Philpstoun Railway Station
History
This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (December 2008) |
Philpstoun station was opened by the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway on 21 February 1842. It was closed on 18 June 1951 by British Railways.
The area around Philpstoun, in common with others in West Lothian, was an extremely busy centre for shale mining and petroleum manufacturing for almost a century, and this was reflected in the railways around Philpstoun. The station itself was situated in a deep cutting, and had two platforms. Immediately to the west, a facing junction, with crossovers and a looping facilities connected to a set of exchange sidings at Westfield, and these ran into Philpstoun No 1 shale mine. Extensive sidings connected within the facility, and a short branch ran just west of the (still extant) shale bings, crossing the canal, and continuing past Easter Pardovan in a southerly direction to serve a shale pit at Ochiltree (just north west of Threemiletown). A tramway ran in the same direction on the eastern flank of the bings. A trailing siding left the main up line near Pardovan, this was known as Pardovan siding and originally served a quarry.
Further west, a line branched from the down main via a trailing junction and ran adjacent to the mainline for some 500 yards before swinging south west, passing Champfleurie, before swinging south to serve oil works and a shale mine between Bridgend and Wester Ochiltree.
The course of these lines can be seen on Sheet 32 (Ordnance Survey Maps One-inch "Third" edition, Scotland, 1903–1912) on the National Library of Scotland digital library (Maps).
Services
Preceding station | Historical railways | Following station | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
Winchburgh Line open, station closed |
North British Railway Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway |
Linlithgow Line and Station open | ||
Dalmeny Line and station open |
North British Railway Forth Bridge connecting lines |
References
Notes
- ^ Butt (1995), p. 185
- ^ Sheet32 (Ordnance Survey Maps One-inch "Third" edition, Scotland, 1903-1912)
- ^ National Library of Scotland digital library Archived 15 March 2007 at the Wayback Machine
Sources
- Butt, R. V. J. (October 1995). The Directory of Railway Stations: details every public and private passenger station, halt, platform and stopping place, past and present (1st ed.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 978-1-85260-508-7. OCLC 60251199. OL 11956311M.
- Jowett, Alan (March 1989). Jowett's Railway Atlas of Great Britain and Ireland: From Pre-Grouping to the Present Day (1st ed.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 978-1-85260-086-0. OCLC 22311137.
- Jowett, Alan (2000). Jowett's Nationalised Railway Atlas (1st ed.). Penryn, Cornwall: Atlantic Transport Publishers. ISBN 978-0-906899-99-1. OCLC 228266687.
- North British Railway 1896 Western, Monkland and West Highland working timetable
- Philpstoun station on navigable OS map