter the centre of Barrhead. Unlike the G&SWR scheme, it was to continue beyond Barrhead, and was to join the Lanarkshire and Ayrshire Railway , authorised in the same Parliamentary session, at a junction between Neilston and Cathcart. A second arm of the network was to connect with the Glasgow and Paisley Joint Railway by
629-627: The goods station at Gleniffer Depot on the Barrhead Branch. The line started at Potterhill railway station , which had opened in 1886 on a branch from the Paisley Canal Line . The line ran approximately south-east; shortly there was a facing junction, Thornly Park Junction, where the short Gleniffer Branch diverged, turning south and then west to serve the Glenfield works of Fulton Textile Mills; this closed in 1966. Approaching
666-400: The goods yard was in use; it would have been a basic conventional two platform station, located close to the present-day Deanston Avenue. Barrhead (New) was a conventional two-platform station, but Dykebar was an island platform station. Paisley South was also a two-platform station. Ferguslie, Staneley and Dykebar were to be island platform stations forming passing points on the single line, but
703-472: The line had been fed from the Walkinshaw end only, that would have been a very roundabout route. A signalbox is shown, and the junction is named Lyoncross Junction. That is repeated on the 1946 plan. and 25-inch plans of the same period. The 1939 revision shows the Paisley and Barrhead line as being reduced to single track. According to Alisdair Wham, the section of track between Barrhead South and Lyoncross
740-404: The line to Paisley East as can be seen in the bridge photograph on this page. Having subscribed two-thirds of the original capital of the company in 1898 the Caledonian put in a further £80,000 in 1900, and obtained an act of Parliament giving authority for an extension of time for construction in 1901. It acquired the company outright in 1902 (by act of Parliament of 31 July), while construction
777-504: The line was disappointing, and the passenger service was cut back, finally closing in 1917. As a goods-only route it remained open until 1970. None of the line is open now. Towards the end of the nineteenth century, the Directors of the Glasgow and South Western Railway (G&SWR) realised that the emphasis for suburban passengers had moved away from infrequent services to main population centres. Moreover, in urban area, new competition
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#1732790587411814-468: The loop at Staneley was never connected. Some sources suggest that the line was never completed to Lyon Cross (sometimes spelt Lyoncross) where it would have joined the L&;AR line. However the six-inch Ordnance Survey map of 1915 (revised 1911) clearly shows both routes as double track with a full junction connection. This is the route by which coal for Paisley was brought in from the Lanarkshire pits; if
851-474: The route. Most of the line had become moribund by the 1950s, but when the Linwood motor car factory opened in 1961, a rail connection to it was provided from the line, becoming the only part of the network still in use. That link was closed in 1984. Paisley had long been an important manufacturing town, especially in the textile industries. When main line railways in the west of Scotland were being planned in
888-423: The spread of Paisley industry towards Barrhead, and the location of much of Barrhead industry on the Paisley side encouraged the idea of linking them. As well as the goods traffic that might be captured, suburban passenger business could be assumed to be attracted. Residential traffic had been increasing in other localities; moreover a circular service from Glasgow through both towns had operational benefits. In 1898
925-403: The stations on the line to Clyde Coast destinations in the 1950s. A rail tour operated by the Stephenson Locomotive Society visited the line on 1 September 1951. The train started at Paisley East Goods at Cecil Street and made its way to Barrhead South returning through the west branch to Paisley Gilmour Street. Rowand says: "Alas for the promoters of the railway, in the same year [as
962-403: Was still in progress. The G&SWR Barrhead Central station, on its line from Paisley, opened on 1 October 1902. A further extension of time for the Paisley and Barrhead District Railway was obtained in 1904. For some time street-running tramcars had been making heavy inroads into urban and suburban passenger railway business, and electric tramcar routes were proliferating. The frequent trams,
999-505: Was a railway in Scotland that ran between the towns of Paisley and Barrhead . It was intended to serve industrial premises and develop local passenger and goods business. The Caledonian Railway managed the construction, but when the line was nearly complete, tramway competition had become obviously dominant for local passenger journeys, and the Caledonian decided not to start the intended passenger service. The line opened for goods trains only in 1905 and 1906, and served industrial sites on
