Dalserf railway station

Dalserf railway station served the village of Dalserf in South Lanarkshire, Scotland, on the Coalburn branch of the Caledonian Railway line.

History[]

Overview[]

Passing under the line immediately to the northwest, a curved deviation in the road replaced the previous level crossing for the goods line at this location.^[1] Opened as Ayr Road in 1866, the station was renamed Dalserf in 1903.^[2] Being an exhausting 1.6-mile (2.6 km) walk along the road from the village, many locals considered the new name a joke.^[3] Progressively doubled, the main line to Coalburn via Tillietudlem was again singled in 1940.^[2] Temporarily closed from January 1941 to May 1945,^[4] the station closed permanently in 1951.^[5] The line closed to freight southwards in 1960, and northwards in 1964.^[6]

The railways of South Lanarkshire in 1905

Infrastructure[]

The station comprised side platforms linked by a footbridge. The main building and goods yard were on the southwest side. On the northeast side was a platform shelter and the Cornsilloch Colliery siding.

The signal box was immediately southeast beside Stonehouse Junction (renamed Dalserf Junction). Farther southeast were sidings at one-half mile (0.8 km) for Ashgillhead Colliery, and at three-quarters mile (1.2 km) for Auldton Colliery.^[7] Immediately northwest was Milburn Chemical Works/Colliery (formerly Skellyton).^[8]

Only the station house remains, now a private dwelling.^[2] A stone abutment from the railway bridge, 300 yards (270 m) southeast from the station, still stands.^[9]

Services[]

Passenger trains proceeded as far north as Ferniegair^[1] from December 1866, and via Motherwell to Glasgow Buchanan Street from April 1868. Horse-drawn buses connected Ferniegair to Hamilton West prior to the October 1876 opening to passenger traffic of the new rail link offering onward travel to Glasgow Southside.^[10]

In 1887, weekday trains were: 6 via Netherburn to Brocketsbrae (called Lesmahagow at the time), and 5 via Stonehouse to Blackwood.^[11] Each southeast-bound train to Ayr Road, comprising up to 8 carriages, was then split for the separate routes.^[12]
In 1905, when Larkhall Central opened, Larkhall became Larkhall East,^[13] and Stonehouse trains no longer travelled via Dalserf.
In 1910, weekday trains were 4, terminating at either Netherburn, Brocketsbrae, or Coalburn.^[14]
The 1935 closure of Stonehouse–Dalserf to passenger and freight traffic^[6] suggests that some passenger services used the route after 1905.
In 1947, weekday trains were 6, terminating at either Tillietudlem or Brocketsbrae.^[15]
In 1948, weekday trains were 3, terminating at either Brocketsbrae or Coalburn.^[16]

Accidents[]

1867: When the driver of a coal train, slowly passing the station, slipped on stepping to the ground, the engine wheels cut him in two.^[17]

1874: While shunting on the Cornsilloch Colliery siding about 100 yards (91 m) from the station, the passenger train from Stonehouse ran over two sleeping trespassers. One died from a crushed skull. The other suffered a mangled hand and serious injury to the opposite arm.^[18]

1877: A passing engine severed a pointsman's leg and he died a week later.^[19]

1878: While loading ballast stone, a jib crane fell on a worker, who later died of his injuries.^[20]

1886: A pack of hare-hunting hounds narrowly escaped total destruction near Ayr Road when an engine driver stopped his train before the pack was cut to pieces.^[21]

1889: Nearby, a passing train fatally struck a man walking along the line.^[22]

1890: Several runaway wagons smashed together in the vicinity, and the wreckage blocked the main line for several hours.^[23] The following month, while coupling a van, the buffers fatally caught a brakeman.^[24]

1891: During shunting from the Milburn Chemical Works, a worker slipped between the wagons and died of internal injuries an hour later.^[25]

1898: Appearing to have been knocked down by a passing train, the death of a signalman^[26] appeared suspicious.^[27]

1900: A porter was killed while uncoupling wagons.^[28]

1903: A light engine fatally struck a brakeman at the Millburn Colliery.^[29]

1908: While standing on a wagon, a brakeman lost two toes caught between the buffers.^[30]

Footnotes[]

References[]

• Butt, R. V. J. (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.
• 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.
• Sellar, W.S. & Stevenston, J. L. (1981). The Last Trains. (3) South-West Scotland. Edinburgh : Moorfoot Publishing. ISBN 0-906606-03-9.
• Stansfield, Gordon (1997). Lanarkshire's Lost Railways. Ochiltree : Stenlake. ISBN 978-1-872074-96-2.

Coordinates: 55°44′10″N 3°56′33″W / 55.7362°N 3.9426°W / 55.7362; -3.9426