Giffen 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 ...

approximately one mile south-west of the village of

Barrmill Barrmill is a small village in North Ayrshire, Scotland about east of Beith on the road to Burnhouse and Lugton. Locally it is known as the ''Barr''.Reid, Donald L. (2009). ''Discovering Matthew Anderson. Policeman-Poet of Ayrshire''. Beith : ...

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 ...

. The station was 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 ...

History

The station opened on 3 September 1888 and was known as Kilbirnie Junction, however it was renamed Giffen on 1 October 1889. Giffen had three platforms, a small station building, and at one point at least seven members of staff.Reid & Monahan, Page 56 A one time station master was Mr Willie Haining and his son Billy was born in the station master's house in April 1934. The station had large concrete letters spelling out the name with, oddly, a

triskelion A triskelion or triskeles is an ancient motif consisting of a triple spiral exhibiting rotational symmetry. The spiral design can be based on interlocking Archimedean spirals, or represent three bent human legs. It is found in artefacts of ...

or Isle of Man symbol set between the two words. Sunday school pupils would walk to the station from Barrmill for a day out in

Saltcoats Saltcoats ( gd, Baile an t-Salainn) is a town on the west coast of North Ayrshire, Scotland. The name is derived from the town's earliest industry when salt was harvested from the sea water of the Firth of Clyde, carried out in small cottages al ...

. Giffen station closed on 4 July 1932. Today (2011) the three platforms of Giffen station still exist (although overgrown and in disrepair), and a single intact railway line runs through the station from

Lugton Lugton is a small village or hamlet in East Ayrshire, Scotland with a population of 80 people. The A736 road runs through on its way from Glasgow, to the north, to Irvine in North Ayrshire. Uplawmoor is the first settlement on this 'Lochlibo Ro ...

DM Beith Barrmill is a small village in North Ayrshire, Scotland about east of Beith on the road to Burnhouse and Lugton. Locally it is known as the ''Barr''.Reid, Donald L. (2009). ''Discovering Matthew Anderson. Policeman-Poet of Ayrshire''. Beith : ...

. This track was used regularly to transport supplies into the base, however the track became disused in 1996 and the majority is now overgrown. The connection with the main line at Lugton was lifted in 2008 as part of the track doubling operations on the Lugton to Stewarton section of the Glasgow to Carlisle via Dumfries railway line. The track near Lugton did see one more recent use on 2 September 2000 when it was used in a rail crash simulation in order to test emergency response times as a result of the

Paddington rail crash The Ladbroke Grove rail crash (also known as the Paddington rail crash) was a rail accident which occurred on 5 October 1999 at Ladbroke Grove in London, England, when two passenger trains collided almost head-on after one of them had passed a ...

in 1999."Rail disaster plan test"
BBC News, 2 September 2000. A footpath on old OS maps as running from the nearby

Nettlehirst Nettlehirst or Nettlehurst was a small mansion house (NS365504) and estate in the Parish of Beith, near Barrmill in North Ayrshire, Scotland. The house was built in 1844 and burned down in 1932. Nettlehirst House and estate The 1856 OS map sho ...

house down to the station and then to the Gatend and South Barr road via an overbridge. A feature of WWII was the use of the line for what locals called the night time 'Ghost Trains' that carried injured service personnel to the Glasgow hospitals from where they had been landed at the port of Ardrossan.

Views of the station area

File:Giffen Station, Ayrshire.jpg, Giffen station in the late 19th century Image:Giffen railway from overbridge.JPG , Looking towards Barrmill from the Giffen overbridge in 2008 Image:Giffen station from overbridge.JPG, Giffen station from the overbridge in 2008 Image:Giffen station facing Barrmill.JPG , Giffen station looking towards Barrmill in 2008 File:Barmill Sunday School outing to Stevenson.jpg, Sunday School group walking to Giffen station from Barrmill Image:Giffen station points.JPG , Pointwork and an old security gate in 2008 Image:Giffen station blastwall.JPG , An old blast wall next to the station in 2008. The OS maps show that a railway line ran from near here to the Lime Kilns at Nettlehirst until at least 1912. Image:Giffen station workmens hut.JPG, Workmen's hut near the blast wall in 2008. One of the old Nettlehirst Lime kilns is visible in the background.

Workings details

In 1907 the Caledonian Railway Working Timetable (WTT) states that in relation to the nearby

Gree Goods station Gree Goods station or Gree Depot as it was listed in the Caledonian Railway Working Timetable was a relatively short lived railway freight facility located approximately one miles south of Lugton on the A736 Lochlibo Road, North Ayrshire, Scotla ...

: ''Brakesmen of Trains having work to do at this place must get the Key from him and hand it in on arrival at Giffen to the Station Master, who will return it by first train. The Signalman at Lugton Station Box will signal the train forward as per clause (b) of Block telegraph Regulations''.

References

;Notes ;Sources # # # # Reid, Donald L. & Monahan, I.F. (eds.) (1999). ''Yesterday's Beith: A Pictorial Guide'', Printall, Glasgow. . # Reid, Donald L. (2010). ''Beith, Barrmill & Gateside. Precious memories''. . {{s-end

External links

YouTube video of Giffen Station
Disused railway stations in North Ayrshire Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1888 Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1932 Former Caledonian Railway stations Garnock Valley