Ardrossan Montgomerie Pier railway station was a

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

serving the town of

Ardrossan Ardrossan (; ) is a town on the North Ayrshire coast in southwestern Scotland. The town has a population of 10,670 and forms part of a conurbation with Saltcoats and Stevenston known as the 'Three Towns'. Ardrossan is located on the east shore ...

North Ayrshire North Ayrshire ( gd, Siorrachd Àir a Tuath, ) is one of 32 council areas in Scotland. The council area borders Inverclyde to the north, Renfrewshire and East Renfrewshire to the northeast, and East Ayrshire and South Ayrshire to the east and so ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

as part of the

Lanarkshire and Ayrshire Railway The Lanarkshire and Ayrshire Railway (L&AR) was an independent railway company built to provide the Caledonian Railway with a shorter route for mineral traffic from the coalfields of Lanarkshire to Ardrossan Harbour, in Scotland. It opened in st ...

(L&AR). The station was opened to compete with the

Glasgow and South Western Railway The Glasgow and South Western Railway (G&SWR) was a railway company in Scotland. It served a triangular area of south-west Scotland between Glasgow, Stranraer and Carlisle. It was formed on 28 October 1850 by the merger of two earlier railway ...

(G&SWR) owned station at Winton Pier on the opposite side of the

harbour A harbor (American English), harbour (British English; see spelling differences), or haven is a sheltered body of water where ships, boats, and barges can be docked. The term ''harbor'' is often used interchangeably with ''port'', which is a ...

History

The station opened on 30 May 1890 as Ardrossan Pier,Butt, page 18 replacing the L&AR Ardrossan station as the new

terminus Terminus may refer to: * Bus terminus, a bus station serving as an end destination * Terminal train station or terminus, a railway station serving as an end destination Geography *Terminus, the unofficial original name of Atlanta, Georgia, United ...

for the line in Ardrossan (although that station would continue to operate as an intermediate station). It was closed from 1 January 1917 to 1 February 1919 due to

wartime economy A war economy or wartime economy is the set of contingencies undertaken by a modern State (polity), state to mobilize its economy for Materiel, war production. Philippe Le Billon describes a war economy as a "system of Production (economics), p ...

,Stansfield, page 6 and upon the grouping of the L&AR into the

London, Midland and Scottish Railway The London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMSIt has been argued that the initials LMSR should be used to be consistent with LNER, GWR and SR. The London, Midland and Scottish Railway's corporate image used LMS, and this is what is generally u ...

(LMS) in 1923, the station was renamed Ardrossan Montgomerie Pier on 2 June 1924. The name change was to avoid confusion with the nearby G&SWR station of the same name, which was also incorporated into the LMS. Montgomerie Pier survived the former L&AR station closures of 1932,. The station then passed on to the

Scottish Region of British Railways The Scottish Region (ScR) was one of the six regions created on British Railways (BR) and consisted of ex-London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) and ex-London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) lines in Scotland. It existed from the creation o ...

nationalisation Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately-owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization usually refers to pri ...

in 1948, and continued to operate until it officially closed to passengers by the

British Railways Board British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

on 6 May 1968, although the last train ran on 25 September 1967. Despite track removal in 1970, the station was still intact in 1974.Hume, p. 42-43 Today Montgomerie Pier is the site of private flats overlooking the Ardrossan

Marina A marina (from Spanish , Portuguese and Italian : ''marina'', "coast" or "shore") is a dock or basin with moorings and supplies for yachts and small boats. A marina differs from a port in that a marina does not handle large passenger ships o ...

, and no trace of the station remains.

Station description

The station consisted of two

side platform A side platform (also known as a marginal platform or a single-face platform) is a platform positioned to the side of one or more railway tracks or guideways at a railway station, tram stop, or transitway. A station having dual side platforms ...

s in an iron-framed wooden-clad building, and originally had a glazed roof supported on lattice girders. A booking office for boats to

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...

was situated at the pier end of the platforms.

References

Notes

Sources

* * *
Stations on navigable O.S. map. Disused station at end of branch north of harbour entrance'
{{s-end Disused railway stations in North Ayrshire Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1890 Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1917 Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1919 Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1968 1890 establishments in Scotland 1968 disestablishments in Scotland Former Caledonian Railway stations Beeching closures in Scotland Ardrossan−Saltcoats−Stevenston