Imagine gates. Carriage gates and foot-gates once stood here at Paisley Hamilton Street station. This station was one of Paisley’s earliest railway stations. It is now disused.
Paisley Hamilton Street Railway Station opened in 1837. It served as a terminal station for the Paisley and Renfrew Railway. The other terminal was at Renfrew Wharf. Both Paisley Hamilton Street station and Renfrew Wharf offered passenger and goods facilities.
The Paisley and Renfrew Railway intended to supplement services on the River Cart. It aimed to compete with them too.
Let’s step back to 1837. The station bustled with activity. Steam locomotives hauled trains on the 4 ft 6 in gauge line. This was also known as Scotch gauge. A half-hourly service ran during the summer months. The journey took only 12 minutes. Ten journeys ran each way per day.
Picture the station layout. Gates led to a booking office. Behind it was a passenger waiting room. The manager’s office was on the upper floor. The Trainshed had two platforms. These platforms ran the shed’s entire length. A separate locomotive shed stood nearby. There was also a goods warehouse. One railway line ran right through it.
However, saving money became a priority in 1842. Steam locomotives were replaced by horses. Horse haulage became the new normal.
Fast forward to January 23, 1866. Train services were suspended. The tracks were doubled. The line was converted to Standard Gauge. It was connected to the Glasgow and Paisley Joint Railway. This connection was at Arkleston Junction.
Paisley Hamilton Street station closed on February 1, 1866. Paisley Abercorn station replaced it. The Glasgow and South Western Railway operated Abercorn station. The line reopened on May 1, 1866.
Look closely at old maps. An Ordnance Survey map from 1923 still shows the station. Tracks remain in place. It is marked as a goods station.
The original terminus station was at Hamilton Street. Now, it is where the car showroom opposite Halfords is. Abercorn station replaced this station on Renfrew Road. The railway connected to the Paisley-Glasgow line at Arkleston junction. The line ran to Renfrew Wharf at the River Clyde through various locations. These were Sandyford, Renfrew South, and Renfrew Porterfield. Also, Renfrew Fulbar Street and King’s Inch. A freight branch led to the Cart Harbour in Paisley.
The Paisley and Renfrew railway was authorized in 1835. It was to build a lightly graded railway. It ran from a terminal in Hamilton Street, Paisley, to Renfrew and the River Clyde at Renfrew Wharf. Grainger and Miller of Edinburgh were the engineers.
The Glasgow, Kilmarnock & Ayr Railway bought the line in 1847. It later amalgamated with the Glasgow, Dumfries and Carlisle Railway. This formed the Glasgow and South Western Railway in 1850.
Service was suspended in 1866. The line was regauged and doubled. A junction was made with the Glasgow & Paisley Joint Railway. Trains then began using Paisley Abercorn.
The line began using steam locomotives again when it reopened in May 1866. The line closed to passenger traffic in June 1967. It closed to goods in 1981. The tracks were lifted in 1986.
Paisley Hamilton Street station tells a story of change. It began with steam, switched to horses, and evolved with the railways. Although long gone, its history remains etched in Paisley’s story.