Caledonian and Dumbartonshire Junction Railway facts for kids

The Caledonian and Dumbartonshire Junction Railway (C&DJR) was an early Scottish railway. It opened in 1850. The line ran between Bowling and Balloch. It passed through Dumbarton. The company first wanted to build a line all the way to Glasgow. But they could not find enough money for this big project.

Other railways later reached Dumbarton. A bigger company, the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway, took over the C&DJR in 1862. It then became a small part of the larger North British Railway network.

Later, a rival railway, the Lanarkshire and Dumbartonshire Railway, planned a line very close by. So, they agreed to share part of the old C&DJR line. This happened in 1896. They called it the Dumbarton and Balloch Joint Railway.

Most of the original C&DJR line is still used today.

Important note: The name Dumbartonshire was used for the county back then. This was before it was commonly spelled Dunbartonshire.

How the Railway Started

Why a Railway Was Needed

In 1770, William Stirling started a textile factory near Renton. This area is in the valley of the River Leven. Other factories making textiles soon opened nearby. The area between Balloch and Dumbarton quickly became a hub for this industry. A special dye called Turkey red became famous there.

Dumbarton was also an important town. It was on the main road from the Western Highlands to Glasgow. Shipbuilding also became a big industry in the town.

The Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway (E&GR) opened in 1842. It showed how useful railways could be for connecting cities. Many people wanted to build railways in the years that followed. In 1845, the Caledonian Railway and other Scottish lines got permission to build. A railway network in Scotland was starting to form.

In 1844, some people suggested a railway line for Dumbarton. It would run from the E&GR line near Cowlairs, just north of Glasgow. It would go through Dumbarton to Helensburgh and Balloch. This idea showed how much people wanted a railway connection.

Building the Line

On 26 June 1846, the Caledonian and Dumbartonshire Junction Railway (C&DJR) got permission from Parliament. They could build their railway line. They were allowed to raise £600,000, which was a lot of money back then.

The C&DJR directors offered to let the E&GR use their line. But the E&GR said no. The Caledonian Railway wanted to control many smaller railways. They saw the C&DJR as part of their future network. The Caledonian offered to rent the C&DJR line for 5% of its cost. But the C&DJR needed money right away to build the line. So, they decided to stay independent.

The C&DJR still needed a way to connect to Glasgow. So, on 2 July 1847, they got another Act of Parliament. This allowed them to extend their line to Port Dundas Road in Glasgow. They also planned a short branch line to connect with the Glasgow Garnkirk and Coatbridge Railway. This railway had agreed to be rented by the Caledonian. This new plan allowed the C&DJR to raise another £50,000.

It was hard to get people to actually invest money. Only £183,510 was raised in total. The company faced serious money problems. Many investors did not pay what they promised. So, the company decided to build a smaller railway. It would only run from Bowling to Balloch. Even then, they only got half the money needed for this smaller plan.

The railway was saved by George and James Burns. They ran successful steamboat businesses. They agreed to rent the railway in exchange for a lot of cash. This money helped build the line. The Burns Brothers also built piers at Balloch and Bowling. This made it easy to move goods and people from Glasgow by boat to the railway. Bowling was at the end of the Forth and Clyde Canal. This canal connected to factories near Glasgow and to Edinburgh. The railway was built to the canal basin to exchange goods.

The line opened for trains on 15 July 1850. At that time, the company called itself The Dumbartonshire Railway. This was because the connection to the Caledonian Railway had not been built.

Early Operations

The small railway did surprisingly well. This was thanks to the Burns Brothers. Eight fast boat trips ran daily from Glasgow to Bowling. Passengers could then switch to trains there. A trip from Glasgow to Loch Lomond took only 90 minutes. Day trips to Loch Lomond became very popular as tourism grew. Once, 600 tourists from Edinburgh visited Loch Lomond in one day. They used the E&GR, a Clyde steamer, and the C&DJR.

Coal from the Monkland mines came to Bowling on the Forth and Clyde Canal. This made coal much cheaper in the area served by the railway and around Loch Lomond. Steamboats on the Loch could reach Inverarnan. From there, people could travel by coach to Oban. It was possible to reach Oban from Glasgow in a single day.

