2557] Glasgow Subway: On Mon 11 Dec two of the new trains entered passenger service for the first time. 2558] Port Glasgow: (BLN 1417.391) The new footbridge with lifts was formally inaugurated on 1 Dec. The station is located on a hillside, with stairs down to the footbridge from the car park on the Down (to Gourock) side. Therefore, the Down side lift serves three levels, platform, bridge and car park. 2559] Balgray: (BLN 1422.1058) The new station between Patterton and Neilston, previously referred to as Barrhead South, is to be named Balgray. NR has appointed Story Contracting Ltd to design it. 2560] Kilmarnock to Gretna Green: The former Glasgow & South Western Railway (G&SWR) main line once saw expresses between Glasgow St Enoch and London St Pancras but now just has two-hourly stopping trains to Carlisle. As a result, it is relatively unmodernised and retains many features of a traditional main line. There is absolute block working between Kilmarnock and Annan, with some semaphore signals at all the intermediate boxes except Dumfries, although the only one remaining at Hurlford is out of use. The line remains double track throughout. Annan to Gretna Jn was singled in 1973 but redoubled in 2008. Many intermediate stations CP 6 Dec 1965; those closed earlier are noted below. Buildings, mostly used as houses, remain at many of them. The line is Up towards Carlisle. Kilmarnock to Muirkirk via Auchinleck OA 9 Aug 1848 and Dumfries to Gretna Jn OA 23 Aug 1848. Dumfries to Closeburn OA 15 Oct 1849. The line was completed in 1850 when Auchinleck to New Cumnock OA on 20 May and the final section to Closeburn OA 28 Oct. A housing estate occupies Hurlford (CP 7 Mar 1955) station site 35m 43ch from Glasgow Bridge Street via Dalry. The London Midland & Scottish Railway (LMSR) signal box, on the Down side, is permanently switched out, with windows boarded up. Malcolm Logistics' distribution depot, not rail served, is on the site of Hurlford engine shed on the Up side, next to the alignment of the former branch to Darvel. Garrochburn goods yard (on the Down side at about 40m 30ch) CG 4 Oct 1965 and is now used by a company that scraps caravans. Mauchline signal box is on the Up side opposite the junction with the line from Newton Jn (Newton-on-Ayr). It is a G&SWR box, previously Mauchline No 1. The former station building and goods shed remain on the Up side at Mauchline (43m 12ch). Mauchline No 2 box closed in 1970 when the junction was remodelled and simplified. It was south of the station and has gone. There are several fine viaducts along the line; the most striking is Ballochmyle Viaduct, over the River Ayr about a mile south of Mauchline; it is particularly noted for its 181ft span arch over the river. Auchinleck (47m 46ch) ROP 14 May 1984 as a basic halt. The original buildings have gone and houses occupy most of the station site. The reopened station was provided with the redundant footbridge from Crookston, which had to be mounted on concrete plinths to meet the modern structure gauge. The trackbed of the former line to Muirkirk is easily seen. This end CG 2 Dec 1976, latterly a branch to Cronberry, Gasswater Sidings (for coal opencast sites) from Auchinleck - fortunately our 23 Aug 1975 'Doon Hamer' DMU railtour went there. Railscot advises that work began on reinstating the 7¼ mile branch in 2005 with a £9.75M grant from the Scottish Executive but it was cancelled after a survey and pegging out the centreline of the route. BLNs 914 p14 & 933.699 in 2002 mention the reopening. Having climbed most of the way from Kilmarnock, the line reaches Polquhap Summit (616ft, so exactly 400ft lower than Beattock Summit), five miles south of Auchinleck. For most of the way from here to Dumfries, the railway descends through Nithsdale. A modern nursing home occupies the site of the former station at Old Cumnock (49m 51ch). The Greenburn branch remains connected at Bank Jn but is increasingly overgrown. The first test trains ran on 4 May 2004 and the final coal train departed on Fri 3 Aug 2018 (Greenburn Jn - Knockshinnoch was taken OOU 3 Oct 2013; both were opencast sites). New Cumnock (55m 0ch) ROP 27 May 1991. The station building on the Down side was extensively renovated in 2015 as a café but is now used by New Cumnock Development Trust as a Re-Use Hub, focussed on repair and re-use of clothing. The G&SWR box is on the Down side north of the station. Kirkconnel (62m 31ch) survived the 1965 station closures on the line and was then the only station on the 58 miles between Kilmarnock and Dumfries. The station has been reduced to a basic halt and the only surviving building is the G&SWR signal box on the Up side. Sanquhar (65m 53ch) ROP 27 Jun 1994. The original station building survives on the Down side and is now used for holiday letting.
