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

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.

Arrangement

The arrangement of this material reflects the original order in which it was received

Access Information

Open

Acquisition Information

Loan : Mitchells, Johnston & Co : Glasgow : prior to 1966

Other Finding Aids

The archive forms part of the Scottish Railways Collection held by Glasgow University Archive Services, finding aid reference GB 248 UGD 008

Digital file level list available in searchroom

Manual file level list available at the National Registers of Archives in Edinburgh (NRA(S)1631) and London (NRA21659)

Alternative Form Available

No known copies

Conditions Governing Use

Applications for permission to quote should be sent to the University Archivist

Reproduction subject to usual conditions: educational use & condition of documents

Appraisal Information

This material has been appraised in line with standard GB 248 procedures

Custodial History

Held by Mitchells, Johnston & Co , solicitors, Glasgow

Accruals

None expected

Related Material

GB 234 BR/WIC Minutes, dividend records, cashbook and surveys of the Wishaw & Coltness Railway (National Archives of Scotland)

GB 234 BR/WIL Minutes and accounts of the Wilsontown, Morningside & Coltness Railway (National Archives of Scotland)

GB 248 UGD 008 The Scottish Railway Collection

GB 248 UGD 008/6 Records of Edinburgh & Glasgow Railway

GB 248 UGD 008/7 Records of the Caledonian Railway

GB 248 001 Records of William Dixon Ltd

For contact details of all repositories with a GB code, see the Archon repository search page

Bibliography

J R Kellet,Railways and Victorian Cities(London, 1979)

Additional Information

This material is original

Revised by Lesley Richmond, Director of Archives Services, 26 April 2002