Growing the Railway Network

The Glasgow, Dumbarton and Helensburgh Railway

Connecting Glasgow to Dumbarton by railway was a great idea. It also made sense to bring Helensburgh into the railway system. The C&DJR only ran from Bowling to Balloch. So, new railway builders created the Glasgow, Dumbarton and Helensburgh Railway (GD&HR). They got permission to build on 15 August 1855. This new line cost £240,000.

The GD&HR line ran from the Edinburgh and Glasgow line at Cowlairs. It went through Maryhill, Dalmuir, and Kilpatrick to Bowling. This was similar to the C&DJR's original plan. It also went from Dalreoch to Cardross and Helensburgh. This line opened on 31 May 1858. The C&DJR, GD&HR, and E&GR agreed to share their earnings. The Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway operated the line.

The GD&HR paid the Caledonian and Dumbartonshire half the cost of the River Leven bridge in Dumbarton. There was a committee that might have managed both railways as one.

Bigger Companies Take Over

The Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway was already running both lines. So, it made sense for them to take over. The E&GR did this on 14 August 1862. The E&GR itself was then taken over by the North British Railway on 1 August 1865.

The C&DJR had found its purpose by joining with the GD&HR. Tourism grew as people enjoyed the beautiful Loch Lomond area. Regular passenger and goods traffic was also strong. The line was now simply a branch line. It fed into the main routes of the North British Railway.

The Lanarkshire and Dumbartonshire Railway

In 1889, a new railway was proposed. It was called the Dumbarton, Jamestown and Loch Lomond Railway. It would run up the east side of the River Leven. Then, in 1890, the Lanarkshire and Dumbartonshire Railway (L&DR) was announced. It would run from Glasgow to Dumbarton. It would then join the Dumbarton, Jamestown and Loch Lomond Railway. The L&DR would serve many factories in the shipbuilding areas. Many factory owners strongly supported it.

On 5 August 1891, the Lanarkshire and Dumbartonshire Railway got permission to build. There was a lot of opposition to building two expensive, similar lines. Local people also objected. So, a compromise was reached. The North British Railway's line from Dumbarton to Balloch would be shared. The L&DR and the Caledonian would also help manage it. The North British Railway did not like this, but they had to agree. This plan was approved on 27 June 1892. It was called the Dumbarton and Balloch Joint Railway Act.

The Dumbarton and Balloch Joint Railway

The Dumbarton and Balloch Joint Railway

The L&DR took some time to reach Dumbarton. It arrived on 15 June 1896. The Dumbarton and Balloch Joint Railway officially started on 1 October 1896. It was managed equally by the North British Railway, the Caledonian Railway, and the Lanarkshire and Dumbartonshire Railway. The pleasure steamboats on Loch Lomond also became part of the Joint Company. The NBR received £30,000 for them.

The steamers were operated by the North British Steam Packet Company. The boats were Prince of Wales (built 1858), Prince Consort (built 1862), and Empress (built 1888). The two older boats needed to be replaced. But there was a disagreement about the new boats. So, new steamers, Prince George and Princess May, did not start service until 1899. The steamers were fancy. They offered excellent service to places on Loch Lomond. They also had good connections to the trains at Balloch Pier.

The new joint railway was part of the older GD&HR line. The section from Bowling to Dumbarton Junction stayed with the North British Railway. There were over eleven miles of extra tracks on the seven-mile route. This shows how many factories and industries were in the area.

Both the NBR and the CR wanted to run fast passenger trains. These trains were for people who lived by Loch Lomond and worked in Glasgow. The single track from Balloch limited how many trains could run. Weekly travel was encouraged. Some people lived at Loch Lomond resorts on weekends. They would travel to Glasgow on Monday mornings. But this practice became less common over the years. By 1922, only one train left Balloch Pier on Mondays. The NBR service between Balloch and Dumbarton was very limited by 1922.

The NBR had promised better access to the factories in the Leven Valley. This was provided after 1892. At this time, the textile dyeing industry was strong. There were many extra tracks on both sides of the line. There were also many tracks in Dumbarton itself.

