Kelvin Valley Railway facts for kids

The Kelvin Valley Railway was a special train line built to link Kilsyth, a busy mining town in central Scotland, with the main railway system. It connected Kilsyth to Kirkintilloch and then to the iron factories in Coatbridge. It also went to Maryhill, which connected to the Queen's Dock in Stobcross. This dock was important for sending goods by ship.

The railway opened in 1878. Not many people used it for travel, but it was very busy carrying coal from Kilsyth for many years. Later, buses became popular, and fewer people rode the trains. So, the passenger service stopped in 1951. The amount of coal being moved also went down. In 1966, the whole railway line closed completely. Today, no trains run on this old line.

Why the Railway Was Built

A map showing the Kelvin Valley Railway line.

Kilsyth was a very important place for digging up stone and mining coal. It also had factories that made chemicals and coke (a type of fuel). Iron ore was also mined there, mostly by a company called Baird Brothers. This iron ore became more important as other mines ran out of their best ore.

Kilsyth was near the Forth and Clyde Canal, and the Baird Brothers had built many small train tracks to connect their mines to the canal. But when bigger railways started, being far from the main lines was a problem.

Local people decided to build a railway to fix this. They wanted to send minerals to Coatbridge, where iron was melted. This would connect to another railway line, the Campsie Branch of the North British Railway. From there, it would link to the Monkland and Kirkintilloch Railway. The line also aimed for Maryhill, which would connect to the River Clyde. A new railway, the Stobcross Railway, was being built to reach the Queen's Dock on the Clyde. This meant goods could be sent by ship from there. People also hoped that fancy houses would be built along the line, so people could travel easily to Glasgow for work.

Planning the Railway Line

Disused Kilsyth station in 1958.

In 1873, a plan for the Kelvin Valley Railway was shared, and many local people supported it. The North British Railway (NBR) agreed to run the line. However, the NBR wasn't very excited about the railway's future. They only agreed to stop their rival, the Caledonian Railway, from building a line in the area.

The Kelvin Valley Railway company was officially approved by Parliament on July 21, 1873. It was meant to run from Kilsyth to Maryhill and have a short connection to the Campsie branch. The company was allowed to raise £90,000 to build it.

However, the company couldn't get enough money to build the line, especially because the NBR wasn't very keen. The Baird Brothers, who owned many mines in Kilsyth, already had their own small train network. They were powerful and knew how to get things done. They threatened to build a railway going east from Kilsyth to connect with the Caledonian Railway. This would make their journey to Glasgow longer, but the NBR would lose all that business to a competitor.

So, the NBR decided to propose its own "Kilsyth Railway." This line would go through Strathkelvin from Kilsyth to Birdston, connecting to the Campsie branch. This would give them access to Coatbridge and Glasgow using their own lines. The plan also included an eastern line to Falkirk and a connection to the Caledonian Railway at Bonnybridge. This was clearly to keep the Caledonian Railway out of the area. The Kilsyth Railway was approved by Parliament on July 13, 1876.

After getting approval for this smart move, the NBR made a deal with the Baird Brothers and the Kelvin Valley planners. They agreed to build the Kelvin Valley line mostly as first planned. They only changed the route near Kilsyth to use the Kilsyth Railway's path, which suited the Baird Brothers better. This agreement was approved by Parliament on May 17, 1877, and the Kilsyth Railway plan was cancelled. The NBR invested £30,000 in the Kelvin Valley line and agreed to run it for 50% of the money it made.

Opening the Line

A special train at Kilsyth in 1958.

The North British Railway saw that Kilsyth was the only really important place on the line for business. So, they started by building the line through Strathkelvin from Kilsyth to Birdston. This gave them access to their own railway network through Kirkintilloch. This part of the line opened on June 1, 1878.

This opening allowed minerals from Kilsyth to reach the new Queen's Dock on the Clyde River. They would travel via Lenzie and the Stobcross Railway. Passengers could also travel to Glasgow via Lenzie.

It seems the NBR was in charge of building the railway. The NBR wasn't in a hurry to build the western part of the line, from Birdston to Maryhill. Opening it would mean less money for their own existing lines. However, the Kelvin Valley company, especially the Baird Brothers, pushed them to build it. This section opened for goods on June 4, 1879. The connection at Maryhill wasn't finished, and the stations weren't ready. The NBR was clearly doing the bare minimum.

