Girvan and Portpatrick Junction Railway (G&PJR) was a railway company in Scotland. It opened in 1877 between Girvan and Challoch Junction, where it joined the Portpatrick Railway, which had already reached Stranraer from Castle Douglas. Portpatrick had been an important ferry terminal for traffic to and from the north of Ireland, but its significance was waning and Stranraer assumed greater importance. The new line formed part of a route between Glasgow, Ayr and Stranraer.
Running through difficult and sparsely populated terrain, the was never financially successful, and on two occasions it had to suspend operations to due unpaid debts to adjacent railway companies. In 1887 the company sold its concern at a huge loss to the Ayrshire and Wigtownshire Railway Company (A&WR), formed specially for the purpose. The hardly performed better, and in turn it sold its business to the Glasgow and South Western Railway (G&SWR) in 1892.
The line remains in operation at the present day, forming part of the Glasgow to Stranraer route.
History
The short sea route to the north of Ireland The little harbour at Portpatrick was the starting point for the short sea route from Scotland to the north of Ireland as early as 1620, connecting with Donaghadee in County Down, on the east side of Belfast Lough. Cattle and horses were an important traffic, raised in Ireland and brought into Scotland for butchery, and later Post Office mails became significant: by 1838 8,000 to 10,000 letters passed through the port daily, brought by road coach from Dumfries, and from Glasgow. A barracks was erected in the town to facilitate troop movements between Britain and Ireland. However the limitations of the little harbour became serious disadvantages as other more efficient rail-connected routes, via Liverpool, and later Holyhead became dominant.R R Cunningham, Portpatrick Through the Ages, Wigtown Free Press, Stranraer, 1977
Railways towards the Port While English destinations via Dumfries and Carlisle were dominant, Glasgow and Central Scotland were obviously significant, and when the Glasgow, Paisley, Kilmarnock and Ayr Railway (GPK&AR) reached Ayr in 1840 it was natural to consider whether an extension to Portpatrick, 60 miles (96 km) away, was feasible. In 1843 a Glasgow and Belfast Union Railway was proposed to achieve the connection, but the plan foundered.
By 1853 the GPK&AR had amalgamated with others to form the Glasgow and South Western Railway (G&SWR), which encouraged the promotion of the Ayr and Maybole Junction Railway which was authorised by the Ayr and Maybole Junction Railway Act 1854 (17 & 18 Vict. c. cxlvi) on 10 July 1854 and opened on 13 October 1856. The line was worked by the .
The next extension was the Maybole and Girvan Railway which was authorised on 14 July 1856 and opened on 24 May 1860. It too was worked by the , and absorbed by it in 1865. (The Ayr and Maybole line remained independent until 1912.)
Now the Portpatrick Railway was opened between Castle Douglas and Stranraer on 11 March 1861. At Castle Douglas it made connection with other railways giving access to Dumfries and Carlisle, and therefore points in England, as well as Glasgow and Edinburgh by a roundabout route. The Portpatrick Railway, true to its name, had definite intentions to extend from Stranraer to Portpatrick, and did so the following year.David L Smith, The Little Railways of South West Scotland, David and Charles, Newton Abbot, 1969,
Closing the gap from Girvan to Stranraer
These developments encouraged serious consideration of a railway to Portpatrick, although the challenging terrain was a deterrent. However, on 13 November 1862 a prospectus was issued for the Girvan Stranraer and North of Ireland Junction Railway, which was to leave the Maybole and Girvan line 1½ miles (2 km) north of Girvan and join the Portpatrick Railway at Challoch, 10½ miles (17 km) east of Stranraer, taking an inland course between. This scheme did not progress further, but the Girvan and Portpatrick Junction Railway (G&PJR) obtained an authorising act of Parliament, the (28 & 29 Vict. c. ccclviii), on 5 July 1865 to follow the same course as the earlier proposed line, except leaving the Maybole and Girvan line immediately north of Girvan station. Capital was to be £250,000.
At this time money became scarce and subscriptions to the proposed railway were inadequate; nothing could be done for some years until in 1870 matters eased somewhat, and a contractor, Abraham Pilling of Bolton, undertook to build the line, accepting payment in shares. The civil engineering works were severe, with several significant viaducts and a tunnel being required on the route. Seemingly as an afterthought, the applied for running powers between the proposed junction at Challoch and Stranraer; these were ratified by the (35 & 36 Vict. c. clxi) of 6 August 1872. This required the to shoulder their share of the costs of the jointly used section of railway, and of harbour facilities at Stranraer and at first the Portpatrick Railway, struggling to make ends meet, considered this to be a welcome arrangement.
Pilling too was struggling financially to continue his works due to a trade boom which made wages and materials prices escalate. The treated this sympathetically and raised some additional cash to assist him. The struggle took a disastrous turn during stormy conditions on the night of 26 September 1875, when the Stinchar viaduct was completely swept away and several other viaducts and works were substantially damaged.
