Ordnance gazetteer of Scotland

CALEDONIAN RAILWAY-
CALEDONIAN RAILWAY
the Maryport and Carlisle line. The portion of the
Solway Junction railway N of the Firth from the im-
portant town of Annan, was purchased by the Caledonian
in 1S73. The first town of importance on the main liue
is Lockerbie, where important lamb fairs and other stock
markets are held, and where the line branches off to
Dumfries, Stranraer, and Portpatrick. The Dumfries,
Lochmaben, and Lockerbie Company was incorporated
in 1860, to construct a line 14A miles long, running
through a pleasing district, opening up to view the
numerous lochs which give the old burgh of Lochmaben
its name, and giving Dumfries an important outlet to
the N and E. The line was amalgamated with the
Caledonian in 1865. Westwards from Dumfries, to
Castle-Douglas, the railway, 19J miles long, is in the
hands of the Glasgow and South-Western Railway Com-
pany, and from Castle-Douglas to Stranraer and Port-
patrick, the line (the Portpatrick) is now owned and
worked by the Caledonian, Glasgow and South-Western,
London and North- Western, and Midland Companies
jointly. These companies have also running powers and
facilities granted under statute to work over the Castle-
Douglas railway from D umf ries to Castle-Douglas. The
working companies through the Portpatrick railway pro-
vide an important connection with Ireland by means of
steamers between Stranraer and Lame, now the shortest
sea route since the passage formerly maintained between
Portpatrick and Donaghadee was given up. The total
mileage of the Portpatrick railway is 61 J miles, including
the branch to Stranraer harbour.
Returning to the main Caledonian line, it is found to
proceed northward through Annandale, till Beattock is
reached. A branch line, opened 1883, to Moffat, 2 miles
from Beattock, brings that favourite spa into connection
with the railway system. North of Beattock there are
deep rock cuttings, and the line ascends on a steep
gradient to th6 summit-level, where an elevation 1012
feet above the sea is reached, about 10 miles beyond
Beattock. The basin of the Clyde is now reached, at
the lower parts of which the Caledonian railway has its
greatest source of traffic and revenue. At Symington, a
branch to Biggar and Peebles, 19 J miles long, is thrown
off. This railway was constructed to Broughton, 8 miles,
under an Act of 1858, and in 1S60 the extension to Peebles
was authorised, and the line was amalgamated with the
Caledonian in 1861. The main bine is at this point, and
for some distance northward, passing through a moor-
land and mountainous district, giving little promise of
local traffic, but there are few parts of the railway sys-
tem of the country where a larger or more important
through traffic is carried. At Carstairs is an important
junction. On the first construction of the line, it was
merely the place where the lines for Edinburgh and
Glasgow bifurcated, but it is now also the junction for
the Lanark, Douglas, and Ayr route, and for a branch
to Dolphinton, as well as a central goods and mineral
yard for general traffic. The Dolphinton branch, 11
miles in length, was constructed in 1867. From Cleg-
horn, 1\ miles beyond Carstairs, the Lanark and Douglas
branch, authorised in 1860, leaves the main line, but
the passenger traffic is now worked direct to Carstairs.
In 1865, a line of 11 miles was authorised from Douglas
to Muirkirk, and on the opening of the ' Ayrshire lines '
of the Glasgow and South-Western railway in 1872, run-
ning powers gave the Caledonian direct access to Ayr.
The Edinburgh section of the original line is 27£ miles
long, and is now augmented by a series of branches and
extensions. At Midcalder Junction the railway is joined
by the Cleland line, 21 miles, constructed in 1868 to
afford a short route between Edinburgh and Glasgow.
