The Gartsherrie Junctions

Gartsherrie has the honour of being the location for the first junction between two railways in Scotland, when in May 1831 the Garnkirk & Glasgow Railway linked up with the Monkland and Kirkintilloch.  Further developments occurred in February 1843 when the Garnkirk & Glasgow built an extension to the centre of Coatbridge, creating what is now known as Gartsherrie South Junction, which remains to this day as the divergence of the routes from Coatbridge to Glasgow and Stirling.  At its peak the complex formed a scissors type junction layout controlled by three manual signalboxes, with approaching trains from all directions being able to take either exit route (See diagrams).

There was also a station complete with its own inn (very much in stagecoach tradition) sandwiched within the junction complex which was initially known as "The Hawes" which saw several early passenger services by both the M&K and G,G&C.  The station finally closed on the 28th of October 1948.  The above photograph shows the inn in the 1930's (scanned from a photograph by J.F.McEwan which appears in "The Glasgow and Garnkirk Railway" by Don Martin, published by Strathkelvin District Libraries.
 

The Gartsherrie Junctions in 1865.  The Caledonian is shown as having taken over the Glasgow Garnkirk and Coatbridge, but the Monkland and Kirkintilloch is still shown as being in charge of it's own line though it would be absorbed by the N.B during that year.
(Image produced from the http://www.old-maps.co.uk/ service with permission of Landmark Information Group Ltd. and Ordnance Survey)
There is a very interesting and humorous article by former Gartsherrie (LNER) Junction Signalman George Harrison on the Signal Box Site which includes a copy of the signaling diagram for that box.


The above diagram is based on the 12" Ordnace Survey Map and shows the junction complex at it's peak following the quadrupling of the track between Coatbridge Central and Gartsherrie South Junction on the 20th of December 1903 which resulted in the rebuilding of Gartsherrie South Junction box and also Gartsherrie Iron Works box (closed 20/09/1959) which was originally the block section immediately to the south.
In the late 1950's Bairds & Scottish invested in a new iron ore discharge facility for Gartsherrie Iron Works.  This was situated on the west side of the ex Caledonian main line where the present day freighliner terminal now stands.  The facility had sidings and a run round loop and was accessed via a facing crossover (shown in blue in the diagram above).  The advent of this facility meant that iron ore trains from Rothesey Dock (coming from the Gartcosh direction) or General Terminus Quay (coming up through Coatbridge Central to reverse) no longer required to use the flat crossing from Gartsherrie North Junction to access the Gunnie branch, and as a result this connection was taken out of use by the 31st of August 1964 and  Gartsherrie North Junction box abolished.
 

View of Gartsherrie Iron Works looking east in the late 1950's showing the then new iron ore discharge facility which is primitive by today's standards but were probably state-of-the-art then.  For anyone trying to place the photograph a point of reference is the bridge under the main line which can be seen just above the wagons in the foreground, this bridge still exist today and can be seen from Gartgill Road.  It's purpose is a mystery.

Further rationalisation was carried out following the destruction of Gartsherrie East (LNER) Junction box  in an arson attack on the 30th of January 1967. With Gartsherrie Iron Works in the process of being closed that year, very little traffic was expected to use the junction into the Gunnie branch and the costs of rebuilding the signalbox were therefore not justified.  All connections to the branch from the north were removed by the 7th of November 1967 and large concrete stops erected at the end of the severed track..


The stump of the Gunnie branch and a remnant of the yard was retained for access to the Castle (originally Clyde) Cement Factory which until the end of 1992 saw a regular service from Clitheroe in Lancashire.  Traffic was originally hauled in vintage 4 wheel hooded open wagons, but from the 1970's modern bogie tank wagons were used (see left hand photograph below).  The company had its own locomotive (right hand photograph) that tripped the wagons from the yard to the factory.  The factory itself was situated on the branch that once was used by Bairds internal user locmotives to transport slag from Gartsherrie Iron Works to the slag bings beyond the Glenboig road.
Currently the yard is mothballed but it is unlikely that this traffic will return. I contacted Castle Cement in March 2002 regarding their plans for the future, they replied with a statement that the Scottish route was being re-evaluated using an inter-modal option rather than conventional rail for which the receiving terminal would be Mossend
 
View of Gunnie yard looking South, the work's loco can just be seen passing over the bridge in the distance.

