Ardrossan North railway station

Ardrossan North railway station was a railway station serving the town of Ardrossan, North Ayrshire, Scotland as part of the Lanarkshire and Ayrshire Railway (L&AR). The station was the original Ardrossan terminus for this line until the nearby pier station opened two years later.

Ardrossan North
Platform remains at Ardrossan North in 2008
Location	Ardrossan, Ayrshire Scotland
Coordinates	55.6442°N 4.8147°W
Grid reference	NS228425
Platforms	4
Other information
Status	Disused
History
Original company	Lanarkshire and Ayrshire Railway
Pre-grouping	Caledonian Railway
Post-grouping	LMS
Key dates
3 September 1888	Opened as Ardrossan
1 October 1906	Renamed Ardrossan Town
1 January 1917	Closed
1 February 1919	Reopened
2 July 1924	Renamed Ardrossan North
4 July 1932	Closed to regular services

Railway Stations in Ardrossan
Largs Branch (AR) Lanarkshire & Ayrshire Rly Castlemill Junc │ Holm Junc Ardrossan South Beach Ardrossan Railway Ardrossan North (L&AR) Parkhouse Junction Harbour Junction Ardrossan Town (AR) Ardrossan Montgomerie Pier (L&AR) Winton Junction Ardrossan Winton Pier (AR) Ardrossan Harbour (BR) Harbour Sidings

History

The station opened on 3 September 1888 and was simply known as Ardrossan.[1] The opening ceremony for the L&AR was held here, with the first passenger train service also departing here for Glasgow. On 1 October 1906 the station became known as Ardrossan Town,[1] and was later closed between 1 January 1917 and 1 February 1919 due to wartime economy.[1]

The remains of the station in 2006

The remains of the station from the site of the old roadbridge in 2009.

Joining the Caledonian Railway, the L&AR was absorbed into the London, Midland and Scottish Railway during the Grouping of 1923. The station was renamed Ardrossan North on 2 June 1924.[1] Other alternative names for the station were Ardrossan Montgomerie Street and Ardrossan Caledonian. The station closed to regular passenger services on 4 July 1932,[1] however it was reopened for a time within two years when a special return fare price was introduced.[2] The line was taken into the Scottish Region of British Railways on nationalisation in 1948, seeing use for trains going to Montgomerie Pier and the nearby Shell Mex plant until 1968. All of the track north of the station was removed in 1970, however the spur line from the former Ardrossan Railway to the south remained intact serving the nearby bitumen plant until the 1980s.[3]

Today parts of the station platforms are still in existence, though heavily overgrown. The site of the station building is now occupied by the depot for Clyde Coast Coaches.[4] The bridge that passed over the station was demolished in March 2008 and platforms underneath partially removed. The platforms remained until 2017, when they made way for a new housing development.

References

Notes

1. Butt, page 18
2. Stansfield, page 7
3. Ewan Crawford. "RAILSCOT - Ardrossan Railway". Retrieved 26 May 2008.
4. McSherry, page 36

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 ed.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 978-1-85260-508-7. OCLC 60251199.
• McSherry, R. & M. (1996). Old Ardrossan. Ochiltree: Stenlake Publishing. ISBN 1-8720-7477-4. OCLC 35557839.

• Stansfield, G. (1999). Ayrshire & Renfrewshire's Lost Railways. Ochiltree: Stenlake Publishing. ISBN 1-8403-3077-5.
• Jowett, Alan (2000). Jowett's Nationalised Railway Atlas (1st ed.). Penryn, Cornwall: Atlantic Transport Publishers. ISBN 978-0-906899-99-1. OCLC 228266687.
• Stations on navigable O.S. map.Intermediate station on branch north of harbour entrance.

Preceding station	Historical railways			Following station
Ardrossan Montgomerie Pier Line and station closed		Caledonian Railway Lanarkshire and Ayrshire Railway		Saltcoats North Line and station closed