Cathcart District Railway

Introduction

This line is open. The line is now known as the Cathcart Circle. There is an electric passenger train service provided around the circle, from Glasgow Central and back to it.






Dates

07/09/1880Cathcart District Railway
Act receives Royal assent.
16/12/1880Cathcart District Railway
First Directors meeting.
18/07/1881Cathcart District Railway
Working agreement made between the Cathcart District Railway and Caledonian Railway.
20/01/1883Cathcart District Railway
First sod cut.
  /  /1885Cathcart District Railway
Extension of time to complete works authorised.
01/03/1886Cathcart District Railway
Cathcart Junction to Mount Florida opened for passengers. Stations at Pollokshields East, Queens Park, Crosshill, Mount Florida.
25/05/1886Cathcart District Railway
Mount Florida to Cathcart [1st] opened to passengers. Cathcart [1st] opened.
01/07/1886Glasgow Central Station (Caledonian Railway)
With the opening of the Cathcart District Railway to Cathcart [1st] (on 25/05), Cathcart Road station is renamed Gushetfaulds.
  /08/1886Cathcart District Railway
Mount Florida opened to goods.
02/08/1886Cathcart District Railway
Cathcart Junction to Cathcart [1st] opened for goods.
19/07/1887Cathcart District Railway
Extension of line to Strathbungo, Act receives Royal assent.
  /  /1892Cathcart District Railway
Extension of time to complete line.
19/03/1894Cathcart District Railway
Cathcart (New) opened on extension Line, replacing Cathcart [1st]. The new station was very briefly a terminus.
02/04/1894Cathcart District Railway
Extension line opened from Cathcart (New) to Muirhouse Junction for passengers and goods. Stations opened at Langside, Pollokshaws East, Shawlands, Maxwell Park and Pollokshields West.
01/10/1901Cathcart District Railway
Langside station renamed Langside and Newlands.
01/05/1903Cathcart District Railway
Cathcart Junction renamed Pollokshields East Junction.
01/01/1917Cathcart District Railway
Pollokshields East and Crosshill stations closed for wartime economies.
01/03/1919Cathcart District Railway
Pollokshields East re-opened.
01/06/1919Cathcart District Railway
Crosshill re-opened.
01/01/1923Dundee and Newtyle Railway
Arbroath and Forfar Railway
Glasgow and Paisley Joint Railway
Caledonian Railway
Glasgow and South Western Railway
Callander and Oban Railway
Glasgow and Kilmarnock Joint Railway
Highland Railway
Cathcart District Railway
Killin Railway
Lanarkshire and Ayrshire Railway
Portpatrick and Wigtownshire Joint Committee
Brechin and Edzell District Railway
Dornoch Light Railway
Wick and Lybster Light Railway
Grouped into London, Midland and Scottish Railway.
10/12/1945Cathcart District Railway
Murder at Pollokshields East.
27/04/1956Cathcart District Railway
Electrification authorised.
25/01/1958Cathcart District Railway
Cathcart station fire.
07/07/1958Cathcart District Railway
Diesel Multiple units appear on line.
10/12/1961Cathcart District Railway
Electrification complete.
27/05/1962Cathcart District Railway
Electric services commence.
27/05/1962Cathcart District Railway
Langside and Newlands renamed Langside.
13/08/1966Cathcart District Railway
Langside station fire.
21/04/1976Cathcart District Railway
Pollokshields East station burnt down.
25/08/2000Cathcart District Railway
Tom Winsor, rail regulator, unveils plaque to mark the completion of refurbishment of Maxwell Park station.
14/07/2011Cathcart District Railway
Car crashes onto the line between Pollokshaws West and Maxwell Park.

Portions of line and locations

This line is divided into a number of portions.


Glasgow to Cathcart

This is the course of the original line, a branch to Cathcart.

This junction is formed between the Gordon Street Lines (the approach to Glasgow Central from Muirhouse South Junction [1st] opened in 1879) and the Cathcart District Railway of 1886.
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See also
Glasgow Central Station (Caledonian Railway)
The summer Saturday 11.05 Glasgow – Blackpool passes Pollokshields East junction on 27th August 1966. Black 5 45061 has Standard 2-6-4T 80004 ...
Robin McGregor 27/08/1966
Caley Jumbo 57365 shunting at Pollokshields East Junction in September 1953. ...
G H Robin collection by courtesy of the Mitchell Library, Glasgow 08/09/1953
C.R. 0.6.0 57555 on 5.51pm. Kirkhill train passing Pollokshields (East) Junction. ...
G H Robin collection by courtesy of the Mitchell Library, Glasgow 27/08/1957
3 of 3 images.


