Location type

Station

Names and dates

Paisley (1840-1883)
Paisley Gilmour Street (1883-)

Station code: PYG National Rail ScotRail
Where: Renfrewshire, Scotland
Opened on the Glasgow, Paisley, Kilmarnock and Ayr Railway.
Opened on the Glasgow and Paisley Joint Railway.
Opened on the Glasgow, Paisley and Greenock Railway.
Open on the Inverclyde Lines.
Open on the Glasgow to Ayr and Stranraer.

Description

This is the principal station in Paisley (Paisley Canal is a terminus.) It is on both the line between Glasgow Central and Greenock Central, Gourock, Wemyss Bay and the line to Ardrossan, Largs, Ayr, Girvan and Stranraer.

Original station

This was originally a double track station. The two storey castellated gothic building on County Square is the main entrance. The building frontage curves into the square. The style echoed the County Buildings which were on the east side of the square. The platforms are at the first floor level, elevated due to the crossing of White Cart Water just to the east. The original station featured a very tall wooden signal box on stilts.

The bridge to the east crosses the Cart with a single arch of 84 ft, 25 ft above the river bed.

1890s reconstruction

When the line to Glasgow was quadrupled around 1890 this was managed by adding an extra two tracks to the north through the station, today the Greenock platforms. This relocated the junction from the west to the east end of the station. The junction between the Ayr and Gourock routes, which had been at Paisley Junction (also known as Stoneybrae Junction) to the west of the station, was moved to the east of the station at Wallneuk Junction. A connection still existed to the west at the new Stoneybrae Twin Signal Box (1888) but only for wagon exchanges.

The lines cross the White Cart Water by a huge single arch viaduct which supports the east end of the station.

To support the station's canopy side walls were carried out in red sandstone to either side of the original building and on Old Sneddon Street. The portion above Gilmour Street itself is in timber, painted red to match the stonework.

The station access ramp, to the north west of the station, is carried on a superb curved viaduct which turns through 270 degrees to reach platform height. This leads to a small car park on the north side of the Greenock line. A further car park is within the curve of the viaduct at ground level.

The goods yard, accessed by reversal from the Ayr line and on the south side, west end of the station, is also now a car park.

The glazed station canopies were replaced by flat canopies in the 1960s.

The roof has been restored (2011-2012) as an overall ridge and furrow trainshed, superior to the original canopies.

Local

Paisley Abbey is south of the station.

Tags

Station White Cart Water

External links

Canmore site record
NLS Collection OS map of 1892-1914
NLS Collection OS map of 1944-67
09/05/2021

Nearby stations Paisley Hamilton Street Paisley Abercorn Paisley Canal Paisley Canal [1st] Paisley East Paisley St James Paisley West Hawkhead Hawkhead [1st] Sandyford Halt Potterhill Dykebar Ferguslie South Renfrew Renfrew Porterfield	Paisley Junction Abercorn Shipbuilding Yard Abercorn Foundry Abbey Works Paisley Mineral Depot [GSW] Vulcan Foundry [Paisley] [2nd] Vulcan Works [Paisley] Wallneuk Junction Paisley Signalling Centre Carlile Quay Underwood Viaduct Soho Engine Works [Paisley] Greenlaw Goods Tourist/other Stoneybrae Twin Signal Box Paisley Abbey
Location names in dark blue are on the same original line.