This extension, which was opposed by the North British,
was eventually constructed under an agreement by which
the Caledonian consented not to oppose further the Tay
Bridge scheme and other works then contemplated by
the North British Company. An arrangement subsists
by which all through passenger traffic between Edin-
burgh and Glasgow is shared between tlio two companies
in certain proportions, irrespective of the number of pas-
eengera carried by each. Nearer Edinburgh a loop line,
220
5i miles, constructed in 1S74, leads to Bale'rno and
Currie, rejoining the main line at Slateford. In the
immediate vicinity of Edinburgh various connections
have been made, being loops to facilitate the transfer-
ence of traffic from the Leith branch, etc. A junction
with the North British was also formed, by which the
transfer of the North of Scotland traffic to the Company's
own (Princes Street) station is made instead of to the
North British 'Waverley' station. The Granton and
Leith branches, 8 miles in all, were constructed as goods
lines merely under Acts of 1857 and 1862, but in 18S0
the Leith line was opened as a suburban passenger rail-
way, with several stations, affording facilities to residents
N and W of Edinburgh. The western breakwater at
Granton harbour is used as a quay for railway traffic, and
there, as well as at Leith docks, the Company derives
a large traffic outward and inward. The terminus in
Edinburgh is at the W end of Princes Street, where a
handsome and commodious passenger station was erected
in 1S92-93. Large goods and mineral yards have been
laid out at Lothian Road and Morrison Street.
From Edinburgh, the Caledonian holds running powers
over the North British railway to its own station at
Larbert in Stirlingshire, and from this line there is a
branch to Grangemouth, where the Company has con-
structed extensive dock and harbour works, and where
the Forth and Clyde Canal has its eastern connection
with the sea. This canal, which was acquired by the
Company in 1867, was opened from sea to sea in 1790,
and is 37 miles in length, with a summit-level of 150
feet, reached by 20 looks on the E side and 19 locks on
the W. The capital, on amalgamation with the railway,
was £1,141,333, on which the railway company guaran-
teed a dividend of £71,333 annually, or 6J per cent.,
converted in 1881 to a 4 per cent, stock by the nominal
increase of the capital at that rate to absorb the amount
of the annuity.
Reverting to Carstairs Junction, the western fork pro-
ceeds to Gariongill, at which point, as already indicated,
the route follows, as far as Glasgow, lines made under
powers taken some of them as early as 1826, comprising
19 miles in all. Between Gariongill and Glasgow, by
means of branches to a large number of outlying places,
the map here presents a complex network of lines, the
greater part of which is in the hands of the Caledonian.
The main trunk route to the N, over which the ' limited
mail ' travels, diverges at Motherwell, proceeding to
Castlecary and Lower Greenhill, where the Scottish
Central section, subsequently referred to, carries the
line to Stirling, Perth, etc. Approaching Glasgow from
the S, the route principally followed until lately was by
the old Garnkirk route, reaching Buchanan Street station.
The Central station in Gordon Street, with a splendid
bridge over the Clyde above Broomielaw and parallel to
Glasgow Bridge, was opened in 1S79, at a cost approach-
ing two millions sterling, since which time both the S
traffic and the trains by the direct Cleland and Mid-
calder route to Edinburgh have been conducted to the
new station. After crossing the river on leaving Glas-
gow, this line follows the route of the Clydesdale Junc-
tion, constructed in 1819, and incorporated as part of
the Caledonian original system. It must suffice to say
that the Caledonian in this district possesses lines to
Larkhall and Lesmahagow, Stonehouse, Strathaven,
Hamilton, East Kilbride, etc., and numerous mineral
connections over and above its passenger lines. The
Greenock and Paisley railway, opened in 1841, was taken
as part of the Caledonian systom in 1847, under a divi-
dend guarantee, with a separate board for financial
purposes. The Greenock brancli was extended to Gourock
in 1889, where the trains run alongside a new pier con-
structed by the Company. A fleet of well-appointed
saloon steamers ply daily at short intervals between
Gourock, Kirn, Dunoon, Inncllan, Rothesay, and the
AVest Highlands, and the steamers 'Columba,' 'Iona,'
'Lord of the Isles,' and 'Ivanhoe' call during the season.
The Wemyss Bay railway, 10 miles, was constructed in
1865, and is worked by the Caledonian, and, by means
of an extensive service of steamers, provides a favourite