Later Years of the Railway

On 1 August 1909, the L&DR became part of the Caledonian Railway. The Dumbarton and Balloch Joint Railway was owned and managed equally by the Caledonian, the L&DR, and the NBR. So, the Caledonian now owned two-thirds of the line and the steamers.

From 1923, the main railways in Great Britain were "grouped" together. This happened after the Railways Act 1921. The Caledonian Railway joined the new London Midland and Scottish Railway. The North British Railway joined the new London and North Eastern Railway. These two big companies kept competing for traffic to Balloch. The Dumbarton and Balloch Joint Railway remained jointly owned.

In 1948, the railways became owned by the government. The line simply became part of the Scottish Region of British Railways. The two routes from Balloch to Glasgow continued to compete. More than twenty trains ran daily on the old Caledonian route. About 16 ran on the old NBR route. Only a few trains went all the way to Balloch Pier. The weekend rush of travelers was gone. This was because road transport from Loch Lomondside towns became more common.

In 1960, electric trains started running on the line. They went between Glasgow, Balloch, and Helensburgh. They used the old NBR route. But between Dunglass and Dumbarton Junction, they used the Caledonian line. Dunglass was west of Bowling. The two routes were close there, so a new connection was built. A few electric trains started on Saturday, 5 November 1960. A full service began the next day. But on 13 December, a serious explosion happened on a train at Renton. Other problems followed. So, the electric service was stopped. Steam trains started running again. The normal electric service finally restarted on 1 October 1961.

Steam trains continued to run on the Caledonian route until 1964. Then that line was closed.

Use of Balloch Pier station dropped a lot in the following years. For some years, there were no regular passenger trains. But the line could still be used for special trips. The last passenger trains ran in September 1986.

Today, electric passenger trains run from Balloch to Glasgow and beyond. They run about every half hour. ScotRail operates these trains.

The Maid of the Loch

From the very beginning, steamboats on Loch Lomond worked with the trains. For much of the time, the railways owned these boats.

In 1953, PS Maid of the Loch began operating. She was the biggest boat built for inland waterways in Britain. She was also the last paddle steamer built in Britain. Because she was so big, she was put together on the loch itself. She stopped operating on the loch in 1981.

Stations on the Line

The stations on the Caledonian and Dumbartonshire Junction Railway were:

• Bowling canal basin (for goods only)
• Bowling; this station was moved on 31 May 1858 when the line to Glasgow opened.
• Dumbarton; a new station was built on 31 May 1858. It was made bigger in 1896 for the joint line.
• Dalreoch; trains started stopping here in May 1852.
• Renton
• Alexandria
• Forth and Clyde Junction; where a line from Drymen joined (from 1856).
• Balloch
• Balloch Pier

The stations on the Dumbarton and Balloch Joint Railway were:

• Dumbarton Junction; where the Lanarkshire and Dumbartonshire Railway and North British Railway lines met.
• Dumbarton Central
• Dalreoch; where the North British Railway line to Helensburgh split off.
• Renton
• Alexandria; between 1935 and 1962, this station was called Alexandria and Bonhill.
• Forth and Clyde Junction; where the line from Drymen joined (until 1934).
• Balloch; renamed Balloch Central in 1962. It was moved south of Balloch Road in 1986 to remove a level crossing. It was renamed Balloch on 29 September 1986.
• Balloch Pier; closed on 29 September 1986.

Most of these stations are still used today. Only Bowling (the L&DR station) and Balloch Pier are closed.

Connections to Other Lines

• Forth and Clyde Junction Railway at Forth and Clyde Junction
• Glasgow, Dumbarton and Helensburgh Railway at Dalreoch Junction and Bowling
• Lanarkshire and Dunbartonshire Railway at Dumbarton Joint Line Junction and Bowling Link Line

Images for kids

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  The Caledonian and Dumbartonshire Junction Railway

Sources

• Awdry, Christopher (1990). Encyclopaedia of British Railway Companies. Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 1-8526-0049-7. OCLC 19514063.
• 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.
• Railscot on the Caledonian and Dumbartonshire Junction Railway