Glasgow, Dumfries and Carlisle Railway
The G&SWR formed an alliance with the English Midland Railway and for many years express passenger trains ran between Glasgow and London over the routes.
In the 18th century, tracked systems called plateways were constructed in areas of Scotland where minerals were extracted; the need was to convey the heavy product to a river or a harbour, in many cases over a relatively short distance, so that water-borne transport could take it to market.
[1] The Liverpool & Manchester Railway opened in 1830 and demonstrated that inter-city lines could be profitable, and that passenger carriage could be a prime source of business and not just an adjunct to mineral haulage.
In 1835 a railway from Glasgow into Ayrshire was being actively promoted, and a survey to be commissioned from John Miller, and he proposed a route from to Ayr and Kilmarnock.
The line into Ayrshire received the royal assent on 15 July 1837, and was called the Glasgow, Paisley, Kilmarnock and Ayr Railway (GPK&AR).
Although longer, this had much easier gradients—at the time engine power was considered to be inadequate for a hillier route—and would go through more populous districts, bringing in more intermediate business; in addition it would be cheaper to build.
[2][4] On 15 March 1841[note 2] a report[5] on the relative merits of the routes was submitted by two commissioners appointed by Parliament, Professor Peter Barlow (of the Royal Military Academy at Woolwich) and Sir Frederick Smith, the first Inspector-General of Railways for the Board of Trade.
[1] So interest did resume, and on 9 March 1844 the provisional committee of the Glasgow & Carlisle Railway Company (GD&CR) met.
Parliament was still unwilling to sanction two major lines, and on 31 July 1845 the Caledonian Railway won the battle: its Annandale route received the Royal Assent.
However, in the same session the GPK&AR got approval to extend southwards from Kilmarnock to Horsecleugh, south of the mining town of Old Cumnock.
They dissolved the original GD&CR and established a new one under the same name; the route would now join the Caledonian line at Gretna, rather than running independently to Carlisle.
However it emerged that the British and Irish Union Railway was proposing a line to connect Carlisle and Portpatrick, from where the short sea route to the north of Ireland started.
The B&IUR planned to run between Dumfries and Carlisle, along an alignment that the GD&CR intended to use; the Caledonian Railway was also considering using this route.
The GD&CR proceeded with construction contracts in a state of considerable financial difficulty, and on 21 August 1848 a special train for directors and their friends was run from Dumfries to Annan.
The new company needed an English partner to make a viable service to London, and eventually it found one, when the Midland Railway built its line to Carlisle, opening in 1875/6.
On Sunday 14 August 1966, the previous evening's 22:10 Glasgow Central – London Euston consisting of five seating coaches, eight sleeping cars and two parcels vans hauled by EE Type 4 locomotive No.
