The Whifflet Junctions

The area of Coatbridge now known as Whifflet has been previously known as Whifflat (1864 OS map) and Wheatflat (Three Centuries of Change). It was like many areas of the town once an outlying village until the industrial revolution, of which the railways were an integral part. The junction diagrams shown are animations, the first shows the development of the junction complex up to 1912, and the second show the decline and rationalisation leading to the current track layout at Whifflet.

The Monkland & Kirkintilloch Railway is seen in isolation passing through the area on its way to Palacecraig Colliery. Despite being a direct competitor with the Monkland Canal, the company had extensive transhipment sidings with the Canal at Dundyvan Basin, and the yard to the North of the line was known as the Basin Sidings right up to their demise in the 1980’s.

The series of junctions as we know them today began to take shape when first a junction was created opposite the basin sidings giving access to the Dundyvan Iron Works opened in 1833, (later to become the Souterhouse branch). Then in 1834 the Wishaw and Coltness opened, forming a junction with the Monkland and Kirkintilloch at a point which in British Railways days was known as Whifflet East Junction.

Whifflet East Box, with R.B. Tennants Whifflet Foundry in the background (J. Watson collection). The 'box dates from 1904 and was originally Whifflet North (NBR), but the name was changed to avoid confusion with the nearby Caledonian box. Further to the south was Whifflet Central Junction which controlled the junction of the Monkland & Kirkintilloch and Glasgow Bothwell Hamilton & Coatbridge routes.

Looking South from the road bridge in April 2002. The branch into R.B. Tennants has been severed, but a short length of track has yet to be recovered. This point marks the junction between the M&K and Wishaw & Coltness. The Whifflet East Box (closed on the 16th of December 1973) occupied the patch of red gravel on the left and the new Whifflet Station is to the right

Three years later a second junction was created when the Monkland & Kirkintilloch opened a branch to the Rosehall Colliery Complex. This branch swung South from the M&K "Main Line" immediately to the South of the Whifflet Street overbridge and passed into the longest of two tunnels in the district, which burrowed under the high ground beneath Whifflet and Rosehall. The tunnel was 800 meters long with its Northern mouth being close to where the present day road junction is at Whifflet, and the southern portal just to the south of where Coathill Hospital is today.

The Branch was leased to Messers Addie & Millar, owners of the Rosehall Coalfield and Langloan Iron Works for a period of 30 years commencing 1838. They used their own locomotive and therefore the branch was effectively a private line between Langloan and Rosehall. The branch and it’s tunnel was closed by the North British railway in 1875, as by then a branch off the Glasgow Bothwell Hamilton and Coatbridge Railway (Frame 6) provided an alternative route into the Rosehall Colliery. This had the dual benefit of avoided the higher maintenance costs of a tunnel and the flat crossing over the rival Caledonian Railway (see below).
The tunnel was used as an air raid shelter during World War II, then closed up again in 1945. The northern end of the tunnel was filled in during foundation consolidation work when the A725 was converted to dual carriageway in the 1960's. The southern portal has long since disappeared under landscaping work. Langloan Iron Works was accessed via the Souterhouse Branch

The Glasgow Garnkirk & Coatbridge were next in the area in 1845 with the second phase of their extension from Gartsherrie, making a flat crossing over the Rosehall branch before joining the Wishaw and Coltness in an end-on Junction, later to be known as Whifflet South Junction. The Wishaw and Coltness and Glasgow Garnkirk & Coatbridge then were swallowed up by the Caledonian Railway empire in 1846 and the line was re-gauged to the National Standard in 1847, allowing the Caledonian to commence running between Glasgow and the South the following year.

Expansion of the Caledonian Railway to tap the Drumpellier and Springhill Collieries lead to the next junction (Whifflet North Junction), created in 1865 giving access to a line to Rutherglen Junction on the Caledonian Main Line. This line is shown as having been built on the 1865 Ordnance Survey Map, but the spur between Langloan Junction and Coatbridge Junction was not completed until the following year 1866, which is credited by most Railway books as being the official opening of the line. This route was used in later years by ore trains from General Terminus Quay to Ravenscraig as it provided a route built on easier grades than the Uddingston Junction – Bellshill line. The original 1865 signalbox was replaced by the Caledonian Railway in November 1891.

