(see notes below)
(see notes below)
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Introduction
Without the Mines, Iron and Steel Works and ancillary industries, there would have been no railway network in the Monklands to write a history of, so it is only proper that I make some reference to these "customers". As I am primarily a railway enthusiast whose knowledge of mining in particular is limited, I apologise in advance to any industrial archaeologists and heritage experts reading this section if it includes inaccurate or misleading information. I would naturally appreciate any help with additional information or corrections required.
Away from the network of main and secondary lines, there were almost as many (if not more) track miles of colliery and industrial branches in the area. To establish the course of each of these branches and which factory or mine they served, the following sources of information were used.
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(see notes below) |
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The lists of mines were infuriatingly troublesome to filter information out of, as there were two lists for each year where mines from the Monkland coalfield were listed (Scotland East and Scotland West) and each had idiosyncratic differences that made cross-referencing difficult. This could be a simple variation in the spelling on the name of a mine but more frequently it was problems with the district that the mine was listed under. The lists use no less than 18 districts, Clarkston, Airdrie, Bargeddie, Calderbank, Caldercruix, Chapelhall, Chryston, Coatbridge, Gartcosh, Glenboig, Glenmavis, Greengairs, Longriggend, New Monkland, Plains, Riggend, Westcraigs and Whiterigg. Most of these districts have rather vague boundaries, and it is not unusual, for example, to have a mine listed under Whiterigg one year and Plains another. From the lists published for 1896, 1908, 1918, 1938 and 1945 some 180 names of mines were gleaned, though in several cases I have strong suspicions that some mines existed at the same location under different names. In addition the mines served by the North British and Caledonian Railways in 1922 are included in the table.
N.B if anyone wishes a copy of the Excel spreadsheet from which the
table is drawn please email
me for a copy
The backbone of this list is the lists of mines, goods stations and industries served by the North British Railway Company and Caledonian Railway Company in 1922. Many of the factories listed in these publications lasted much longer than the mines although few were served by rail in later years. A few still exist today such as the Imperial Tubeworks and Boots Factory), I have also added information from "Coatbridge - Three Centuries of Change" and personal recollections from the 1960s and 70s where appropriate.
Most industries will be readily identifiable, but there are a few odd ones, which will be unfamiliar to younger generations. Two examples are shown below:
"Duff"
No this is not the name for a fictitious brand of beer in a popular
cartoon series (Dho!). In the Monklands
we had Jas M. Buchannan, who was trading in 1922 as a "Duff Merchant" at
Faskine. The dictionary meaning of the word Duff was "a fine coal too low
in calorific value for direct sale". This residue from coal mining, also
known as "dross", was treated and compacted to form coal "briquettes" which
were commonly used on domestic coal fires. James Nimmo & Co. Ltd. had
a much larger dross washing and briquette manufacturing complex near Longriggend.
"Ganister"
"Ganister" or "Gannister" is a pure and even grained grit or loosely
cemented quartzite with siliceous properties (i.e. it behaved like silica)
found in lower strata of coal mining areas. This was used to make silica
bricks, which in turn were used as refractory material for lining furnaces.
One such company manufacturing this product was the "Rochsolloch Composition
"Ganister" Co." of Coatdyke