Location type

Name and dates

Note: text in square brackets is added for clarity and was not part of the location's name.

Description

This junction was located at the east end of Elderslie station. Here the double track Paisley Canal line of 1885 met the already existing Glasgow, Paisley, Kilmarnock and Ayr Railway of 1840. Elderslie station had opened in 1876.

The junction was controlled by Canal Junction Signal Box which opened in 1884, just ahead of the junction opening. This box was located on the south side of the junction.

To the immediate east, on the Paisley Canal line, was the headshunt of Ferguslie Goods on the north side of the line.

The junction was improved when Elderslie station was rebuilt from a two platform station to a four platform station with two island platforms. An additional line was laid to the south of the line serving the dual purpose of serving the southernmost of the platforms and giving access to a goods loop on the south side of the station. An additional single track bridge over Main Road was added to the south of the existing double track bridge.

This rebuilding was part of a greater rebuilding program which included the opening of the Kilbarchan loop in 1905, effectively quadrupling the railway from Glasgow St Enoch to Dalry.

A new box opened, Elderslie No. 1 (a much larger box), to control the enlarged junction. This opened in 1908.

East of the junction there were sidings on both routes, on the westbound side of each.

Elderslie station closed in 1966 but the junction remained relatively unchanged.

The Paisley Canal line closed to passengers with the closure of the Kilmacolm branch in 1983. Through traffic onto the canal line ceased around 1984 although track remained in place until 1986. The box closed in 1985 as part of the Ayrshire re-signalling scheme for electrification, replaced by the Paisley Signalling Centre.

The Paisley Canal trackbed was converted into a footpath in the late 1980s.

Local

The canal had run slightly to the south of the alignment of the later Paisley Canal line. It formerly crossed under Main Road and the mainline at the site of the later junction to reach the north side of the railway and run west to Johnstone.

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