Mossgiel Tunnel Platform railway station (NS480292) was not a station constructed for public use. It stood close to the northern portal of the 680 yard Mossgiel Tunnel that runs under the Mossgiel Ridge and Skeoch Hill north of

Mauchline Mauchline (; gd, Maghlinn) is a town and civil parish in East Ayrshire, Scotland. In the 2001 census Mauchline had a recorded population of 4,105. It is home to the National Burns Memorial. Location The town lies by the Glasgow and South West ...

East Ayrshire East Ayrshire ( sco, Aest Ayrshire; gd, Siorrachd Àir an Ear) is one of thirty-two council areas of Scotland. It shares borders with Dumfries and Galloway, East Renfrewshire, North Ayrshire, South Ayrshire and South Lanarkshire. The headquar ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

. It may have solely served the transportation requirements of 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 railways, ...

and its successor in connection with the carriage of workers involved in the ongoing maintenance and/or the major reconstruction of Mossgiel Tunnel that took place between 1925 and 1927. It was not recorded in the 1896 G&SWR working time table and had closed sometime after July 1926.

Garrochburn Goods Depot Garrochburn Goods Depot or Garrochburn Siding was a railway freight facility located off the B744 near the hamlet of Crosshands that lies north-west of Mauchline, East Ayrshire, Scotland. It served the industrial and agricultural requirements fo ...

once stood near by on the B744 to the north, 6.82 from Kilmarnock and 2.72 from

. A line to

Colliery branched off close to the site of the station that opened in 1925 and closed to all traffic in February 1974 after serving as a coal washery for around 5 years after the colliery closed in 1969.

Infrastructure and working

The OS maps of 1895 shows only Garrochburn signal box and signals in the area with a reservoir on the western side of the line and a small building opposite it on the eastern side in the immediate vicinity of the station site. By the 1920s only minor infrastructure was present with the double track main line and one siding running off to a loading dock to the west. Several semaphore signal posts and cross over points were present with runaway points located in the up line about 400yds towards

Hurlford Hurlford (Scottish Gaelic: ''Baile Àtha Cliath'') is a village in East Ayrshire, Scotland. It has a population of 4,968. Hurlford's former names include Whirlford and Hurdleford. The village was named Whirlford as a result of a ford crossing ...

from the signal box. The siding at Garrochburn was also used as a coal siding for coal traffic to or from the nearby Mauchline Colliery. The gradient from Kilmarnock eased at Garrochburn Goods depot before a gentle descent into

following the passage through Mossgiel or Skeoch Tunnel.

History

The goods depot at Garrochburn was opened by the

in the 1920s and closed on 4 October 1965. Its construction may have been originally have been related to the reconstruction of Mossgiel Tunnel in the mid-1920s. Apart from farm traffic and the possible link with the reconstruction and relining of Mossgiel Tunnel the siding at Garrochburn was also used as a coal siding for coal traffic connected with the siding to Mauchline Colliery. As stated Mossgiel Tunnel Platform stood close by to the south, and had closed at some point after July 1926 by the LMS when the reconstruction of Mossgiel Tunnel had been completed. The station had only a single platform as the line itself had been singled during the work on the tunnel. A temporary signal box had been established to control the southern access to the tunnel during the relining, etc.

The site today

The siding to Mauchline Colliery has been lifted and much of the track bed has grassed over. No remnants of the station are visible however the likely site is discernable as a wide area on the verge of the line.

References

Notes

Sources

* * Wham, Alasdair (2013). ''Ayrshire's Forgotten Railways. A Walker's Guide''. Cranborne : Oakwood Press. .
Good's station site on navigable O.S. map

External links

Video footage of the Mossgiel Tunnel & Air Shaft on the G&SWR Line, Mauchline.

History of Mauchline
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mossgiel Tunnel Platform railway station Archaeological sites in East Ayrshire History of East Ayrshire Demolished buildings and structures in Scotland Disused railway stations in East Ayrshire Former private railway stations