Georgetown 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 Track (rail transport), tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the ...

serving the village of

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 ...

Renfrewshire Renfrewshire () ( sco, Renfrewshire; gd, Siorrachd Rinn Friù) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. Located in the west central Lowlands, it is one of three council areas contained within the boundaries of the historic county of Re ...

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 ...

, originally as part of the Glasgow, Paisley and Greenock Railway and later owned by the

Caledonian Railway The Caledonian Railway (CR) was a major Scottish railway company. It was formed in the early 19th century with the objective of forming a link between English railways and Glasgow. It progressively extended its network and reached Edinburgh an ...

History

The station opened by the Glasgow, Paisley and Greenock Railway on 29 March 1841, as Houston station. It was located just over 3 miles, (5 kilometres) from

, on the Houston Road. On 1 May 1926 it was renamed Georgetown by 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 ...

who, as a result of the 1923

Grouping Grouping may refer to: * Muenchian grouping * Principles of grouping * Railways Act 1921, also known as Grouping Act, a reorganisation of the British railway system * Grouping (firearms), the pattern of multiple shots from a sidearm See also ...

, took over ownership of the line from the

The private NFF station

There appears to have been another station of the same name located some 0.75 miles apart from the main station.Holland, Wilson (1987) The northernmost station existed for the duration of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

, only. It was a private station built in 1915 to serve the Government-owned explosive

Filling Factory A filling factory was a manufacturing plant that specialised in filling various munitions, such as bombs, shells, cartridges, pyrotechnics, and screening smokes. In the United Kingdom, during both world wars of the 20th century, the majority of ...

, the Scottish Filling Factory (National Filling Factory No. 4), National Filling Factory, Georgetown. The factory employed over 4,600 employees in July 1916; and some 12,000 employees between December 1916 and August 1917, most of them being women. This station was linked by a covered walkway directly into the factory; which was also linked to the

with interchange sidings, just north of the station. The factory was renamed the National Filling Factory, Georgetown to mark the visit on Christmas Eve 1915 of

David Lloyd George David Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor, (17 January 1863 – 26 March 1945) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1916 to 1922. He was a Liberal Party (United Kingdom), Liberal Party politician from Wales, known for lea ...

, the first

Minister of Munitions The Minister of Munitions was a British government position created during the First World War to oversee and co-ordinate the production and distribution of munitions for the war effort. The position was created in response to the Shell Crisis of ...

; he became

prime minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

a year later. The factory had a

township A township is a kind of human settlement or administrative subdivision, with its meaning varying in different countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, that tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Ca ...

of wooden houses adjacent to both it and the public railway station. The factory closed on 11 November 1918, after the end of World War I. The private station, along with the contents of the factory, was sold in 1920.

Georgetown station

The township of Georgetown survived the closure of the National Filling Factory, although the

sub-post office gd, Oifis a' Phuist kw, Sodhva an Post ga, An Post Ríoga , logo = Post Office Logo.svg , type = State-owned private company limited by shares , genre = , predecessor = General Post Office , foundation = 1987 , founder = , location_cit ...

was closed and much of the population removed in November 1939. The last of the wooden houses became uninhabitable in the 1970s and were later demolished. Georgetown station was closed permanently by the

British Transport Commission The British Transport Commission (BTC) was created by Clement Attlee's post-war Labour government as a part of its nationalisation programme, to oversee railways, canals and road freight transport in Great Britain (Northern Ireland had the se ...

on 2 February 1959.

The site today

Nothing remains of the wooden township of Georgetown, or the public railway station. A fragment of the concrete western platform and adjoining steps survive from the private World War I station; with a matching platform in what was to become

ROF Bishopton The Royal Ordnance Factory was a WW2 Ministry of Supply Explosive Factory. It is sited adjacent to the village of Bishopton in Renfrewshire, Scotland. The factory was built to manufacture the propellant cordite for the British Army and the Roya ...

. A number of earthworks are also visible from the train, representing the embankments of the World War I interchange sidings. They appear to have been later used by the

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

ROF Bishopton. The track and the connection to the main line appears to have been lifted during the 1967

electrification Electrification is the process of powering by electricity and, in many contexts, the introduction of such power by changing over from an earlier power source. The broad meaning of the term, such as in the history of technology, economic histor ...

of the

Inverclyde Line The Inverclyde Line is a railway line running from Glasgow Central station through Paisley (Gilmour Street) and a series of stations to the south of the River Clyde and the Firth of Clyde, terminating at Gourock and Wemyss Bay, where it connect ...

References

Notes

Sources

* * Holland, Wilson (1987). ''Kilmacolm, Bridge of Weir and Houston in old picture postcards''. European Library - Zaltbommel, Netherlands. *

Route

{{coord, 55.8767, -4.4738, type:railwaystation_region:GB, display=title Disused railway stations in Renfrewshire Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1841 Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1959 Former Caledonian Railway stations