Image produced from the http://www.old-maps.co.uk/ service with permission of Landmark Information Group Ltd. and Ordnance Survey	Reproduced from 1950 Ordnance Survey Map. ©Crown Copyright

Sunnyside Junction is the oldest junction in Coatbridge, having been the point of divergence of the Kipps branch of the Monkland and Kirkintilloch since the opening of the line in 1826.  An interesting comparison can be made between the Ordinance Survey maps of 1864 and 1950 (see above), a useful point of reference between the two maps being Hornock Cottages.  The 1864 map shows the diverted route of the Monkland & Kirkintilloch (highlighted in yellow), with much of the old route remaining in existence to serve Gartsherrie Iron Works. Surprisingly, Sunnyside passenger station is not shown!  The 1950 map shows amongst other things that the route of Sunnyside road has been considerably altered, probably in 1871 when the North British Railway opened the Glasgow Line. Lamberton's Works can be seen adjacent to Sunnyside Station, and like the majority of heavy industry a private siding leads into the works.  Summerlee Iron works, shown in the bottom left hand corner of the 1864 map has been cleared by 1950.
Sunnyside station was opened by the Monkland Railway Company on 1st December 1863, following completion of the new line to Bathgate.  If the map is anything to go by, facilities must have been sparse, and the existing station dates from 1888, after the opening of the North British line to Glasgow.  Full waiting room facilities were available on both platforms, with the ticket office spanning the tracks on the Sunnyside Road bridge.  By the 1970's, the Airdrie bound platform buildings had been demolished and the Glasgow bound Platform Buildings, which still exist, were used for departmental staff.  The overhead ticket office was destroyed by fire in the late 1980's and was not replaced, the station being now unmanned.

A very nice study of 303001 departing Coatbridge Sunnyside for Airdrie.  The overhead ticket office is still in existence in the background with the open metal stairways that replaced the original wooden covered stairs in 1971 just visible. Also visible is the banner repeater for the signal at the end of the platform, there were originally two banners, the second one repeated the junction feather indication to Gunnie South but this and the feather were removed when the  branch was reduced to yard working and entrance to the branch was then controlled by a shunt signal. The large door in the building just above the cab once allowed rail access to the Lamberton Works, the siding crossed Russell Colt Street before descending to join the main line at Greenside Junction  (Photo taken by and used with permission of Donald Stirling, http://donaldstirling.fotopic.net/)
Debris falls to the track as demolition work gets underway on the girders which once supported the overhead booking office at Sunnyside Station (Jim Watson collection).  The old signal, controlled from Sunnyside Junction Box is still in use just beyond the bridge, with the new Yoker controlled signal, with the mandatory white "X" denoting that it is not in use, on the far left hand side of the photograph..  Left and right, platform tickets for Coatbridge Sunnyside from the LNER and BR eras.

A class 320 leaves Coatbridge Sunnyside for Helensburgh in 1991.  The Gunnie branch has now been singled, as can just be seen above the rear coach of the unit.	Class 303 unit no. 303009 takes the Whifflet line at Sunnyside Junction, working a Milngavie - Lanark service during 1991 when this service was diverted due to the major work at Newton.
Another view of  303009 on the Lanark service	37409 (nearest camera) and 37403 on PW duties in Sunnyside station.
General view of Sunnyside station looking towards Airdrie in 1991 with the new signal in the foreground awaiting commissioning.  The new signalling arrangements allow for trains to run through the facing crossover at the Junction and into the Glasgow bound platform to terminate and reverse.  This feature is often used to cut short the journeys of late running Eastbound trains to get them back into their booked path	Sunnyside Junction signal box, with the Gunnie branch in the foreground and Summerlee heritage centre in the background.  This signalbox was opened on the 8th of August 1920 and replaced the original 'box which was further to the east at the "throat'' of the junction.  This box closed on the 28th of July 1991 following transfer of control to Yoker Signalling Centre

A picture taken from the clock tower of Gartsherrie Parish Church, unfortunately a little blurred, but showing the sidings adjacent to Sunnyside Junction that once occupied the area where the mining village exhibit of the Summerlee Heritage Park has now been built
 

The view below shows the intermediate layout of the junction, with the Whifflet branch singled, following transfer of control of this section to Motherwell box, and the Gunnie branch retaining double track. Compare with the 'photo of the class 320 above.

Track plan of Sunnyside Junction before and after rationalization.
 
