Overton paper mill branch, Greenock

[pH]

The Greenock and Wemyss Bay railway was opened in 1865 and absorbed by the Caledonian Railway (which had worked it from the beginning) in 1893. There were two branches off of it, both closed many years ago.

 

The Overton paper mill branch left the Wemyss Bay line at Berryards Junction, just east of Upper Greenock station (now closed). It was built and opened 1889-90, and closed about 1929.

 

At the point where the branch leaves the Wemyss Bay line, the mainline is climbing at 1 in 66. The branch ended well above the mainline – the average grade was about 1 in 30, with a maximum of 1 in 13! It started from the loop on the north (up) side of the Wemyss Bay line, crossed both running lines (after doubling of the mainline) on diamond crossings and immediately started climbing. The trackbed of the branch is in the foreground of this picture, with the Wemyss Bay line (now singled again) behind it.

 

 

After a very short distance, the Overton branch entered reversing sidings. Presumably, this arrangement was to protect the mainline from runaways. The sidings were on the raised bank to the left of this picture:

 

 

The line then starts to climb (and will not stop till it reaches the mill!). Naturally, with unfitted trains, the engine was always on the downhill end of a train.

 

 

In this photo, the track of the branch is on the right. I don’t know what the flat area on the left is. There isn’t a siding shown here on any maps I’ve seen, but there was a ropewalk which ended here, so perhaps there was a siding at one time.

 

 

There are some fairly substantial rock cuttings – here are a couple of them:

 

 

 

The line crosses the Old Largs Road (nothing remains of the level crossing), and then enters fields on the other side:

 

 

 

 

(The first photo looks downhill, the other two look uphill.)

 

Finally, the line enters the paper mill site on a bridge over a mill lade. This lade ran from the Greenock Cut, just above the paper mill, powering the mill, then many other factories in the town of Greenock.

 

 

The paper mill is in ruins, and the site is fenced off. The sidings that were there are not obvious from outside.

 

Caley ‘pugs’ were apparently the only engines used on this line. Growing up, I knew the line as the ‘pug railway’. It’s generally known now as the ‘puggy line’, though this can cause confusion with the Lochaber Narrow Gauge Railway.

 

There have been proposals to use the route of the Overton paper mill branch to connect National Cycle Network route 75 (which follows the route of the G&SWR Glasgow-Greenock line into the east end of Greenock) with the footpath along the Greenock Cut from Overton. I think that would be great, but it would take a lot of work.

[scotcent]

Thank you for a most interesting set of photographs. There was a detailed article on the line by John Sinclair in the Caledonian Railway Newsletter in May 1985, and it is interesting to see how much the railway has disappeared from the landscape. It closed apparently about 1923, and the detailed working instructions (given a gradient of 1:13 and two level crossings) are quite interesting! The maximum load is given as 40 tons or less -- about three loaded wagons, and the line seems to have always been worked by a CR 0-4-0ST (handbrake only!). There was a serious runaway in 1907.

 

Incidentally, re Puggie lines; this seems to have been a not uncommon name for an industrial or colliery branch in Scotland. Certainly in Cowdenbeath the line that ran across the High St to get to the No 7 Pit was always so described, as also was the line to the Blairenbathie pit further north. They were of course used exclusively by Puggie engines.....

 

 

[souwest]

This branch would be ideal to model in 4mm or 7mm. Dont forget www.old-maps.co.uk for the line(s) through the ages. It's good to see the photos of a once familiar town - although I don't miss the smell!

[pH]

I don't miss the smell!

 

It's still there around Baker's Brae! It surprises me any time I'm back and drive up that way.