This is an island platform station with a building, not the original which was of typical Cathcart District Railway design.
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380 005 arrives at Pollokshields East with a Neilston - Glasgow Central service.
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Bill Roberton 25/02/2023
Photographed from Pollokshields East station, 156512 passes between Muirhouse North and Central Junctions with a service to East Kilbride on 10 ...
John McIntyre 10/01/2019
320 302 calls at Pollokshields East with the 10.20 from Glasgow Central to Newton. ...
Bill Roberton 25/02/2023
A Class 314 enters Pollokshields East on a Neilston service on 21 July 2018. As far as I can see these services are run exclusively by 314s so will ...
David Panton 21/07/2018
4 of 25 images. more


This is an island platform station. It retains the original single storey platform building with glazed canopies, typical of the Cathcart District Railway. The building has been renovated and canopies re-glazed on several occasions.
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A Cathcart Inner Circle service calls at Queens Park on 3 September 2021 as the driver of 380008 looks back along his train having just closed the ...
John McIntyre 03/09/2021
314201 at Queens Park on a Cathcart Circle service on 21 June 2018.
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Bill Roberton 21/06/2018
380107 calls at Queens Park with a Glasgow Central to Neilston service on 18 June 2023.
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Bill Roberton 18/06/2023
380106 nears Queens Park, with the 15.53 from Central to Neilston on 4 September 2022, passing under the Larkfield Curve, formerly the main line into ...
Bill Roberton 04/09/2022
4 of 22 images. more


This is an island platform station, with a narrow platform and original station building.
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The narrow platform at Crosshill, with 320420 departing towards Queens Park on a service to Glasgow Central on 3 September 2021. ...
John McIntyre 03/09/2021
The high retaining walls of Cathcart Lines country hem in this class 380 on a Neilston service as it approaches Crosshill ...
David Panton 14/07/2021
The unusual narrowness of the platform at Crosshill is obvious in this view taken on 14 July 2021 looking south. There is no space for a waiting room ...
David Panton 14/07/2021
A city-bound service calls at Crosshill on 21 July 2018. Note the narrowness of the island platform. ...
David Panton 21/07/2018
4 of 26 images. more


This is an island platform station. The typical Cathcart District Railway station building has been replaced with a modern structure. The platform is largely located in a cutting.
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380105 departs from Mount Florida on 3 September 2021, with a service to Neilston. ...
John McIntyre 03/09/2021
314202 at Mount Florida with a Neilston bound service on 21 June 2018.
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Bill Roberton 21/06/2018
314202 calls at Mount Florida with the 08.55 from Glasgow Central to Neilston on 9th June 2019.
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Bill Roberton 09/06/2019
Something exotic at Mount Florida. The station has been adopted by Urban Roots. ...
John Yellowlees 22/09/2015
4 of 44 images. more


This junction is just south of Mount Florida station. Here the Cathcart District Railway of 1886 is met, on either side, by lines from the Lanarkshire and Ayrshire Railway of 1904. Of the 1904 lines the south east bound line simply runs south and east to Cathcart East Junction, the northbound line burrows under the Cathcart District to reach Cathcart East. It passes under at a ...

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See also
Lanarkshire and Ayrshire Railway
An inbound service approaches Mount Florida on 3 August 2019. Meanwhile the road is set for a Neilston train on the toy signal. ...
David Panton 03/08/2019
Tapper believed to come from the old box at Williamwood found in the Signalling Panel of Cathcart PSB. ...
Colin Harkins 18/02/2007
Standard class 5 4-6-0 no 73058 passing Cathcart North Junction on 19 April 1957 with a train for Uplawmoor. ...
G H Robin collection by courtesy of the Mitchell Library, Glasgow 19/04/1957
Tapper found in the Signalling Panel of Cathcart PSB... believed to come from the old box at Williamwood. Last inspection date marked 10.05.61. ...
Colin Harkins 18/02/2007
4 of 9 images. more


This was the terminus of the Cathcart District Railway from opening in 1886 to its extension in 1894. The site was to the immediate north east of the present Cathcart station. The station was built around half a mile north of historic Cathcart at a site which was then rural and now urban. A signal box opened with the terminus and closed with the extension of the line. A replacement opened ...

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Cathcart to Glasgow

This was the extension from hard by the Cathcart terminus back to Glasgow, making the line a 'circle' (or 'speech bubble' perhaps).

