page_title: Towerlands Tram Road
section_title: Associated infrastructure
hierarchical_section_title: Towerlands Tram Road / Associated infrastructure
caption_attribution_description: English: An original 1811 railway sleeper from the Kilmarnock &amp; Troon tramway at Laigh Milton Viaduct in the River Irvine.
context_page_description: The Towerlands Tram Road was a 19th-century mineral railway or 'Bogey line' that transported coal, running from the old Towerlands Colliery and associated coal pits near Bourtreehill to Irvine in one direction and to Dreghorn in the other direction. Both towns are located in North Ayrshire, Scotland.
context_section_description: The surfacing of the early 19th century roads outside of the town that were not surfaced with cobblestones would not have been sufficient to resist the wear and tear from a regular movement of heavy coal waggons, which may explain why the tram road was built and why it stopped close to the cobbled streets of Irvine town centre.
  It is not known what sort of sleepers were used; however, stone blocks were favoured on horse-worked lines, as they did not interfere with the centre of the track as do wooden sleepers that run right across the centre of the trackbed.
  The Ordnance Survey maps show that weighing machines existed at both the colliery and at the Townhead turnpike in Irvine.
  The tram road gauge is not known, but the OS map depiction suggests that standard gauge of 4 ft 8.5 in. was in use on the Dreghorn section at least, as the Towerlands Colliery tram road ran on to standard gauge railway exchange sidings at Dreghorn railway station.
  The route was not entirely fenced, such as at the 'on road' section running past Bourtreehill down to the Irvine municipal boundary where the fencing started and then continued down to the terminus near Springfield House.
caption: A typical stone railway sleeper from the Kilmarnock and Troon Railway
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