Wemyss Bay To Glasgow By Train

---

Wemyss Bay Station

The present station was opened in 1903 by the Caledonian Railway, built to a design by famous Scottish railway architect James Miller and is one of the finest station buildings in the UK, which is not bad going for a small village in the small county of Renfrewshire.

Information boards at the station show the evolution of the layout over the years. There are now only two active platforms and tracks, whereas in the past there were at least four.

Wemyss Bay pier

The Pier and station are integral, linked by a covered walkway which can be seen in some of the photos below. There is a frequent car and passenger ferry service to Rothesay on the island of Bute. Initially, the railway company ran steamboat services to many island and coastal ports from here.

Wemyss Bay former goods yard

There was a goods yard and a line down to the pier on the west side of the station. It stood in a narrow strip of land along the top of the sea wall. There are still plenty of signs of the old yard in existence today.


Leaving the station and pier behind, the single line climbs quite steeply north, crossing the A78 by means of a fairly substantial red sandstone and steel bridge. passing the site of the old engine shed before entering a deep cutting which runs alongside the A78 towards Inverkip. The mothballed Inverkip Power Station is visible briefly on the left, between the trees before entering Inverkip tunnel.

Back to Wemyss Bay Station

Inverkip Station

The line enters Inverkip Station through a tunnel which passes under Commoncraig Hill. A second, parallel tunnel was closed when the line was electrified in the late 1960s. The 10 mile Wemyss Bay branch line consisted of various stretches of single and double line until electrification at which time it was made almost entirely single track. As far as I know, diesel passenger trains never ran regularly on the line, steam locos being replaced directly by electric multiple unit 'Blue Trains'.

Inverkip Station is about 40 metres above Wemyss Bay, as can be seen in the first photo below which was taken from the station platform. The remains of a small building are visible in winter, on the embankment between the station and the Finnockbog Road bridge. The small red brick building at the footbridge east of the station was demolished in 2008 to make way for a new housing development.

Back to Wemyss Bay Station

There are red sandstone and steel viaducts over Daff Glen and Dunrod Glen (and also remains of disused parallel viaducts in both glens) before the passing loop at Dunrod Farm at the southern entrance to Spango Valley between Inverkip and IBM stations. The passing loop is normally only used at peak times when the service increases to twice per hour instead of the normal once.

There is also a private level crossing at Dunrod, now the only working level crossing on the entire line. There was another private crossing near IBM (which survived until fairly recently) and one at Finlaystone, near Langbank (see further below). There was also a gated road crossing and signal box at Parklea, just east of Woodhall Station.

Back to Wemyss Bay Station

IBM Halt

Opened in 1978 to serve the then flourishing IBM computer factory in Spango Valley. I was one of the first passengers to use the halt and had ticket number 0000 from Woodhall (which I have since lost).


There was a private farm level crossing just east of the station until the farm was demolished in the late 1990s.

Back to Wemyss Bay Station

Branchton Station

This station opened in 1967 and now serves the nearby Inverclyde Royal Hospital which opened around a decade later. Ravenscraig station stood slightly to the west (near the railway arch below), but all signs of that station are gone.

Drumfrochar Station

Drumfrochar is the newest station on the line, having opened in May 1998.

Back to Wemyss Bay Station

Former Upper Greenock station

This long gone station stood between Drumfrochar and Winhill stations, near the Tate & Lyle sugar refinery (one of many refineries in the town - all now closed). There is little evidence left of that station.

Back to Wemyss Bay Station

Whinhill Station

This station stands at the west end of a tunnel. Similar to Inverkip, there is also a disused parallel tunnel. A viaduct on the disused Princes Pier line can be seen through the trees from here in the winter. A line to the former paper mill at Overton once climbed steeply away from near this point.

Back to Wemyss Bay Station

The bridge at Bridgend Road is at the other end of the tunnel. The line then passes above Bogston Station on the Gourock line, but there is no station on this line. The line from Gourock joins just east of here and the combined (now double track) line is elevated all the way to Port Glasgow Station.