Cathcart station has an island platform, original station building with glazed canopies, and is above road level and over the White Cart Water. It is an intermediate station on the Cathcart Circle. The north east end of the station is on the girder bridge above the White Cart Water. A former entry arch from Old Castle Road is blocked.
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314203 passes Cathcart station on the west curve with a service from Newton to Glasgow Central on 10 January 2019. ...
John McIntyre 10/01/2019
A Neilston to Glasgow Central service calls at Cathcart on 14 July 2021. The emergency timetable means that the Cathcart Circle does not operate for ...
David Panton 14/07/2021
This fine (though headless) survivor, made by Hills Brothers of the Sun Foundry in Alloa, is mounted on top of a wall on the corner of the street and ...
David Panton 14/07/2021
380103 arrives at Cathcart on 10 January 2019 with a service from Neilston to Glasgow Central. The EMU is crossing Cathcart West Junction as it enters ...
John McIntyre 10/01/2019
4 of 26 images. more


This is a four way junction. Two lines of the Cathcart Circle from Glasgow Central, one via Crosshill and via Maxwell Park, meet a line from Neilston and a line from Newton. The junction allows a train via Crosshill to run to Neilston and a train via Maxwell Park to run to Newton. Unfortunately the latter passes close to Cathcart but does not serve it.
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See also
Lanarkshire and Ayrshire Railway
This impregnable-looking building is situated in front of the Junction and you can see where a second bridge once carried more tracks right behind it. ...
David Panton 14/07/2021
303 heading for Neilston having left Cathcart. This was the site of the junction on the Lanarkshire and Ayrshire Railway between the line to Glasgow ...
Ewan Crawford //
380103 on a Neilston to Glasgow Central service snakes its way across Cathcart West Jct as it enters Cathcart station on 10 January 2019. ...
John McIntyre 10/01/2019
The 'N' on the toy signal at the south end of Cathcart station indicates
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David Panton 06/12/2017
4 of 11 images. more


This is an island platform station. The original station building has not survived, nor has its British Railway replacement. The original survived in somewhat unattractive cut back form for a number of years.
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An Outer Circle service at well-to-do Langside on 7 July 2018. The station was once known as Langside & Newlands and is in fact on the Newlands side ...
David Panton 07/07/2018
The western access to Langside station on 7 July 2018. As at a couple of other Cathcart Lines stations the ironwork survives. ...
David Panton 07/07/2018
314 202 pulls into Langside (once known as Langside & Newlands) with an Outer Circle service on 28 October 2009 ...
David Panton 28/10/2009
314 204 approaches Langside with a Cathcart Outer Circle service on 27 November 2010. Mary Queen of Scots' forces were defeated at Langside in 1568 ...
David Panton 27/11/2010
4 of 23 images. more


Pollokshaws East Goods, to the south of Pollockshaws East, was on the east side of the line and served from the south. The station's signal box was on the west side of the line opposite the goods yard. It opened with the line and closed in 1961 when replaced by Cathcart Power Box and Muirhouse Junction box.
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This is an island platform station. The station is built on a bridge over the White Cart Water.
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A Cathcart Circle service via Maxwell Park calls at 'Shaws East on 25 August 2018. The high flats in the background, situated in the not terribly huge ...
David Panton 25/08/2018
BR Standard class 5 4-6-0 no 73062 with a football special on the Cathcart Circle approaching Pollokshaws East on Saturday 28 March 1964, seen from ...
G H Robin collection by courtesy of the Mitchell Library, Glasgow 28/03/1964
Cathcart Circle trains (inner) approaching Pollokshaws (East). C.R. 0.4.4T 15183. 1940 or 1941. ...
G H Robin collection by courtesy of the Mitchell Library, Glasgow //1940
4 of 17 images. more


This is an island platform station. The original station building has not survived.
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Another appearance of 380008 during my tour of the Cathcart Circle on 3 September 2021. This time it was arriving at Shawlands on a Cathcart Inner ...
John McIntyre 03/09/2021
Station clock at Shawlands with helpful hand-drawn hands. ...
Ewan Crawford //
A Maxwell Park circle service calls at Shawlands on 21 July 2018 in the charge of a doomed Class 314. Note that the second 'via' blind has been ...
David Panton 21/07/2018
A wintry day at Shawlands station in February 1985 with a Glasgow Central to Newton (via Maxwell Park) service about to call. There was plenty of ...
Mark Dufton /02/1985
4 of 14 images. more


