Berryards Junction

Location type

Junction

Name and dates

Berryards Junction (1883-1967)

Opened on the Greenock and Wemyss Bay Railway.

Description

This junction was east of Upper Greenock station. It was the junction for the steeply graded line (opened 1890) to Walkinshaw and Co.'s Overton Paper Mill (the 'puggy line'). Whinhill station (opened 1990) is just to the east today. The paper mill's mile long branch was reached by a reversing spur east of the junction, the spur was approached from the west. To the west, and on the north side of the line, were the were sidings for the Berryards Sugar Refinery, these being approached from the junction. Originally a long siding for Upper Greenock Goods goods yard also started here, running west alongside the single track railway to west of Lynedoch Street before fanning out into the goods yard.

The original signal box (1883) was on the south side of the junction. Just to the north was Wellington Park's bowling green, the box appears in the backdrop of photographs taken of people bowling!

The line was doubled in 1902, the works beginning in 1901. An additional line was laid to the south of the existing single track railway. The box was probably replaced in 1901 with a new box to the west of the existing one. The Overton branch was modified to run from the Berryards refinery goods line, crossing over the double track of the main line to climb to the reversing spur. To the west the additional line ran round the south side of a new island platform station, a new Upper Greenock box being provided at the west end of the platform, south side of line. A loop was laid on the north side of the station, starting at Berryards to the east and ending at the west end of the station.

The paper mill branch closed around 1923-29, the mill closing around 1927.

The box closed in 1967, around the time of electrification, taken over by the new Paisley Power Box. The branch and sugar works sidings are closed and the railway is now single track.

Tags

Junction