1036-412: Was arising from omnibus services and street tramways. They responded by planning frequent services on suburban routes, calling at new stations close to developing industrial sites. In 1885 the Paisley Canal Line opened, with stations on the south side of Paisley, and in 1886 a short branch southwards to Potterhill was opened. For the time being this remained a terminus. There was bitter rivalry between
1073-555: Was closed to passengers on 1 January 1917. Glasgow and South Western Railway Too Many Requests If you report this error to the Wikimedia System Administrators, please include the details below. Request from 172.68.168.150 via cp1114 cp1114, Varnish XID 927195321 Upstream caches: cp1114 int Error: 429, Too Many Requests at Thu, 28 Nov 2024 10:43:08 GMT Paisley and Barrhead District Railway The Paisley and Barrhead District Railway
1110-569: Was disappointing. On 1 October 1907 the circular passenger service was discontinued, and trains worked from St Enoch to Barrhead Central via Paisley and Potterhill, and separately from St Enoch to Barrhead Central via Nitshill. The line between Potterhill and Barrhead Central was closed to passenger services on 1 June 1913 . Operation of these services did not pay, and on 1 January 1917 under the stress of World War I conditions, both Potterhill and Barrhead Central stations were closed to passengers. The through line continued in use for goods services, and
1147-539: Was easy except in the approaches to Barrhead and Paisley East: here the possible alignment was limited by the hilly topography, the River Levern, the existing Kilmarnock line, and the authorised G&SWR line. Two massive stone viaducts were required in Barrhead. (The town of 9,000 inhabitants was to have four passenger stations.) An enormous stone wall was built along the length of Lacy Street in Paisley to take
Barrhead Branch - Misplaced Pages Continue
1184-400: Was established south of the town, and in 1885 the G&SWR opened the Paisley Canal Line which ran from Glasgow to Elderslie on a more southerly alignment than the Joint Line. The following year it extended that line by a branch to Potterhill, and in doing so served a considerable area of industrial activity. The centres of Paisley and Barrhead are about five miles (8 km) apart, and
1221-420: Was extended to Kilmarnock and transferred to joint control of the Caledonian and the G&SWR companies; the extended line was called the Glasgow, Barrhead and Kilmarnock Joint Railway (GB&KJR). In the later decades of the nineteenth century, there was considerable further industrial development in areas not directly served by the earlier lines. This was particularly the case in Paisley, where much industry
1258-615: Was never used. Although the envisaged passenger service never ran, the line continued for many years to serve industrial premises; at the southern end this included the Arthurlie Dyeworks and a public goods yard at Barrhead South. Beyond that point to Lyon Cross the line closed by 1952, and the Paisley arm of the line closed on 31 December 1960. Meikleriggs Goods Yard closed on 6 September 1954. The section from Ferguslie Chain Road to Barrhead South closed on 28 October 1963. When
1295-534: Was nominally independent, but friendly to the Caledonian, and was intended as a competitive response to the G&SWR route. It was to be a complex system amounting to over 12 miles (20 km), making several linkages with existing lines. It was supported by the Caledonian Railway: £132,000 of the £188,000 capital was provided by the larger company. Its route was to leave the Caledonian Railway's Greenock line at Paisley St James and turn south to
1332-548: Was not commercially successful, and the siding connection and therefore the whole of the Paisley and Barrhead District Railway closed on 21 October 1984. The entire Paisley and Barrhead District Railway network was closed and the only remnant of its existence is the wide space between the tracks at Lyon Cross on what is now the Neilston line, intended for the junction station there. The train shed in Dykebar Hospital
1369-452: Was still in existence in 2007, and the course of the hospital branch line can be discerned in aerial photographs. Parts of the line are now a cycle track, built along the route of the trackbed from Glenburn to Barrhead. Glenfield station was at the bottom of the hill, a short distance up Glenburn Road from where the cycle track ends. Although the line was never used for ordinary passenger trains, occasional Sunday school outings started from
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