This goods yard was to the west of Maxwell Park. The yard was on the south/east side of the line, approached from either north or south. There was a headshunt to the south from. When opened the surrounding land was undeveloped.
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This is a fine island platform station which retains its original two storey station building. Access to the station is by means of a footbridge which passes through the building at the first floor level, there being steps down to the platform.
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A view from the bridge. From the footbridge looking west. ...
Ewan Crawford 26/03/2006
Platform canopies and new lighting at Maxwell Park. ...
Ewan Crawford 26/03/2006
380020 leaves Maxwell Park, with a Cathcart Circle service, on 7th June 2021.
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Bill Roberton 07/06/2021
A two tier station building. ...
Ewan Crawford 26/03/2006
4 of 31 images. more


This is an island platform station. The original station building, which was the same design as that at Maxwell Park, has very unfortunately not survived having been demolished in the late 1980s.
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380008 waits at Pollokshields West for the signal at the end of the platform (protecting Muirhouse Central Jct) to clear whilst working a Newton to ...
John McIntyre 03/09/2021
On 21 July 2018 Newton services on this line were extended to Motherwell to compensate for line closures caused by engineering work, and a Motherwell ...
David Panton 21/07/2018
The bridge over Pollokshields West today. No building. ...
Ewan Crawford 26/03/2006
A lane takes passengers to the bridge over the island platform at Pollokshields West. ...
Ewan Crawford 26/03/2006
4 of 20 images. more


This is a double junction opened in 1894 to complete the Cathcart District Railway. It provides a connection across the older 1849 Glasgow Harbour and General Terminus Railway to the Glasgow Central approach lines. Rather than cross that line on the level a double junction was formed.
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See also
General Terminus and Glasgow Harbour Railway
156504 and 156430 pass Muirhouse Central Junction with the 10.47 from Glasgow Central to East Kilbride, seen from the platform at Pollokshields East ...
Bill Roberton 25/02/2023
View from the open door of a Cathcart Circle line train during a stop at Pollokshields East station in August 2008. Standing beyond the retaining wall ...
John Furnevel 01/08/2008
A service from East Kilbride on the last hop to Glasgow passes the junction on 21st July 2018. Photographed from the Platform of Pollokshields East, ...
David Panton 21/07/2018
Passing Muirhouse Central Junction is a 47 hauled Carlisle-Kilmarnock-Glasgow train. Cathcart circle line in foreground. ...
Ewan Crawford //1987
4 of 8 images. more





Muirhouse Link

To complete access to the loop a link was required at Muirhouse.

This is a double junction opened in 1894 to complete the Cathcart District Railway. It provides a connection across the older 1849 Glasgow Harbour and General Terminus Railway to the Glasgow Central approach lines. Rather than cross that line on the level a double junction was formed.
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More details

See also
General Terminus and Glasgow Harbour Railway
156504 and 156430 pass Muirhouse Central Junction with the 10.47 from Glasgow Central to East Kilbride, seen from the platform at Pollokshields East ...
Bill Roberton 25/02/2023
View from the open door of a Cathcart Circle line train during a stop at Pollokshields East station in August 2008. Standing beyond the retaining wall ...
John Furnevel 01/08/2008
A service from East Kilbride on the last hop to Glasgow passes the junction on 21st July 2018. Photographed from the Platform of Pollokshields East, ...
David Panton 21/07/2018
Passing Muirhouse Central Junction is a 47 hauled Carlisle-Kilmarnock-Glasgow train. Cathcart circle line in foreground. ...
Ewan Crawford //1987
4 of 8 images. more


This junction opened at the north end of a short 1894 connection which was made to complete the Cathcart District Railway. Rather than cross the General Terminus and Glasgow Harbour Railway on the level a double junction was created at Muirhouse Central Junction, the southern end of the connection. Opening this created a duplicate section of line between the north junction and ...

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See also
Glasgow Central Station (Caledonian Railway)
A service for Newton via Queen's Park approaches its first stop, Pollokshields East on 14 July 2021. The tracks on the left carry both the G&SW and ...
David Panton 14/07/2021
Muirhouse CE Workshops seen from passing southbound DMU. These sidings are no longer in use. ...
Ewan Crawford //1988
156 504 passes Muirhouse North Junction with a Carlisle train on 10th September 2018. The lines to the right are for the Cathcart ...
Bill Roberton 10/09/2018
An outer circle service takes the Cathcart Circle at Muirhouse North Junction and prepares to stop at Pollokshields East. The two used tracks to the ...
Ewan Crawford 27/03/2011
4 of 6 images. more