At a meeting on September 25, 1879, it was revealed that the NBR had spent £66,000 on the Kelvin Valley line, but their shareholders had only approved £30,000. Also, some NBR directors had been trading Kelvin Valley shares illegally. They lost £1,400 and were paid back using NBR money.

The Maryhill connection was finally made on October 1, 1879. But the passenger service to Kilsyth still went through Kirkintilloch. There was only one train each way between Maryhill and a small stop called Torrance. The section from Torrance to Birdston had no passenger service. Again, the Kelvin Valley directors complained. So, the NBR extended the Maryhill to Torrance train to Kilsyth from October 29, 1880. But very few extra people used it, so the NBR stopped the extended journey on December 31, 1880.

Becoming Part of the NBR

The Kelvin Valley Railway was taken over by the North British Railway on August 1, 1885. The cost of building the line was reported to be £77,308. Kelvin Valley shareholders were promised a 4% payment for two years, and then 5% forever.

The NBR opened the Glasgow City and District Railway in 1886. This new line went underground through Glasgow from east to west. It greatly helped reduce crowding at the busy Queen Street station. The NBR could now offer a regular passenger service on the Maryhill line. From 1886, trains usually started at Bridgeton Cross, went through Queen Street Low Level and Maryhill, to Torrance and Kilsyth. The old passenger service through Lenzie and Kirkintilloch also continued. However, not many people used these services, as the new houses they hoped for were never built. Sunday school trips to the countryside along the line were the busiest times.

The Baird Brothers' own small train system connected to both the Kelvin Valley line at Kilsyth and the old Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway main line. But the company sent most of its minerals over the Kelvin Valley line to the docks on the Clyde. This became the main way the railway made money.

On July 2, 1888, the Kilsyth and Bonnybridge Railway opened. This line ran east from the Kilsyth station on the Kelvin Valley line. It connected to the Caledonian Railway line at Larbert Junction, through Bonnybridge.

The Twentieth Century and Closure

The North British Railway became part of a bigger company called the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) in 1923. This happened when many British railways joined together after the Railways Act 1921. By this time, buses and better roads were taking away a lot of passengers and goods from the railway.

The railways in Britain became owned by the government in 1948, and the Kelvin Valley line became part of British Railways Scottish Region. They looked at train services that were losing a lot of money. The Kelvin Valley line was one of them. Passenger services from Maryhill to Kilsyth stopped on March 31, 1951. Trains from Kirkintilloch to Kilsyth stopped on August 4, 1951.

The line stayed open for goods trains for a while. In 1958, new diesel trains were tested and drivers were trained on the line.

In 1960, a special trip for train fans ran on the line. It was pulled by a preserved steam engine called Glen Douglas, which is now in the Riverside Museum in Glasgow. In 1966, goods traffic also stopped, and the line closed completely.

Railway Stops and Locations

The line between Birdston Junction and Kilsyth opened on June 1, 1878. The section between Maryhill and Birdston Junction opened on October 1, 1879.

Here are the places the railway went through:

• Maryhill East Junction: This is where the line split off from the North British Railway's Helensburgh line.
• Summerston: This station closed on April 2, 1951. (Note: There is a different Summerston station that opened in 1993 on another line).
• Bardowie: Opened on June 1, 1905, and closed on July 20, 1931.
• Balmore: Opened in April 1886, and closed on April 2, 1951.
• Torrance: This station closed on April 2, 1951.
• Kelvin Valley East Junction: This is where a short connecting line from Birdston Junction (or Kelvin Valley West Junction) on the Campsie Branch joined the main line.
• Gavell: Opened in December 1878. Its name was changed to Twechar in 1924. It closed on August 6, 1951.
• Kilsyth: This station was sometimes called Kilsyth Old between 1936 and 1937, and also Kilsyth Junction. The Kilsyth and Bonnybridge Railway connected here from 1888. It closed on August 6, 1951.

Images for kids

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  At Torrance in 1960 with a railtour. The train was hauled by preserved steam locomotive Glen Douglas.