Back to Wemyss Bay Station

Port Glasgow Station

This is an interchange station, serving three trains each way per hour to Gourock and one to Wemyss Bay from Glasgow Central. There was once a bay platform here which served the Wemyss Bay line.

Back to Wemyss Bay Station

Woodhall Station

Not all Wemyss Bay services stop here, requiring a change and short wait at Port Glasgow for a stopping train from Gourock. The old lineside hut is about a mile east of Woodhall and has since lost its roof entirely.

Back to Wemyss Bay Station

Langbank Station

Another station at which not all Wemyss Bay trains stop. The sea wall and white gate are between Woodhall and Langbank.

Back to Wemyss Bay Station

Bishopton Station

Bishopton is the site of the massive former Royal Ordinance Factory (ROF). There are tree covered sidings leading to the ROF at the west end of the station. The factory is now closed and the site is earmarked for housing, further enhancing Bishopton's reputation as a dormitory town, convenient for Glasgow and the airport.

The line between Bishopton and Paisley is one of the longest and flattest straights in Scotland. There was a private station at Georgetown, by the B790 road, which served the explosives factory and a later public station nearby which served the two miles distant villages of Houston and Crosslee.

Back to Wemyss Bay Station

Paisley St James Station

Another limited stop station. There is a campaign to change the name to Paisley St Mirren, now that the football team of that name have moved here.

Back to Wemyss Bay Station

The line is elevated between St James and Gilmour Street stations.

Back to Wemyss Bay Station

Gilmour Street Station

A major junction station with four platforms where the lines from Glasgow Central split to serve Ayrshire or Inverclyde destinations. Gilmour Street is one of the busiest stations in Scotland.

Back to Wemyss Bay Station

Arkleston Junction

This junction is to the east of Gilmour Street and once served the now lifted line to Renfrew. There are still sidings and freight train passing loops there which are used by the coal trains to and from the Hunterston deep water terminal and the occasional container train.

Back to Wemyss Bay Station

Hillington West Station

No photos (yet). Serves the west end of Hillington Industrial Estate which was (perhaps still is) the largest industrial estate in the UK.
Back to Wemyss Bay Station

Hillington East Station

No photos (yet). Serves the east end of Hillington Industrial Estate which was (perhaps still is) the largest industrial estate in the UK.
Back to Wemyss Bay Station

Cardonald Station

A freight only line from Deanside transit depot joins just to the west of here.

Back to Wemyss Bay Station

Shields Depot

This rolling stock maintenance depot lies between Cardonald and Glasgow Central stations. The diesel line from Paisley Canal Station joins here. The line then crosses the Glasgow Subway at West Street (no connection) on its journey to the city centre.


Some roadside views of Shields Depot, not visible from the train.

Back to Wemyss Bay Station

Former Bridge St Station

Bridge Street was the terminus of the line before the Clyde was bridged in 1878, eventually closing in 1905 when Glasgow Central was extended. A nearby subway station now bears the name, but there is no connection to the main line.

Back to Wemyss Bay Station

Glasgow Central

The original station opened in 1879 and was extended in 1905 by James Miller and it is fitting that we end our journey in another of his masterpieces by the River Clyde. Platforms 12 and 13, within Miller's extension, are typically used by the Wemyss Bay and Gourock services, which is logical since this reduces the need to cross over other tracks when entering or leaving the station from the west.

There are 14 platforms 'upstairs' and a further two 'downstairs' at the low level station, which is in a long tunnel and which should not be confused with the Glasgow Underground.

Glasgow Central is an awe inspiring, cavernous building. I'm no architect and will let the photos speak for themselves.

Upstairs

Platforms 11a, 12 & 13 in the upper station were re-numbered in late December 2008, becoming 12, 14 & 15. Low Level platforms 14 & 15 were re-numbered to 16 & 17.


This renumbering was done in preparation for the addition of two new platforms, to be numbered 12 & 13. These new platforms will be built on the site of the present through road and car park. The related Glasgow Airport Rail Link project was cancelled in September 2009, but the additional platforms will still be built, as will the additional (third) track to Paisley.


Back to Wemyss Bay Station

Downstairs

Back to Wemyss Bay Station

---