BELOW: (Item 2552) DMU 156474 waits in the north end of P4 to work t
he 12.55 Ayr to Prestwick Town. (Greg Beecroft, 4 Dec 2023 and next.)
BELOW: Ayr P4 towards Glasgow, the other three platforms here are und
der possession - the first crossover is used by the twice hourly departures.
BELOW: The 13.23 Ayr to Prestwick Town DMU passes Falkland Yard; where th
he connecting Glasgow EMU waits in No 1 Up Loop. (Greg Beecroft, 9 Dec 2023.)
BELOW: The weather hasn't improved as EMUs 380006 + 380004 then emerg
ge from Falkland Yard to work the 13.40 Prestwick Town to Glasgow Central.
BELOW: Ayr Station Hotel west side on 4 Dec, an impressive amount of work ha
as been carried out at significant expense, right is the south end (Greg Beecroft).
BELOW: Progress with demolition of, and making safe, Ay
yr Station Hotel south end on 9 Dec 2023 (Greg Beecroft).
BELOW: (Item 2554) The 6 Dec Glasgow to Barrhead (should that be Wirehea
ad?) special; bay P3 has been extended and these units reach the buffers (NR).
BELOW: 'Pollokshaws West alight here for the Burrell Collection and Pollock HoThis hourly service was half hourly pre-Pandemic. ALL other trains are DMUs fo
ouse' it says; Day 1 of electric services to Barrhead, the Society was represented. or now, left is one from Kilmarnock to Glasgow. (Greg Beecroft, 11 Dec 2023.)
BELOW: (Item 2557). Glasgow Subway West Street, the debut of the new u
nits in service, two were on the Outer Circle (11 Dec 2023, Greg Beecroft.)
[BLN 1BELOW: (Item 2558) Port Glasgow; the new footbridge with
1438] lifts (tri-level on the Down side, left towards Gourock) - NR.
BELOW: (Item 2560) The Kilmarnock to Gretna Jn line, Hurlford signal box, The box dates from the 1920s and its 20-lever frame from 1976. INSET FAR LEFthe main line connection plainlined. A short section of track within the NR bound
the first south of Kilmarnock, is permanently switched out and boarded up. FT: By 13 Jan 2016 The Johnny Walker branch had been lifted in the factory and dary remained then, along with this exit signal just outside the gate! (Nick Jones.)
BELOW: Ballochmyle Viaduct over the River Ayr on
n 28 Jun 2014. (All further photos Greg Beecroft.)
BELOW: 15 Jun 2015; New Cumnock looking towards Glasgow, the Up Goods
s Loop is right and, off it right, Crowbandsgate Coal Terminal is just glimpsed.
BELOW: Sanquhar on 10 Nov 2019; on the Down side (to Glasgow) the 1850 bNEXT: Thornhill on 28 Nov 2023, it was one of the many 6 Dec 19
uilt former station building and stationmaster's house are Category 'C' listed. 965 casualties, the station building is on the Up side (to Carlisle).
BELOW: Closeburn station building, also taken on 28 No
ov 2023 but this time the building is on the Down side.
BELOW: Holywood signal box; the wooden level crossing gate
es are still worked by a gate wheel in the box (28 Nov 2023).
BELOW: Dumfries, the Carlisle end of the station looking towards Glasgow on
n 28 Nov 2023; a last look before the footbridge is replaced by one with lifts.
BELOW: Dumfries (Station) signal box, which dates from 1957, on 10 Nov 2019a 2008 OCS panel ('Dumfries Eastriggs') controls the redoubled Gretna Jn to ea
9. A 1997 OCS (One Control Switch) panel controls Dumfries station area and ast of Annan section. Annan box is a block post between these two sections.
BELOW: Dumfries; the site of the 1849 station build
ing (see map with item 2560) also on 28 Nov 2023.
BELOW: Dumfries, the Caledonian R
Railway goods shed, 28 Nov 2023.
BELOW: Cummertrees station building (which has been extendeNEXT: Annan station building is on the Up side, the tw
d) is on the Down side of the line, like the village; 10 Nov 2019. o platforms are slightly staggered here, 10 Nov 2019.
