page_title: Wilsontown, Morningside and Coltness Railway
section_title: The line in operation
hierarchical_section_title: Wilsontown, Morningside and Coltness Railway / The line in operation
caption_attribution_description: English: Morningside W&amp;CR station looking E
context_page_description: The Wilsontown, Morningside and Coltness Railway was a railway opened in 1845, primarily for mineral traffic, although a passenger service was run sporadically. The line ran from a junction with the Wishaw and Coltness Railway at Chapel, to Longridge, in South Central Scotland, and it was extended to Bathgate in 1850 after takeover by the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway. It was built to open up further coal deposits and to connect the Wilsontown Ironworks, although it did not actually reach Wilsontown. In common with the other "coal railways" with which it connected, it adopted the track gauge of 4 ft 6 in, often referred to as Scotch gauge.
  Always short of money, the railway was not commercially successful, but in giving access to a developing mineral area, it was taken over by the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway in 1849, but it retained its independent management for some years. None of the line is still in use except for a very short length at Polkemmett Junction immediately south of Bathgate, which carries the Airdrie - Bathgate - Edinburgh passenger service.
context_section_description: At first, prior to the opening of the WM&CR, the group of "coal railways" in Lanarkshire, the Garnkirk and Glasgow Railway (G&GR), the Monkland and Kirkintilloch Railway (M&KR), the Ballochney Railway, the Slamannan Railway, and the Wishaw and Coltness Railway had worked in harmony. They shared the same track gauge, and their approach to technology and to traffic matters was similar, and much traffic passed over more than one of them. As time moved on, differences of approach grew, particularly over the use of locomotive power, and the G&GR became frustrated over the bottleneck at Coatbridge, where through rail traffic crossed a busy road intersection on the level. It built its own high-level line, by-passing the M&KR, and renaming itself the Glasgow, Garnkirk and Coatbridge Railway (GG&CR). It connected directly to the Wishaw and Coltness Railway (W&CR) at Whifflet, and gradually the GG&CR and the W&CR became aligned more to one another than to the other coal lines.
  One thing remained to be achieved in harmony, including the WM&CR: the track gauge was changed in August 1847, from the now obsolete 4 ft 6 in to the standard gauge of 4 ft 8½ in. By now the Caledonian Railway was building its intercity line from Carlisle, and was planning to enter Glasgow over the standard gauge rails of the W&CR and the GG&CR.
  If the W&CR was soon to form part of a modern main line, the WM&CR was having difficulty finding traffic. It had decided that further eastward extension was essential. An Annual General Meeting on 9 February 1849 tried to present an optimistic view from a gloomy base:
  The traffic on the line has progressively improved, notwithstanding the general depression of the iron trade, on which it so much depends, and although the passenger traffic has been stopped on the Wishaw and Coltness Railway Company since that line has been under the management of the Caledonian Railway Company ... The only works remaining under contract are those on the Bathgate branch. Considerable progress has been made with these, and the engineer states that one-half of the line will be ready for traffic in about two months, and that the whole line to Bathgate may be opened in the course of the ensuing summer. When this is accomplished, the Directors propose to resume the passenger traffic on the main line.
  The statement of accounts showed that the gross revenue had amounted to £3,576 and the net profits, £1,461.
caption: Morningside W&CR station looking East; the WM&CR station is clearly visible a few hundred yards away
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