Ryeland (NS 65545 40364) 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 ...

on the

Darvel and Strathaven Railway The Darvel and Strathaven Railway linked, with the Darvel Branch to the former Glasgow, Paisley, Kilmarnock and Ayr Railway in Scotland to allow trains to travel between Kilmarnock and Lanarkshire. History On 4 July 1905 the line opened, conne ...

serving Caldermill and the surrounding rural area in

South Lanarkshire gd, Siorrachd Lannraig a Deas , image_skyline = , image_flag = , image_shield = Arms_slanarkshire.jpg , image_blank_emblem = Slanarks.jpg , blank_emblem_type = Council logo , image_map ...

, Scotland.

History

On 4 July 1905 the line opened, thereby connecting the

Darvel Branch The Darvel Branch was an extension of the former Glasgow, Paisley, Kilmarnock and Ayr Railway in Scotland built by the Glasgow and South Western Railway to allow trains to travel between Kilmarnock and Darvel. History The line was built in stag ...

that ran from

Kilmarnock Kilmarnock (, sco, Kilmaurnock; gd, Cill Mheàrnaig (IPA: ʰʲɪʎˈveaːɾnəkʲ, "Marnock's church") is a large town and former burgh in East Ayrshire, Scotland and is the administrative centre of East Ayrshire, East Ayrshire Council. ...

, resulting in the line becoming a through route to

Strathaven Strathaven (; from gd, Strath Aibhne ) is a historic market town in South Lanarkshire, Scotland and is the largest settlement in Avondale. It is south of Hamilton. The Powmillon Burn runs through the town centre, and joins the Avon Water to the ...

which was a line jointly run between the Glasgow and South Western Railway (G&SWR) and 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 ...

(CR). The CR owned the Loudounhill to Strathaven section and the G&SWR owned the section from Loudounhill to Darvel and beyondWham, page 47 Despite being a through route, no trains ran between Kilmarnock and Strathaven;Stansfield, page 20 instead, the two companies took it in turns to run the line between Darvel and Strathaven every six months. Stations were also located at Drumclog and Loudounhill. The line was never successful and closed in 1939 and the track lifted in 1951. The station had a signal box on the platform and a wooden waiting room and ticket office. The station had an island platform and steps from the overbridge gave passengers access. Several sidings with a large goods shed were present. Ryelands Creamery was located nearby. The goods shed and creamery building were still present in 2012. The nominal junction between the

and the Glasgow and South Western Railway was at the county boundary at Loudounhill Station. The closed line was used to store hundreds of damaged railway waggons that were awaiting repair. The line had been intended as a through route between Lanarkshire and Ayrshire, however there was very little traffic along the route as the population in the area was very low. The station was closed from September until November 1909 and then again from January 1917 until December 1922. As stated, the last train ran on 10 September 1939, however the official closing date was two weeks later.Stansfield, Page 32

Other stations

* Drumclog * Loudounhill

References

;Notes ;Sources * * * Sellar, W.S. & Stevenston, J. L. (1981). ''The Last Trains. (3) South-West Scotland.'' Edinburgh : Moorfoot Publishing. . * Stansfield, Gordon (1997). ''Lanarkshire's Lost Railways.'' Ochiltree : Stenlake. . * Stansfield, Gordon (1999). ''Ayrshire & Renfrewshire's Lost Railways.'' Ochiltree : Stenlake. . * Thomas, John (1971). ''A Regional History of the Railways of Great Britain. V.6, Scotland''. David & Charles : Newton Abbot. .

Previous and next stations

{{Historical Scottish railway companies Disused railway stations in South Lanarkshire Former Caledonian Railway stations Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1905 Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1909 Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1909 Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1917 Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1922 Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1939 1905 establishments in Scotland 1939 disestablishments in Scotland