Symington railway station

Symington railway station served the village of Symington in Scotland between 1848 and 1965. It was on the main line of the Caledonian Railway and for most of its life was the junction for the branch to Peebles.

Symington
Location	Symington, South Lanarkshire Scotland
Coordinates	55.6084°N 3.6040°W
Grid reference	NS990361
Platforms	3
Other information
Status	Disused
History
Original company	Caledonian Railway
Pre-grouping	Caledonian Railway
Post-grouping	London, Midland and Scottish Railway
Key dates
15 February 1848	First station opened
5 November 1860	Line to Broughton opened
30 November 1863	Station re-sited
4 January 1965	Station closed

History

The original system of the Caledonian Railway was authorised on 31 July 1845, and the main routes were three lines radiating from a junction at Carstairs.[1] The southern of these lines, that to Carlisle, was opened in two stages: the section south of Beattock opened first, on 10 September 1847;[2] and the remainder opened on 15 February 1848.[3] The station at Symington also opened on 15 February 1848.[4] Originally, it was situated immediately north of the underbridge carrying the railway over the Biggar Road (present A72 road), at grid reference NS991358. There were two platforms, a goods shed and some sidings; the station building was on the western (northbound) platform.[5]

The station became a junction with the opening of the first section of the Symington, Biggar and Broughton Railway, as far as Broughton, on 5 November 1860; this line was extended to Peebles in 1864.[6] In the meantime, on 30 November 1863, Symington station was re-sited at the junction, which was to the north of the original site.[4] The new station had three platforms and a turntable.[7] The main line curved from north-west to south through Symington; the line to Broughton and Peebles began at a junction facing Carstairs and ran eastwards then north-eastwards towards the first station at Coulter.[8]

In 1904 the station was able to handle all classes of traffic (goods, passengers, parcels, wheeled vehicles, livestock, etc.) and there was a goods crane capable of lifting 2 long tons (2,032 kg).[9]

Decline and closure

The Peebles line closed on 5 June 1950.[6] Symington station was listed for closure in the first Beeching report,[10] and duly closed on 4 January 1965.[4]

The remaining infrastructure at Symington consists of two crossovers 66 miles 2 chains (106.3 km) from Carlisle.[11]

Notes

1. Nock 1964, p. 17.
2. Nock 1964, p. 31.
3. Lewin 1968, pp. 388, 511.
4. Butt 1995, p. 225.
5. OS 1859.
6. Awdry 1990, p. 106.
7. OS 1897.
8. Conolly 1976, p. 30, section E4.
9. RCH 1970, p. 525.
10. Beeching 1963, p. 126.
11. Yonge 2007, map 10B.

References

• Awdry, Christopher (1990). Encyclopaedia of British Railway Companies. London: Guild Publishing. CN 8983.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Beeching, Richard (27 March 1963). The Reshaping of British Railways, part 1: Report (Report). London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office. Retrieved 22 March 2012.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Butt, R.V.J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations. Yeovil: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 1-85260-508-1. R508.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Conolly, W. Philip (January 1976). British Railways Pre-Grouping Atlas and Gazetteer (5th ed.). Shepperton: Ian Allan. ISBN 0-7110-0320-3. EX/0176.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Lewin, Henry Grote (1968) [1936]. The Railway Mania and its Aftermath. Newton Abbot: David & Charles. ISBN 0-7153-4262-2.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Nock, O.S. (1964) [1963]. The Caledonian Railway (2nd ed.). Shepperton: Ian Allan.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Yonge, John (December 2007) [1987]. Jacobs, Gerald (ed.). Railway Track Diagrams 1: Scotland & Isle of Man (5th ed.). Bradford on Avon: Trackmaps. ISBN 978-0-9549866-3-6.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Lanarkshire (Map). 1:2500. Ordnance Survey. 1859.
• Lanarkshire (Map). 1:2500. Ordnance Survey. 1897.
• The Railway Clearing House Handbook of Railway Stations 1904. Newton Abbot: David & Charles. 1970 [1904]. ISBN 0-7153-5120-6.

External links

• Symington Station on navigable 1946 O.S. map
• Photographs of Symington at Railscot

Preceding station	Historical railways			Following station
Lamington Line open, station closed		Caledonian Railway Main Line		Thankerton Line open, station closed
	Disused railways
Terminus		Caledonian Railway Symington, Biggar and Broughton Railway		Coulter Line and station closed