- Paisley and Renfrew Railway
The Paisley and Renfrew railway was established as a
railway line from thetown ofPaisley to its neighbouring town Renfrew; and to theRiver Clyde at Renfrewwharf . The railway was built to theScotch gauge of RailGauge|54.Whishaw] Popplewell] Its engineers wereGrainger and Miller fromEdinburgh : (Thomas Grainger and John Miller).Robertson]It was intended to both compete against and to complement the transportation of passengers and light-weight goods on the
River Cart , between Paisley and boats on theRiver Clyde . The line was originally threemile s (3km ) long and it was almost a level gradient throughout.The line
The line was authorised in
1835 and it opened in April 1837, withlocomotive working from the start.Robertson] Awdry, Page 98] The company originally bought three locomotives: "The Paisley" and "The Renfrew", made by Messrs Murdock, Aikin and Co.,Glasgow ; and the "St. Rollox", originally made byRobert Stephenson and Company for the Garnkirk and Glasgow Railway and later sold to the Paisley and Renfrew Railway. The locomotives were used to give a speed advantage over the River Cart.In 1842, to save money, it switched to
horse haulage. The original railway company never made aprofit and the line was leased out. In 1846 it agreed to be taken over by the Paisley, Barrhead and Hurlet Railway. The Paisley, Barrhead and Hurlet Railway never managed to build their own railway and the Paisley and Renfrew Railway changed hands several times.Connection to the railway network
The
Glasgow and Paisley Joint Railway opened in1840 betweenGlasgow Bridge Street railway station andPaisley Gilmour Street railway station and this line removed much of the trade from the Paisley and Renfrew railway.In 1847 the Paisley and Renfrew Railway was bought by the
Glasgow, Paisley, Kilmarnock and Ayr Railway .Lewin, Page 36] Awdry, Page 98, gives the date of completion of the sale as31 July 1852 ] Horse-haulage was retained until 1866.On
1 January 1866 passenger services were suspended and the line was doubled and regauged, by theGlasgow and South Western Railway , tostandard gauge . It was also connected, as a branch line, to the Glasgow and Paisley Joint Railway atArkleston Junction and it reopened on1 May 1866 using locomotive haulage.The route
The original terminus station in Paisley was Hamilton Street, but for passengers it was replaced by Abercorn station when the line was regauged and became a branch line. The line then ran through three stations, to its terminus at Renfrew Wharf. A freight branch led off to the Cart Harbour in Paisley.
Freight branches were also built at Renfrew Wharf to serve the two
shipbuilder s William Simons & Company Ltd and Lobnitz & Company Ltd based on the River Clyde, at Renfrew. They later merged to become Simons-Lobnitz Ltd; and the ship yards closed in the early 1960s.Closure
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