Records of the Wishaw & Coltness Railway, and the Wilsontown, Morningside & Coltness Railway, Scotland

This material is held atUniversity of Glasgow Archive Services

Reference
- GB 248 UGD 008/5 and GB 248 UGD 008/36
Dates of Creation
- 1826-1847
Name of Creator
- Wishaw & Coltness Railway (railway company: 1829-1849: Scotland)
Physical Description
- 0.9 metres
  There are no physical characteristics that affect the use of this material

Scope and Content

Wishaw & Coltness Railway records:

Legal papers concerning the Climpy branch 1845
Branch papers 1836-1844
Agreement with Edinburgh & Glasgow Railway 1845
Statistical papers 1841-1844
Land acquisition papers 1838-1844
Formation papers 1842-1844
Sectional plan 1844
Financial records 1866
Shareholder records 1842-1844

Wilsontown, Morningside & Coltness railway records:

Papers in support of a Bathgate Branch Bill 1845-1846
Papers relating to the Greenhill branch 1845-1846
Proposals for line extensions and improvements 1845
Agreements made with the Wishaw & Coltness Railway and William Dixon & Co, coal and iron masters, Glasgow 1846
Climpy and Bathgate branch papers 1846
Papers relating to mineral and coal traffic 1846-1847
Financial records 1846
Branch construction records 1845-1846
Books of reference 1845
Notes for books of reference c1845
Railway schedules 1845
Parliamentary session books 1845-1846
Railway Acts 1841-1846

Joint records:

Branch records of both the Wishaw & Coltness Railway and the Wilsontown, Morningside & Coltness Railway 1844-1846
Mineral and coal field papers 1826-1846
Papers relating to the Caledonian Railway 1845

Administrative / Biographical History

The Wishaw & Coltness Railway , Scotland, was initially called the Glenturk & Garion Railway and received its Act of Parliament in 1829 . In 2002 it forms part of the West Coast Main Line between Motherwell, North Lanarkshire, Scotland, and Wishaw, North Lanarkshire. The line was planned to run from Coatbridge, North Lanarkshire, to Jerviston and Wishaw. A branch from Jerviston to Cleland, North Lanarkshire, was added. Further lines went on to Morningside, North Lanarkshire. Locomotives for the line were provided by R & W Hawthorn of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England, between 1846 and 1848. The Wishaw & Coltness Railway was purchased by the Caledonian Railway in 1849 .

The Wilsontown, Morningside & Coltness Railway ran Morningside to Bathgate, West Lothian, with branches to Carluke, South Lanarkshire, and Addiewell and Westcraigs, West Lothian. The line opened in 1845 between Morningside and Longridge, West Lothian, with stations at Morningside, Daviesdykes, Blackhall, Headlesscross, Crofthead and Longridge. In March 1848, Daviesdykes station closed with Blackhall, Headlesscross, Crofthead and Longridge closing in December 1852. In 1864, the line re-opened to passengers with stations at Blackhall, Crofthead, Bents and Whitburn. In May 1930, Morningside, Fauldhouse South, Bents and Whitburn closed. In 1847 the line agreed to promote a Bill for amalgamation with the Edinburgh & Glasgow Railway but the law prohibited the amalgamation of companies which had not expended half of their authorised capitalwhich was the case with the Wilsontown, Morningside & Coltness Railway. The purpose of the law was to stop larger lines from buying up smaller companies and thus nullifying the purpose of Parliament in passing the original railway act for the smaller line. As a result, the lines did not merge until 1849 although the Wilsontown, Morningside & Coltness Railway was managed independently until 1850 when the Edinburgh & Glasgow Railway Co took it over.