BELOW: (BLN 1436.2619) Eastriggs OESD on the Scottish side of the Solway Firth wiCromarty's meticulous work. SE of the transhipment platforms the standard gauge j
ith 25 miles of narrow gauge track and 107 storage sheds, all shown thanks to Dave just ran to the mixed-gauge loco shed, standard had priority at those flat crossings!
Mennock Lye sidings were on the Down side, at the south end of Mennock Viaduct and just before milepost 68. Clinker records that the sidings CG 19 Feb 1949, so it is unsurprising that nothing remains. The most spectacular and scenic part of the line is through the Mennock Pass, where the River Nith cuts through the southern part of the Lowther Hills. Drumlanrig Castle, the seat of the Duke of Buccleuch, is at the southern entrance to the pass. The Duke would not agree to the railway coming anywhere near his castle, so the line diverts eastwards, climbing through Drumlanrig Tunnel and following the Carron Water to Carronbridge. Construction of the tunnel accounts for this section of the line opening last. The station at Carronbridge (74m 33ch, OP 1 Mar 1851, CP 7 Dec 1953) was in a remote spot two miles north of the village. The station building remains on the Up side. Platforms remain at the former Thornhill (77m 48ch) station. The station building, on the Up side, has two floors, unlike the others that have closed, which are single storey. The LMSR signal box is also on the Up side. The trackbed of the former branch to Gatelawbridge Quarry, an important source of red sandstone, is on the Up side south of the station. At Closeburn (80m 19ch, CP 11 Sep 1961), the former station building and the goods shed are on the Down side as is the station building at Auldgirth (84m 37ch, CP 3 Nov 1952). The railway was realigned eastwards from 86m 38ch to 87m 31ch in 2003, over a new bridge across the River Nith; the old route is evident, particularly at its southern end. The station at Holywood (88m 33ch, CP 26 Sep 1949, though later used by railway staff) was originally north of the level crossing but relocated to the south about 1920, in order to allow provision of an Up Loop. None of the station buildings survive but the former goods shed remains on the Down side at the site of the original station. The Up platform of the second station also survives. The level crossing still has wooden gates, worked by a wheel in the G&SWR signal box on the Up side. Dumfries (91m 63ch) is a much more substantial station than others on the line and is the only one between Kilmarnock and Carlisle to be staffed. It is the town's third station. There was a temporary terminus south of Annan Road when the line opened from Gretna Jn. The site was later used as the goods station and is now occupied by Dumfries Down Yard (also known as Leafield Road Yard), which is used principally for overnight stabling of Class 156 units and sometimes by engineer's trains. The temporary station was replaced by one on the north side of Annan Road, when the line was extended to Closeburn in 1849. That CP 13 Sep 1859, when the present station came into use further north, in anticipation of the opening of the line to Castle Douglas. A short stub of the Castle Douglas line remains connected but is overgrown. There is a stone former railway building, apparently disused, on the site of the 1849 station but it was probably built after the station closed. The station building shown on the 1855 OS Map is smaller and a different shape. The British Railways signal box is on the Up side of the present station. The Caledonian Railway goods yard, at the end of the branch from Lockerbie, was east of the G&SWR passenger station. The site is now an industrial estate; one unit is the Caledonian goods shed.Caledonian passenger trains used the G&SWR station.On the Up side south of the station, Police Scotland's Dumfries & Galloway HQ occupies the site of Dumfries engine shed, Nothing remains of the halt at Ironhirst, probably provided in 1915 for Ironhirst Peat Works staff. It closed some time before 8 Dec 1925 when the LMSR authorised its demolition. Station cottages remain on the Up side at Racks (95m 57ch) and the former station building is on the Up side at Ruthwell (100m 24ch). The station building at Cummertrees (103m 70ch, CP 19 Sep 1955, though later used by railway staff) is particularly well preserved as a house. Hardly surprisingly, nothing is to be seen at the site of Powfoot (105m 19ch), an unadvertised halt provided in May 1941 for workers at an explosives factory. The halt closed soon after WWII. Annan (107m 21ch) station building, on the Up side, is used as a pub/restaurant. The G&SWR signal box, on the Down side, fringes with Dumfries in both directions. When double track was reinstated between Annan and Gretna Jn, signalling was transferred to a second panel in Dumfries signal box. The station house remains on the Down side at Eastriggs (110m 62ch), east of the connection to the Ministry of Defence sidings formerly for Eastriggs Ordnance Explosives Storage Depot (OESD), which closed in 2010/11. The currently disused connection faces Carlisle and leads into a headshunt alongside the Down line for trains to reverse in/out of the sidings