Monkland Railways
The Monkland Railways was a railway company formed in 1848 by the merger of three "coal railways" that had been built to serve coal and iron pits around Airdrie in Central Scotland, and connect them to canals for onward transport of the minerals. The newly formed company had a network stretching from Kirkintilloch to Causewayend, near Linlithgow. These coal railways had had mixed fortunes; the discovery of blackband ironstone and the development of the iron smelting industry around Coatbridge had led to phenomenal success, but hoped-for mineral discoveries in the moorland around Slamannan had been disappointing. The pioneering nature of the railways left them with a legacy of obsolete track and locomotives, and new, more modern, railways were being built around them.
The new company responded with connections to other lines, and to Bo'ness Harbour, and built new lines to Bathgate, but it was taken over by the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway in 1865. Much of the network was dependent on proximity to pits and ironworks and as those became worked out or declined, the traffic on the network declined too, but the Coatbridge - Airdrie - Bathgate line remained open for passengers until 1956. The section east of Airdrie then closed, except for minor freight movements, but it was reopened in 2010, forming a through passenger route between Glasgow and Edinburgh via Airdrie and Bathgate. Part of the Bo'ness extension line was re-opened as the Bo'ness and Kinneil Railway, a heritage line. The remainder of the system has closed.
The North Monkland Railway was an independent line built to serve pits and quarries to the north of Airdrie beyond the reach of the Monkland Railways system. It opened in 1878 and was taken over in 1888, but it closed in the 1960s.
Origins: the coal railways
Monkland and Kirkintilloch Railway
In 1826 the Monkland and Kirkintilloch Railway opened, with the primary purpose of carrying coal from the Monklands collieries, south of Airdrie to Kirkintilloch, from where it could continue to market in Glasgow and Edinburgh over the Forth and Clyde Canal. As a pioneering railway, it adopted a track gauge of 4 ft 6 in, and at first operated as a toll line, allowing independent hauliers to move wagons, using horse traction. It later acquired steam locomotives and ran trains itself. At first it was successful, and when the iron smelting industry became a huge success within the railway's area, it became even more successful.Ballochney Railway
As coal extraction developed, pits were opened further north and east than the M&KR reached, and the Ballochney Railway was constructed to serve some of them, running from Kipps, near Coatbridge, to pits around Arbuckle and Clarkston, and a quarry. It opened in 1828. The area it reached was on high ground, and two rope-worked inclines were necessary to gain altitude.Garnkirk and Glasgow Railway
The Garnkirk and Glasgow Railway was opened in 1831 connecting the Monklands directly to Glasgow without the need to transshipment to a canal.Wishaw and Coltness Railway
The Wishaw and Coltness Railway opened from 1833, connecting iron pits and works further east to Whifflet for access to the Coatbridge ironworks.Slamannan Railway
There was a large area of undeveloped moorland between Airdrie and the banks of the Forth, and a railway was promoted to develop the region. There were optimistic ideas of serving new collieries in the area, as well as the advantage of connecting Monklands to Edinburgh more directly. The Slamannan Railway opened in 1840 between Arbuckle and Causewayend, a wharf on the Union Canal; it had a rope worked incline down to the wharf. Onward transport to Edinburgh involved transshipment to canal barges.Main line railways
The M&KR and the Ballochney companies enjoyed huge commercial success as the iron smelting industry boomed around Coatbridge, and as successful new mineral extraction started around Airdrie, although the Slamannan company's sought-for new mineral business barely materialised. The coal railways collectively worked in a loose collaboration.At the same time new intercity railways were being promoted and suddenly the coal railways disadvantages seemed dominant. Their near monopoly of mineral traffic in very small areas now seemed to exclude them from areas where new business was being developed, emphasised by the terminating points at canal basins, requiring transshipment to get to destination. Their primitive track on stone block sleepers, their distinct track gauge of 4 ft 6 in also necessitated transshipment where they connected with the new standard gauge lines. Their obsolete locomotives, horse haulage by independent hauliers is some parts, the rope-worked inclines and the antiquated operating methods were all considerable disadvantages.
In 1842 the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway opened its main line on the standard gauge of 4 ft 8½ in with modern locomotives. At this time the Caledonian Railway was promoting a new trunk line from Carlisle to Glasgow and Edinburgh; it got its authorising act of Parliament, the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway Act 1845, in 1845 and opened in 1847/1848. It sought acquisition of the Wishaw and Coltness Railway and the Garnkirk and Glasgow Railway to get access to Glasgow, and it concluded a lease of those lines. Suddenly those lines were out of the group of mutually friendly coal railways, and soon they were simply part of the Caledonian Railway.
The three other coal railways decided that their interests lay in collaboration, and they formed a joint working arrangement from 29 March 1845; in effect the three companies worked as one.
In 1844 the M&KR had built a short spur to transshipment sidings with the E&GR at Garngaber, a little east of the present-day Lenzie station. The inconvenience of the transshipment emphasised the disadvantage of the now non-standard track gauge, and it was decided to change the track gauge to standard gauge. They got Parliamentary authority and made the change on 26 July and 27 July 1847.