Once again the company rescued Pilling financially, and the construction work continued.
Working the line Now that completion of the construction phase was in sight, the board gave consideration to the working of the line. The were approached and agreed to do so for 75% of gross receipts; this figure was thought excessive and talks were opened with Thomas Wheatley, who was successfully working the Wigtownshire Railway. Wheatley advised them to procure rolling stock and work the line themselves, but the directors did not feel confident in that arrangement, so they approached the Caledonian Railway (CR), which was working the Portpatrick Railway. The was losing money on the Portpatrick Railway work and politely declined, assuming that the would turn back to Wheatley. However this course was not developed and the concluded an agreement with the to work their line. The were alarmed at this: Wheatley, as a small-time independent was not a threat: the were a deadly rival.
In 1877 the , in effective possession of the Portpatrick Railway, put every possible obstruction in the way of completion of the , which needed the junction at Challoch, extensions and improvements at Stranraer, and signalling improvements between those places. Nonetheless the line was ready and on 1 October 1877 a trial run was undertaken. At Challoch the special train was prevented from proceeding towards Stranraer, and distinguished guests there expecting to join the train had to be brought to it by road. A second attempt was made in the afternoon and this time the special got through—a banquet awaited them at Stranraer.
Public opening The Board of Trade Inspecting Officer had approved the line during his inspection on 24 July 1877, and the had started a sporadic goods service between Girvan and New Luce. From 19 September a passenger service—two trains daily—started between New Luce and Girvan. Because the original Maybole and Girvan Railway station at Girvan had been by-passed by the new line, a crude platform was erected on the line; it was called Girvan New and the terminus was Girvan Old. This was much less convenient to the town, and was the subject of criticism locally.
On 5 October 1877 a normal public train service started, between Girvan and Stranraer. Four trains ran over the line daily: the fragmented ownership of the route did not need to be respected by the , working the whole line. The first southbound and last northbound were expresses, calling only at Ayr, Girvan New, Pinwherry (southbound only) and Dunragit stations, and running to and from the East Pier at Stranraer (described as Stranraer Harbour). Some of the stopping trains may have called at both Girvan Old and New stations; they had to reverse between Girvan Old station and the point of junction of the lines, calling also at Girvan New. It may be that the trains ran only between Girvan New and Stranraer, with road connection between the two stations there.
Financial difficulties The was responsible for rental payments to the Portpatrick Railway (PPR), calculated on the interest on the original capital cost of construction of their part of that line that they used. The was in desperate financial straits: at the shareholders' meeting on 30 April 1878 it was reported that the working arrangement with the took over 90% of gross receipts. In 1880 receipts were £16,031 while working expenses were £24,013.David Ross, The Glasgow and South Western Railway: A History, Stenlake Publishing Limited, Catrine, 2014, , page 108 The failed to pay the , and the Portpatrick Railway Company, in difficult circumstances itself, went to arbitration in 1880; the arbitrator was Sir Thomas Bouch, engineer of the first Tay Bridge, which had collapsed on 28 December 1879, an event known as the Tay Bridge disaster, in which 59 persons perished. Bouch had no difficulty in finding in favour of the Portpatrick Railway's case; the lacking the cash to comply, held out.
Since 3 July 1879 the company's affairs had been in the hands of a judicial factor, James Haldane, appointed by the Court of Session. On 31 January 1881 he gave notice to the to terminate the working agreement, considered to be the greatest source of the 's financial problems. However no-one offered a better arrangement, and Haldane was obliged to request the to continue the working from month to month on the same basis as before. In any case this was all too late: the Portpatrick Railway took the matter to the Court of Session, which also found in their favour on 1 February 1881. The matter had dragged on that far. From 7 February 1882 trains were not allowed on to the Portpatrick Railway. The now ran only as far as New Luce, and conveyed passengers and goods to and from Stranraer by road. 2-4-0 locomotive no. 59 operated the service, running tender first half of the time. The service used Girvan Old station, and the New station was temporarily closed.
Struggling on, the obtained authorisation to borrow more money, and the was persuaded to mitigate its working charges somewhat; the new arrangement provided a hierarchy of destinations for available income, of which the lowest was "distribution to shareholders". A fresh act of Parliament, the (45 & 46 Vict. c. ccxxix) was passed on 18 August 1882 authorising the raising another £30,000 of capital. £20,000 of this was subscribed by the . By September 1883 the had paid nearly all of the outstanding debt (£12,283), and were permitted to resume running to Stranraer. This actually started on 1 August 1883; the trains used the old station only at Girvan, except the boat trains which used the New station only.
The company's fortunes revived with this arrangement, and at a shareholders' meeting on 31 October 1884 a 1% dividend to Class A Debenture Stock holders was announced.
Still more difficulties overcome