Castle Cement,  (then known as Clyde Cement) had it's own locomotive, seen here returning to the works having positioned an emty tanker in the yard.

For comparison, this is a 1970's shot of a railtour visiting the Gunnie branch, possibly the last passenger train to travel over it.  The photograph is a reverse view of the one above it, having been taken from the overbridge, looking back towards the sidings.  Note that the wagons in the yard are the earlier 4 wheel hooded open variety. (Jim Watson Collection).  The redundant signal posts would have been operated from Gunnie North signalbox, closed in June 1968

Further rationalisation occurred in 1973 when Gartsherrie South became a fringe box for Motherwell Signalling Centre and then on the 1st of May 1999 when the box was eliminated on completion of Cowlairs power box scheme, although the section controlled by Gartsherrie South was transferred to Motherwell Power Box..  Many of the semaphore signals had already been replaced by MAS during the electification in 1981.

Coatbridge Freightliner Terminal

Scotland first Freightliner terminal opened in 1965 at Gushetfaulds in Glasgow in 1965, but with the bulk of the business already drifting away from the domestic towards the international maratime market the idea of an inland port with full H.M.Customs facilities, close to the main motorway network was considerd.  Coatbridge was therefore chosen as "Continerbase Scotland" and the 38 acre terminal was opened in 1969/70 on the site of the iron ore discharge described above.  Initially the terminal consisted of only two sidings which were only accessible from the North, and it was normal working practise for the one train a day to work to the loop at Greenfoot to reverse.  The terminal was re-developed to it's present form in 1978 with a much improved layout, access to one of the two groups of sidings now being availible from the South.  An train length electrified head shunt has now been provided on the single track Gartcosh spur at the north end, and the procedure for trains using these sidings is for the locomotive to draw the train forward into the headshunt, then propel into the down slow, detach and run down the up main an reverse through the trailing crossover to pick up the train again
 

The electrification masts had just begun to appear when this shot of a class 20, probably bound for Bedlay pit was taken on 15th December 1980

 A view of the South end of the Freightliner terminal on the 4th of August 1981,  a week  before the  electrification was "officially" commissioned.  A pair of class 85's can just be seen to the extreme left of the photograph in the group of sidings accessible from the south.  The pair of class 37's approaching on the up main line are running round a train which they had earlier removed from the dead end sidings and placed in the down goods loop.
   Gartsherrie Views
A class 20 hauled loaded coal train from Bedlay, probably bound for Ravenscraig, leans into the curve approaching Gartsherrie from the North.  This degree of superelevation would have been impossible with the original flat junction from Gartsherrie North Junction to the Gunnie Branch in place!
It is a gloomy 15th of December 1981, and the electrification masts are in place as a class 47 takes the Gartcosh line bound for Glasgow Works with coaching stock due for overhaul. 
Gartsherrie South Junction Signal Box can be seen to the right of the photograph as another class 47 accelerates the Inverness Bound "Clansman" away from its Coatbridge stop.  The signal box obtained a distinct lean away from the line during its later years, probably due to collapsed mine workings in the area, and had to be supported with buttresses.  The bush is obscuring the fact that some sidings to the east of the line were retained and were being occupied by track maintenance equipment.
Another valuable view taken by Jim Watson in the early 1970's just after the Arson attack on the signal box.  The photograph is taken from the remains of the old 'box and shows (from left to right) the concrete block placed at the end of Gunnie branch, the original semaphore signals including the redundant post of Gartsherrie North Junction's home signal. The line from Gartsherrie North Junction to Gunnie Yard crossed the waste ground between the redundant signal post and the remains of the signal box.

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