Operating costs were high: from 1845 to 1848 the ratio for the three railways that formed the Monkland Railways averaged 55%. Giving evidence at the hearing of the Monklands Amalgamation Bill in 1848, George Knight, secretary and General Manager of the three railways explained that:
The Monklands complex consisted of 36 miles of railway proper and 12 miles of sidings, and had connected it with another 48 miles of private railways built by the various extractive and industrial interests. Although a through journey of 25 miles was possible on the system—from the eastern end of the Slamannan to the Kirkintilloch canal basin—30% of all traffic travelled less than a mile, and half of it less than 2½ miles. Hence locomotives were involved in a ceaseless pattern of stopping and shunting, and averaged only 24 miles per day against the 90 miles normal on the Edinburgh & Glasgow.The sidings were expensive to work, and even private sidings required main line points which had to be renewed every three or four years... these numerous points also meant the employment of a large number of men to supervise them. Traders could also benefit from using the company's waggons, and were not charged for their use on sidings and private lines. averaged only 5¼ miles per day against 23 miles on the Edinburgh & Glasgow.
Formal merger
In 1846 it became clear that the E&GR directors favoured a purchase of the coal railways, giving it immediate access to the collieries and ironworks, and gaining possession of the territory against newly promoted lines. Such a sale appeared at first to please everyone, but Lancashire shareholders in the E&GR felt that the terms of such a takeover were too favourable to the small Scottish lines, and a major row broke out in the E&GR: the scheme was dropped. In this period, numerous other railways were promoted and alliances seemed to be formed and abandoned quickly, but the only large newcomers were the E&GR and the Caledonian Railway.Having been rebuffed by the E&GR, the Monkland companies decided upon a formal merger, and obtained the necessary sanction by an act of Parliament, the on 14 August 1848. The new Monkland Railways Company was formed with a nominal share capital of £329,880, the sum of the capital of the three former companies; the shares were converted as follows:
- Monkland and Kirkintilloch Railway £25 shares converted to £22 16s 0d in Monkland Railways shares
- Ballochney Railways Railway £25 shares converted to £40 10s 10d in Monkland Railways shares
- Slamannan Railway Railway £50 shares converted to £22 15s 10d in Monkland Railways shares.
New lines
Slamannan Junction Railway
The Slamannan Railway terminated at Causewayend, a wharf on the Union Canal. This was close to the new E&GR main line, and a connection seemed desirable. An independent company, the Slamannan Junction Railway, was formed to build the link; the submission to Parliament for an act of Parliament was supported financially by the E&GR and the Monkland joint companies together. In fact its shareholders sold the company to the E&GR immediately after obtaining the enabling act of Parliament, the Slamannan Junction Railway Act 1844, and the E&GR built the line from Bo'ness Junction on the E&GR main line to Causewayend. The short line was completed by January 1847, but remained dormant until the Monkland lines altered their line to standard gauge, in August 1847.Bo'ness
The harbour at Borrowstounness was also not far from Causewayend, and a connection to it was desirable, enabling export and coastwise mineral trade. In addition there were ironstone pits and blast furnaces at Kinneil. The nominally independent Slamannan and Borrowstounness Railway had been promoted by the Slamannan company to connect to Bo'ness Harbour, with a link to the E&GR west of Bo'ness Junction so aligned as to allow through running from the Polmont direction to Bo'ness. The unbuilt line was absorbed into the Monkland Railways at the time of formation of that company, but the subscribed capital of £105,000 was to be kept separate. The Slamannan and Borrowstounness Railway Act 1846 of 26 June 1846 specified that the Union Canal was to be crossed by a drawbridge or swing bridge, and that screens were to be provided to avoid frightening horses drawing barges on the canal. In fact the E&GR made considerable difficulties over the construction of the new bridge to pass the S&BR line under their own main line, and construction was delayed until 1848. With a resumption of friendly relations, it now appeared that some construction could be avoided if Slamannan to Bo'ness trains used the Slamannan Junction line to Bo'ness Junction on the E&GR and then the proposed Bo'ness Junction connection towards Bo'ness, so that trains would join and then immediately leave the E&GR main line.In 1850, as construction was progressing, it was belatedly realised that the configuration of the junctions on the E&GR main line was such that a through movement would be impossible; trains would have to shunt back on the E&GR main line. In addition the E&GR made stipulations about the composition of the Monkland wagon wheels which were impracticable to comply with. Accordingly, the Monkland Railways decided to complete the originally intended through line from Causewayend after all. The E&GR took umbrage at this and put further difficulties in the way of the underbridge construction and disputation dragged on until May 1851. The Monkland Railways now got a fresh act of Parliament, the authorising some deviations of the new line, and the substitution of a fixed bridge over the Union Canal.
The approach to Bo'ness Harbour itself was to be along the foreshore there, and the company was obliged to build a promenade on the sea side of the railway line there. John Wilson, the proprietor of important iron works at Kinneil obtained permission to run some mineral trains there while the line was still under construction, and the first trains ran from Arden on 17 March 1851, but opening from the E&GR line at Bo'ness Junction took place in early August 1851, with the undesirable backshunt on the E&GR main line now apparently permitted. Full opening of the through line took place on 22 December 1851.
Passenger traffic started, after some difficulties in obtaining approval, on 10 June 1856.