Glasgow, Paisley and Johnstone Canal: Difference between revisions

The '''Glasgow, Paisley and Ardrossan Canal''', later known as the '''Glasgow, Paisley and Johnstone Canal''', was a [[canal]] in the west of Scotland, running between [[Glasgow]], [[Paisley, Renfrewshire|Paisley]] and [[Johnstone]] which later became a railway. Despite the name, the canal was never completed down to [[Ardrossan]], the termini being Port Eglinton in Glasgow and Thorn Brae in Johnstone. Within months of opening, the canal was the scene of [[Paisley canal disaster|a major disaster]].

Construction began in 1807 and the first boat, the passenger boat, ''The Countess of Eglinton'', was launched on 31 October 1810. The passenger service initially only ran between Paisley and Johnstone. The full length to Glasgow's Port Eglinton was complete sometime in 1811. The original plans to extend the canal to Ardrossan were soon suspended. The costs of completing the first {{convert|11|mi|km|adj=on}} contour canal had consumed all the available funds – the initial estimates having been grossly understated. Further estimates indicated that £300,000 additional funding would need to be secured to complete the project. Hugh Montgomerie, 12th Earl of Eglinton, had already spent £100,000 on a separate project to build a sea harbour at Ardrossan, at the proposed terminus of the canal. The Harbourharbour project would eventually be competed by his grandson, the 13th Earl, for a total cost of £200,000.{{sfn|Lee |1894}} Attempts were made to raise extra funds but other major investors, such as William Houston, were reluctant to invest as the canal already linked his own coal and iron mines, around Johnstone, to Glasgow and Paisley.

{{citation|title=Researches in Hydrodynamics|first=John Scott|last=Russell|journal= Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh|year=1837|orig-year= printed 1840 |url=http://www.ma.hw.ac.uk/~chris/Scott-Russell/SR40.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180825110349/https://www.macs.hw.ac.uk/~chris/Scott-Russell/SR40.pdf |archive-date=25 August 2018 |url-status=live}}

In 1827, a second bill passed parliamentParliament and gained Royal[[royal Assentassent]] on 14 June as the [[Glasgow, Paisley and Ardrossan Canal and Railway Act 1827]] ([[7 & 8 Geo. 4]]. c. lxxxvii).<ref name=Priestley/> This billact allowed for the financing and construction of a railway from the Johnstone canal basin to Ardrossan. This railway was to have been {{convert|22|mi|km}} and 3 furlongs long. Parliament dictated that due to the failure to complete the canal past Johnstone, that work on the railway should be started at the Ardrossan harbour end. The line did not progress past Kilwinning before running out of funds. The railway, owned and operated by the canal company, was built to the [[Scotch gauge]] of {{convert|4|ft|6|in|mm}}. It used pairs of horses to pull carriages of up to 22 people each. The fares were initially 1 penny per mile but in 1837, due to the application of a government duty, the fare was raised to 8 pence per {{convert|6|mi|km}}. In the three years preceding September 1839, the railway transported an average of 30,000 people each year. Apart from passengers, the main freight was coal from Eglinton's mines.{{sfn|Whishaw |1842}}

A second railway line was opened, in 1840, by the [[Glasgow, Paisley, Kilmarnock and Ayr Railway]] Company (GPK&A), in direct competition with the canal. This new railway linked with the [[Ardrossan Railway]] near Kilwinning and later purchased the Ardrossan Railway, the railway company's debts and the harbours. The canal continued to compete with the railways for many decades, but in 1869, was purchased by the [[Glasgow and South Western Railway Company]] Company (the successor to GPK&A). In 1881, anthe [[Glasgow and South Western Railway Act of1881]] Parliament([[44 & 45 Vict.]] c. cxlix) closed the canal. Much of the route was used to construct the Paisley Canal railway line.

In the 1820s the canal company planned to build a railway between Johnstone and Ardrossan to finish the link.<ref name=robertson-chapter-2/> They raised further capital and started building the railway from Ardrossan; reaching [[Kilwinning]] before running out of money.<ref name=robertson-chapter-2/> In the 1830s they planned to turn their canal into a railway and complete the link from Kilwinning to Johnstone; but allowed the scheme to fold.<ref name=robertson-chapter-2/> In the 1840s they split off their railway, by the [[Ardrossan and Johnston Railway Act 1840]] ([[3 & 4 Vict.]] c. civ) to form a separate company, the [[Ardrossan Railway]], and transferred their debt to the new company.<ref name=robertson-chapter-2/>

The canal was purchased in 1869 by the [[Glasgow and South Western Railway]] Company. In 1881, anthe [[Glasgow and South Western Railway Act of1881]] Parliament([[44 & 45 Vict.]] c. cxlix) closed the canal. Much of the route was used to construct the [[Paisley Canal Line]]. This line still uses the [[River Cart Aqueduct]] (which it crosses at a skewed angle). This makes the former aqueduct the world's oldest railway bridge that is still in active use.

The Paisley Canal railway line closed to passengers in 1983. The rails between [[Elderslie, Scotland|Elderslie]] and the original Paisley Canal Station were uplifted in 1986; and the station became a [[steakhouse]]. In 1990, passenger services resumed on the section from [[Glasgow Central railway station|Glasgow Central station]] to a new [[Paisley Canal railway station|Paisley Canal station]]. Much of the abandoned [[track bed]] beyond Paisley has now been developed into a cycle and walkway operated by [[Sustrans]].

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| publisher=Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown and Green

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|volume=Vol 3, Part 2

|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=a81dAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA227