Lissens Goods station facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Lissens Goods
The site of Lissens Goods station
Location	Near Auchentiber, Ayrshire Scotland
Coordinates	55°41′17″N 4°39′41″W / 55.688083°N 4.661282°W / 55.688083; -4.661282
Other information
Status	Disused
History
Original company	L&A
Pre-grouping	CR
Post-grouping	LMS
Key dates
3 September 1888	Opened
17 December 1950	Goods services withdrawn

Lissens Goods station was a railway station built for carrying goods. It was also known as Lissens Sidings. This station was located about two miles north-east of Kilwinning, in North Ayrshire, Scotland. It helped transport goods for farms and industries around Auchenmade and the nearby countryside.

Lissens Goods was part of the Lanarkshire and Ayrshire Railway. It was about seven miles from Lugton East Junction. Workers at Lissens were looked after by staff from Auchenmade Station. Auchenmade was the closest station for both passengers and goods on the line towards Lugton and Glasgow. Even though it's a quiet place today, Lissens Goods station was once busy. It moved things like lime for fields, farm animals (cattle, horses, sheep), milk, cheese, and items from mines and quarries. There were other similar sidings nearby, like Lylestone.

What Lissens Goods Station Looked Like

Old maps from 1896 and 1910 show that Lissens Goods station had a lot of railway features. It had a double main track and three extra tracks called sidings. These sidings led to a loading dock and possibly a goods shed.

A brick signal box was also there, which had 16 levers in 1919. This box controlled six tall signal posts and two smaller ground signals. The station also had a weighing machine, a water tank, and three cottages where railway workers lived. There was even a small outdoor toilet block and a coal shed. A nearby siding called Lylestone had its own small control system with two levers.

A Look Back at Lissens Goods Station

The WW2 'Tyre Burning Facility' near Lissens.

Lissens Goods station was on the railway line heading towards Ardrossan. Staff from Auchenmade Station supervised it. Lissens Goods station closed at the same time as the goods section at Auchenmade. The passenger part of Auchenmade station had already closed in 1932. Goods trains continued to run on this line until March 30, 1953. Special "boat trains" that carried people to Ardrossan's port ran until 1939.

By 1958, the extra tracks (sidings) at Lissens had been removed. However, the signal box was still marked on maps, and only a single track remained on the main line.

During World War II, this railway line was used for something interesting. Locals called them 'Ghost Trains'. These trains carried injured soldiers to hospitals in Glasgow. The soldiers had arrived by ship at the port of Ardrossan.

Lissens Goods station first opened on September 3, 1888. It closed on December 17, 1950. The Lanarkshire and Ayrshire Railway originally opened the station. Later, it became part of the Caledonian Railway. In 1923, during a big change called the "Grouping" of railways, it joined the London, Midland and Scottish Railway.

World War II Tyre Burning Facility

A special 'Tyre Burning Facility' from World War II was located very close to Lissens Goods station. This facility might have provided extra goods for the station to transport during the war. Later, this site became the South Lissens Pottery. Local stories suggest that a secret military storage area was hidden here. The large piles of tyres waiting to be processed were supposedly used to hide this depot. You can still see the ruins of this facility in one of the South Lissens Farm fields today (as of 2014).

What You Can See Today

Today, the three cottages where the railway workers lived are still standing. They are now private homes. The old loading dock is also still easy to see in the landscape near Lissens Moss. Parts of the original railway fence and a gate remain. The large bridge that carried the road over the railway is also still there. You can even see parts of the signal box's old chimney, its foundations, and the water tank.

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Kilwinning Line and station closed		Caledonian Railway Lanarkshire and Ayrshire Railway		Auchenmade Line and station closed