Leadhills and Wanlockhead Branch

Leadhills and Wanlockhead Branch

The highest standard gauge line in the British Isles climbed from Elvanfoot in the Clyde Valley, winding up through the starkly desolate, treeless beauty of the Lowther Hills. [Note - I got bored and have been SERIOUSLY over-generous with trees and bushes in this layout :-) ]

It opened as far as Leadhills, then the highest station in the UK, in 1901, and to Wanlockhead in 1902; at 1498 feet (457m), this was even higher.

The line was built to serve the lead mines, and also carried passengers. It was worked by the Caledonian Railway, using No 172 (an 0-4-4T) in the early years. Trains were mixed passenger and goods, and the maximum speed was 20mph.

The line was barely viable at the best of times, and the liquidation of the Wanlockhead Mining Company in 1936 finished it off. The last passenger service ran on 31st Dec, 1938; the line was closed to goods traffic shortly afterwards.

I have two fond memories of the area:

- the Wanlockhead Miners' Library, the second oldest subscription library in Scotland - indeed, in all Europe. It was funded by miners' subscriptions - and still exists, as part of the Lead Mining Museum.

- and a fine pint of beer! The 'pub' was just the front room in a cottage, with a serving hatch through to the kitchen where the beer tap was. Simple, basic ... and oh so cosy!

Leadhills and Wanlockhead Branch
• config.txt 18.69KB
• leadhills_transdem_info.txt 829 bytes
• mapfile.bmk 330 bytes
• mapfile.gnd 22.39MB
• mapfile.lyr 23 bytes
• mapfile.obs 495.36KB
• mapfile.rlr 36 bytes
• mapfile.trc 66.95KB
• mapfile.trk 594.69KB
new route
config.txt 485 bytes
mapfile.bmk 330 bytes
mapfile.gnd 22.03MB
mapfile.lyr 64 bytes
mapfile.obs 1.71KB
mapfile.trc 32 bytes
mapfile.trk 68 bytes
new route_transdem_info.txt 829 bytes
thumbnail.jpg 16.66KB
scenery
utm-30u-450-6138
config.txt 357 bytes
thumbnail.jpg 21.32KB
utm-30u-450-6138.tga 768.02KB
utm_1000.im 1.32KB
utmkarte.texture.txt 39 bytes
utm-30u-450-6139
config.txt 357 bytes
thumbnail.jpg 22.15KB
utm-30u-450-6139.tga 768.02KB
utm_1000.im 1.32KB
utmkarte.texture.txt 39 bytes
utm-30u-451-6139
config.txt 357 bytes
thumbnail.jpg 22.18KB
utm-30u-451-6139.tga 768.02KB
utm_1000.im 1.32KB
utmkarte.texture.txt 39 bytes
utm-30u-451-6140
config.txt 357 bytes
thumbnail.jpg 21.72KB
utm-30u-451-6140.tga 768.02KB
utm_1000.im 1.32KB
utmkarte.texture.txt 39 bytes
utm-30u-452-6140
config.txt 357 bytes
thumbnail.jpg 20.63KB
utm-30u-452-6140.tga 768.02KB
utm_1000.im 1.32KB
utmkarte.texture.txt 39 bytes
utm-30u-452-6141
config.txt 357 bytes
thumbnail.jpg 21.31KB
utm-30u-452-6141.tga 768.02KB
utm_1000.im 1.32KB
utmkarte.texture.txt 39 bytes
utm-30u-453-6141
config.txt 357 bytes
thumbnail.jpg 20.71KB
utm-30u-453-6141.tga 768.02KB
utm_1000.im 1.32KB
utmkarte.texture.txt 39 bytes
utm-30u-453-6142
config.txt 357 bytes
thumbnail.jpg 21.89KB
utm-30u-453-6142.tga 768.02KB
utm_1000.im 1.32KB
utmkarte.texture.txt 39 bytes
utm-30u-454-6142
config.txt 357 bytes
thumbnail.jpg 21.65KB
utm-30u-454-6142.tga 768.02KB
utm_1000.im 1.32KB
utmkarte.texture.txt 39 bytes
utm-30u-454-6143
config.txt 357 bytes
thumbnail.jpg 21.81KB
utm-30u-454-6143.tga 768.02KB
utm_1000.im 1.32KB
utmkarte.texture.txt 39 bytes
utm-30u-455-6143
config.txt 357 bytes
thumbnail.jpg 19.60KB
utm-30u-455-6143.tga 768.02KB
utm_1000.im 1.32KB
utmkarte.texture.txt 39 bytes
utm-30u-456-6143
config.txt 357 bytes
thumbnail.jpg 20.72KB
utm-30u-456-6143.tga 768.02KB
utm_1000.im 1.32KB
utmkarte.texture.txt 39 bytes
utm-30u-456-6144
config.txt 357 bytes
thumbnail.jpg 18.49KB
utm-30u-456-6144.tga 768.02KB
utm_1000.im 1.32KB
utmkarte.texture.txt 39 bytes
utm-30u-457-6143
config.txt 357 bytes
thumbnail.jpg 19.83KB
utm-30u-457-6143.tga 768.02KB
utm_1000.im 1.32KB
utmkarte.texture.txt 39 bytes
utm-30u-458-6143
config.txt 357 bytes
thumbnail.jpg 20.15KB
utm-30u-458-6143.tga 768.02KB
utm_1000.im 1.32KB
utmkarte.texture.txt 39 bytes
utm-30u-458-6144
config.txt 357 bytes
thumbnail.jpg 19.93KB
utm-30u-458-6144.tga 768.02KB
utm_1000.im 1.32KB
utmkarte.texture.txt 39 bytes
utm-30u-458-6145
config.txt 357 bytes
thumbnail.jpg 17.12KB
utm-30u-458-6145.tga 768.02KB
utm_1000.im 1.32KB
utmkarte.texture.txt 39 bytes
utm-30u-459-6142
config.txt 357 bytes
thumbnail.jpg 19.05KB
utm-30u-459-6142.tga 768.02KB
utm_1000.im 1.32KB
utmkarte.texture.txt 39 bytes
utm-30u-459-6143
config.txt 357 bytes
thumbnail.jpg 19.99KB
utm-30u-459-6143.tga 768.02KB
utm_1000.im 1.32KB
utmkarte.texture.txt 39 bytes
utm-30u-459-6145
config.txt 357 bytes
thumbnail.jpg 18.49KB
utm-30u-459-6145.tga 768.02KB
utm_1000.im 1.32KB
utmkarte.texture.txt 39 bytes
utm-30u-460-6142
config.txt 357 bytes
thumbnail.jpg 13.72KB
utm-30u-460-6142.tga 768.02KB
utm_1000.im 1.32KB
utmkarte.texture.txt 39 bytes
• thumbnail.jpg 16.66KB