Ardrossan Gasworks Railway Siding

[Hughie]

For expedience I'll call the railway siding the "Gasworks siding". Up till around 1963 It branched off the Ardrossan to Largs Railway line about a hundred yards on the Largs side of the Parkhouse Road Bridge - on the opposite side of the line to where Eglinton School once stood.

Back in the 1950s I recall daily seeing a steam engine shunt wagons full of coal up to the Gasworks. Winton Foundry was the other main user, they had wagons delivering various moulding sands, Furnace Coke and Limestone. The foundry was situated over the main railway from Lee's Lemonade Factory.

On a line with a point half way up the Dalry Road Brae on the opposite side of the main railway line the siding ended. This was where the Quinn family had their sawmill, there wood was all delivered by rail wagons using the siding.

The Ardrossan Burgh Destructor stood between the Gasworks and the foundry. There was a gateway from their yard which was often stacked with baled cans. Can't recall them using the siding though.

The following might help
1. Start of siding - 2. Gas-works - 3. Burgh Destructor (incinerator) - 4. Winton Foundry - 5. Quinn's Sawmill

[Mitchy]

Hi Hughie,

Am I correct in saying some, or indeed all of the Winton Foundry buildings were taken over by the Metallic? If so then the building is still there.

Regards,

Mitchy

[meekan]

Hi Hughie,
What was the location of Dan Craigs piggery?
Was it where the sawmill was?
Meekan

[Hughie]

Dan Craig's Piggery and what was later to become his Minx farm project, covered the whole distance from the sawmill all the way to Dalry Road. The Minx farm project failed as did the one in the Mill Glen - around 1962 I'm thinking.

[Hughie]

Mitchy, I'd doubt very much if the actual foundry building still exists. I do recall hearing that the Metallic took it over after I left Scotland. Perhaps the office building which was about 150 yards from the foundry still exists.

[Penny Tray]

Hughie,

I vaguely remember the Gasworks Railway Siding but what is puzzling me is that the main railway line and the Winton Foundry/Gasworks were on two distinctly different levels. Was the siding on a fairly steep incline? And how did the trains pass from the Largs bound line over the Ardrossan bound line to access the siding (presuming that all deliveries would arrive via the Largs bound line)? And were the trains able to turn around up at the Gasworks to then pull their wagons away, presumably this time on the Ardrossan bound line? There wasn't a signal box in that area and I don't remember any points to change the lines? I don't even remember trains sitting static on the main line waiting for points to be changed.

[Hughie]

Hughie,
I vaguely remember the Gasworks Railway Siding but what is puzzling me is that the main railway line and the Winton Foundry/Gasworks were on two distinctly different levels.

True PT. The wagons where taken up a gradual incline beneath the Gasworks main building to a point beside the last Gasometer. The points were then changed by the engine driver's mate so the shunter could could continue back on that higher level to the Gasworks main building. If you were at Eglinton at that time you'd recall the young men emptying the wagons by shovel into the numerous openings at the Gasworks.

I well remember my older sister and Mary McBlain (Millglen Road?) having a right cat fight on the sand there at Eglinton School. All the men stopped shovelling to cheer them on - that scene has always stayed with me. Mary and our Susan remained friends after that.

The other matter you raised had also crossed my mind as to how the shunter crossed over to the the opposite side to gain access to the siding. I can only remember two sets of rails going under the Parkhouse Road Bridge. So I'm at a loss, though there must have been a method to switch the points - could it have been controlled from the nearest signal box - wasn't there one between there and the back of Barrie Terrace?

[oliver prin]

Your right there was a signal box at the bottom of our house at 25 Anderson Terrace called Parkhouse Junction and there were crossover points on the main line between the box and the bridge over the Caley Railway.

[Hughie]

Kilmarnock Herald and Ayrshire Gazette
February 6, 1948

"Ardrossan Town Council Gasworks. Showing the new vertical retort (the latest of its kind) just going into production".


Photo appears to have been taken from the Parkhouse Road railway bridge. Any better photos out there? SEE PAGE 2

The building on the right was the Gas Company Office. It had an air-raid siren on the roof and I recall them testing it regularly - always on a Saturday morning (when I wanted to sleep-in). On the right of the gas office was the backyards of the houses in McDowall Avenue.

The building in the middle was used for storing coal which arrived in wagons via the railway siding, which other local businesses, sawmill and foundry used too (see first post). The dark shapes to the left of that building would be the railway wagons. Eglinton school was directly across the Ardrossan to Largs railway line.

The fence on the right defined the road from Parkhouse Road and went up past the gas office and beyond to the ramp at the Burgh destructor - note the incinerator's chimney beside the gasometer.

[Max]

You can see the railway siding in this old OS map website link.

https://maps.nls.uk/view/82867011

[johndo]

I can remember seeing a wrecking ball in demolishing something at the Gasworks in the very early 60's, watching from the McDowell Avenue gate. Very young don't remember much, when were the Gasworks demolished.
My father worked with Scottish Gas Board, I went with him on a Sunday morning he had to do checks that would have been late 60's. All gone by then, but you could still see where the siding was.

[Retsum]

I well remember that railway siding. When I was at the Academy (in the 50's) I went home for dinner (posh folks called it lunch) and using the siding and on past the foundry and piggery was a considerable short cut to Linn Road which was in the housing scheme just after the metallic. One day I saw the guys in the foundry waving their arms. Since I didn't know any of them except young Ronnie Yule, I looked behind to see who the were waving to - no one there - so I carried on and walked into a couple of railway police who stepped out from hiding. Got charged and fined!