 

The Gunnie Branch in Decline
	Another sequence of photographs showing railway infrastructure fading into the landscape. First we see the Gunnie Branch in the 1950's, a busy shot of a southbound mixed freight behind an ex NBR J36 passing the brakevan bringing up the rear of a northbound freight.  On the right a Bairds & Scottish pug shunts mineral wagons into Gartsherrie Iron Works.  The track on the right was the reception/departure loop for the Southern set of sidings forming Gunnie Yard.  (Photographic Credits: Unknown) Right to the end in 1967, Bairds & Scottish Steel Ltd stayed faithful to Scottish built steam locomotives for shunting duties and between the Northburn and Gartsherrie works had a fleet of nine 0-4-0 shunters built by Neilston, Andrew Barclay and the North British Locomotive Co..   All were very similar to the North British  Railway Y9 shunter, and the oldest, No11 survived into Preservation on the Chasewater Railway For pictures of members of the Fleet see: http://www.irsociety.co.uk/Archives/17/Letters_17.htm. http://www.phantasrail.co.uk/rf_industrials_(4).htm http://www.phantasrail.co.uk/rf_industrials_(2).htm
	Gartsherrie Iron Works ceased production in 1967, and this photograph was taken shortly afterwards, showing the sidings all empty but with the buildings still intact.  The large gas holder was for many years a landmark, visible for many miles as can be seen below (both from the collection of Graham Gartshore) http://uk.geocities.com/graham.gartshore@btinternet.com/coatbridge_airdrie.htm
	The Steelworks site has been replaced by a storage depot for containers and  Gartsherrie Iron Works and its associated sidings, along with the southern part of Gunnie Yard had long disappeared when this summer evening shot taken on the 4th August 1981  showing a class 40 running round its train of truck chassis which had come from Bathgate which after completing the run-round will continue to Mossend.  This was a common maneuver on the branch for traffic coming down the Bathgate line to reach the south.  Closure of the line to Bathgate in 1982 removed the need to have run round facilities on this section of the line with the sole function of the branch then being access to the small yard service Castle Cement (see the Gartsherrie page for further information)
	The transfer of control of signalling to Yoker Power Box in January 1989 saw further rationalisation of the junction, with the branch now reduced to single track with no access to the route to Airdrie.  A two aspect colour light signal was provided to control the exit from the branch Left: The driver of  class 47053 telephones Yoker Signalling Centre to request clearance to leave the branch with a train of  Cement hoppers from Castle Cement.  James Craig (Anoraxia Locotus)
	Finale: In May 2005 the branch was finally disconnected from the rest of the network, albeit a partial removal of the diamond crossing.  This was the scene on October 17th 2005, above left the same view as the first four photographs, showing the line now totally overgrown.   That year the decision was taken to phase out production of ground granulated blast furnace slag at the Coatbridge plant and move the manufacture of blended cements to the company’s Ribblesdale works in Lancashire.  The reason given was that the cement additive, blast furnace slag, which had been produced at Coatbridge since 1970 used the ready supply of raw material that was available from Ravenscraig steelworks, but with the steelworks’ closure in the early nineties, Castle had had to pay an increased price for slag from other suppliers and had struggled to break even financially. Later that year it was reported by the Evening Times that a  housing development had been approved for land still occupied by the cement factory in Coatbridge.
	One last view of the junction from Sunnyside Road bridge showing the partially dismantled trackwork.

As a publicity stunt during the run up to Christmas, the original class 303 unit, no. 048 was decked out with "Merry Christmas" transfers, fake snow on the windows, and a second man dressed as Santa Claus.  You can just see him in the Cab as the unit leaves Coatdyke.	Class 40 no. 40158 lifts a Bathgate bound company car train up the 1 in 70 gadient through Coatdyke Station on the 22nd May 1981.  Today the locomotive, the Bathgate line and the Leyland factory no longer exist.
On 30th December 2002, 334032 departs for Airdrie having worked from Helensburgh, where the unit had taken over the diagram from the last 303 run which took place that day.	Above: A class 303 descends the gradient into Coatdyke Station and Left: A class 40 climbs away from Coatdyke towards Airdrie.   These photograph was taken from the window of my bedroom in Deedes Street where I stayed from 1963 to 1981.  The gradient at this point has just steepened from 1 in 80 to 1 in 70 (the old gradient post used to be about half way along the Glasgow bound platform).  If these Bathgate bound trains were checked at the signal  at Coatdyke station, getting on the move again could be a struggle, particularly for a class 37 on a wet rail.  I made an audio recording of such an event and it lasts for a full 10 minutes from restarting at Coatdyke station to reaching the Girder bridge over the main Coatbridge to Airdrie road.  In that time I saw many different types of locomotive traverse this section of  line.  Fed up with class 66's?  - the list below gives a flavour of the variety of the 1960's and 70's.

Note 1: The excursion traffic was a regular feature of the Glasgow Fair Fortnight, when each year, one excursion would depart each weekday from Airdrie, calling at all stations to Bellgrove, then take the City Union Line to Ayr, Largs or Gourock.  Edinburgh was also used as a destination on one occasion.  Train formation was usually 7 or 8 Mk1 coaches hauled by a class 26 or 27.  The tradition ended in the mid 1970's with demand falling due to more sophisticated leisure requirements of the local population, too few people wanted to have a day out "doon the water" any more.