Saltcoats North 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 town of

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 ...

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 a ...

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 ...

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 ...

History

The station opened on 3 September 1888 and was simply known as Saltcoats.Butt, p. 205 It closed between 1 January 1917 and 1 February 1919 due to wartime economy, 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 ...

in 1923, the station was renamed Saltcoats North on 2 June 1924. The station closed to passengers on 4 July 1932, however it was reopened for a time within two years when a special return fare price was introduced.Stansfield, p. 7 The line saw use for trains going to Ardrossan Montgomerie Pier and the

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 ...

Shell Mex plant until 1968.

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 platfo ...

s connected by a footbridge and with a small building on each side. By 1956 the footbridge and the building on the eastboard platform had been removed, however the westbound building remained intact albeit derelict. By the late 1960s only the overgrown platforms remained. A goods yard and signal box stood on the Ardrossan side of the station, accessed off Caledonia Road, with a four sidings, loading dock, goods shed, crane and weighing machine.

Redevelopment

Since demolition, the site of Saltcoats North has been redeveloped into a housing estate.Wham, p. 66 Most of the trackbed between the station and Stevenston Moorpark station has been filled in and converted into a pathway signposted as 'Old Caley Line'. Several road bridges that crossed the line here are still in existence,Wham, p. 67 though are now partially buried in the ground. Aside from the road bridge that was directly adjacent to the station, there is no trace left of the station itself.

References

Notes

Sources

* * * {{s-end Disused railway stations in North Ayrshire Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1888 Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1917 Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1919 Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1932 Former Caledonian Railway stations Ardrossan−Saltcoats−Stevenston