Glasgow and Renfrew District Railway

The Glasgow and Renfrew District Railway was nominally owned by the Glasgow and Paisley Joint Railway.[1] It was incorporated on 6 August 1897 and opened on 1 June 1903.[1][2]

In the 1921 Railway Grouping it became part of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS).

The route

Passenger and freight services

The line left the main Glasgow and Paisley Joint Railway at Cardonald and travelled in a north-westerly direction towards the River Clyde. The first passenger station on the line being at Deanside; however this station closed on 2 January 1905.[3] The next station was King's Inch.

The line then followed the direction of the River Clyde where it crossed over the top of the Paisley and Renfrew Railway before turning south west, and running parallel with the Paisley and Renfrew Railway.

Its terminal station Renfrew Porterfield was located close to the Paisley and Renfrew Railway's Renfrew South.

The Caledonian Railway and the Glasgow and South Western Railway were each solely responsible for running passenger services to Renfrew Porterfield for six-month blocks, after which the other company took over for six months. This arrangement ran from 1903 to 1907; after that passenger services were provided solely by the Glasgow and South Western Railway.[2]

Freight branches

Freight branches were also built to service traffic on the River Clyde at:

  • King's Inch.
  • Shieldhall.[2]

20th Century expansion

This was due in part to the building of the King George V Dock at Shieldhall: the south side opened in 1931;[4][5] and the west side in World War II.[4] In addition, the Deanside and Braehead Transit Depots opened in World War II to handle increased traffic through the docks.[4] This led to a buildup in freight traffic on the line.

The building of a coal-fired power station at Braehead after World War II also lead to considerable freight traffic on the King's Inch branch.[5] The power station was later converted to oil firing.

Closure

Deanside was the first station to close; it closed on 2 January 1905.[3] Renfrew Porterfield and King's Inch stations closed on 19 July 1926.[3][6] However, the line to Renfrew Porterfield continued to be used for freight,[7] as did the freight-only branches.

Braehead power station was closed and demolished in the early 1990s; it is being redeveloped as the Braehead regeneration project.

See also

Notes
  1. Awdry, page 76
  2. Casserley
  3. Butt
  4. Sleeman. The Present System: The Port of Glasgow To-day. In Chapter 10 of: Cunnison & Gilfillan
  5. Osborne, Quinn and Robertson
  6. Little
  7. Sellar and Stevenson

References
  • Awdry, Christopher (1990). Encyclopaedia of British Railway Companies. Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 1-8526-0049-7. OCLC 19514063. CN 8983.
  • 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.
  • Casserley, H. C. (1968). Britain's Joint Lines. London: Ian Allan. ISBN 0-7110-0024-7.
  • Cunnison, J. and Gilfillan, J.B.S., (1958). The Third Statistical Account of Scotland: Glasgow. Glasgow: William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd.
  • Jowett, Alan (March 1989). Jowett's Railway Atlas of Great Britain and Ireland: From Pre-Grouping to the Present Day (1st ed.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 978-1-85260-086-0. OCLC 22311137.
  • Little, M., (1979). Greater Glasgow's Railway Network. In: Scottish Transport, 33, Scottish Tramway Museum Society. ISSN 0048-9808.
  • Osborne, Quinn and Robertson. (1996). Glasgow's River. Glasgow: Lindsay Publications. ISBN 1-898169-08-X.
  • 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.
  • Thomas, John (Introduction) (n.d.) [post-1977 and pre-1982]. Smith, W. A. C. (compiler) (ed.). Rails Around Glasgow. Paisley: Scottish Steam Railtours Group. ISBN 0-9506-9090-2.
  • Thomas, John (1971). A Regional History of the Railways of Great Britain. VI Scotland: The Lowlands and the Borders (1st ed.). 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. VI Scotland: The Lowlands and the Borders (2nd ed.). Newton Abbott, Devon: David & Charles. ISBN 0-9465-3712-7. OCLC 12521072.
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