At this stage the first passenger station was built, just to the north of the Calder Road Bridge. There was also a "station" of sorts on the M&K, but services on this route lasted only from 1849 – 1851

The local Ironmasters were keen to have their own line South from the Monkland into the coalfields of Bothwell Hamilton, and the Glasgow, Hamilton, Bothwell and Coatbridge Railway was created for this purpose. This line formed a junction with the former M & K just to the North of Calder Street, designated Whifflet Central Junction. The signalbox controlling this junction closed on the 2nd of February 1945.
If you examine the wall on the north side of Calder Street as you walk toward Greenend you can still see where the bridge over the Palacecraig branch was. The existing bridge is over the G. H. B & C line. The North British Railway soon took control of this line. See "North British Expansion" for further details.
I have inserted the North British passenger station from this frame, as it is likely that it would have been built around the time of the N.B. takeover

Two views of the line just to the South of Whifflet. The first view is taken from the next overbridge south from Calder Street showing a class 20 heading north. The second view in the opposite direction, shows a class 47 heading south on the afternoon Inverness - London "Clansman" service. The Glasgow, Bothwell Hamilton and Coatbridge Line would have crossed this line just where the grey fence can be seen. Virtually no trace of the line has been left in place.

The Caledonian Railway fully opened its line into Airdrie on the 1^st of June this year. This line, the last major project in Coatbridge, must surely have been the most expensive to construct. Leaving the Rutherglen and Coatbridge at Langloan Junction, the line immediately had to cross the existing complex, and the main A725 on a series of plate and girder bridges on which a island platform station was built. The low-level station was also rebuilt underneath the viaduct allowing interchange facilities. This led to the unfortunate feature that the low level station could only be accessed by climbing the stairs to the High Level station, walking the length of the platform, and then descending a second flight of stairs! (See Caledonian Railway for full details).

The frame shown the track layout as it is shown on the 1912 Ordnance Survey Map. This would have been the junction complex at its peak, and would have remained in this state until Second World War, after which the decline in the mining, iron making and associated engineering industries started to take its toll.

*FOOTNOTE: The Ever Changing Landscape of Coatbridge*

	These four photographs show a remarkable change in the landscape of the south side of Coatbridge Town Centre. Each photograph was taken roughly from the same point, that being the bridge carrying the Caledonian Railway's Airdrie Branch over the original Monkland and Kirkintilloch Railway (Sunnyside Junction to Whifflet South Juction Section) at Whifflet. ABOVE LEFT: The 19th century landscape of chimneys belching smoke above what looks like a NBR J36 shunting mineral wagons, The works immediately in the background is Coatbridge Tinplate Works. The steeple of Coats Parish Church can just be discerned to the extreme left of the photograph ABOVE: Taken by Ewan Crawford show the site as it was in August 1987, the factories having been flattened leaving an expanse of waste ground stretching back to Coatbridge Town Centre. The Basin sidings remain intact, at that time being used by the Civil Engineering dpt. CENTRE LEFT: The third photograph was taken on the 10th of January 1985 by George C. O'Hara, and I have included it as it shows the spoil heap (outlined in red) which can be seen behind the J36 in the first view. BOTTOM LEFT: The final view, taken in April 2002 shows the basin sidings having been swept away by a major commercial development. The only positive note from a railway point of view is that the Sunnyside Junction to Whifflet South Junction route has been electrified. The reference points connecting this view to the others is the position of the church steeples in the background. Copyright Note: The photograph by G.C. O'Hara was scanned from "Scottish Urban & Rural Branches" and is used without permission. If anyone has an objection to this photograph being used please contact me and I will remove it immediately.

To stop the animation at a particular time, press the stop button on your toolbar
To restart the animation, press refresh on your toolbar