The Blane Valley Railway was a railway line in Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

, now closed.

The line was operated by the North British Railway

North British Railway

The North British Railway was a Scottish railway company that was absorbed into the London and North Eastern Railway at the Grouping in 1923.-History:...

. After the 1923 railway grouping the line was operated by the London and North Eastern Railway

London and North Eastern Railway

The London and North Eastern Railway was the second-largest of the "Big Four" railway companies created by the Railways Act 1921 in Britain...

. Unable to compete in the face of road competition, the line was closed to passengers by British Railways in 1951 and closed completely in 1959.

History

The Blane Valley Railway, extended the Campsie Branch of the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway

Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway

The Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway was a railway built to link Glasgow and Edinburgh. The Act of Parliament for building the railway received its Royal Assent in 1838 which was open on 28 July 1863. Services started between Glasgow Queen Street and Haymarket on 21 February 1842. The line was...

 into the countryside immediately south of the Campsie Fells

Campsie Fells

The Campsie Fells are a range of hills in central Scotland, stretching east to west, from Denny Muir to Dumgoyne, in Stirlingshire. . The highest point in the range is Earl's Seat which is 578 m high...

. In this sparsely populated area the main item of carriage for the line was expected to be milk to be taken to Glasgow. An act for the new railway was obtained on 6 August 1861,. The eight and a quarter miles opened for freight in November 1866 and passengers in July 1867 as far as a station named Killearn. In fact the station was about two miles short of Killearn

Killearn

Killearn is a small village of approximately 1700 people in the Stirling council area of Scotland. The village name stems from the Gaelic Cill Earnain, meaning Ernan's Church; the Ernan in question presumably being one of the canonised individuals of that name who were both relatives and followers...

. When the Strathendrick and Aberfoyle Railway

Strathendrick and Aberfoyle Railway

The Glasgow to Aberfoyle Line was a railway line in Scotland, now closed.Starting from the Queen Street terminus in Glasgow, it wound through Strathblane taking in Killearn and Balfron, ultimately depositing travellers in Aberfoyle, where they could change to road transport to reach the Trossachs...

extended the route in the 1880s a new station was built at with the previous station of that name renamed as . A new station built at Lennoxtown to by-pass the previous Campsie Branch terminus there.

In 1891 the railway company was absorbed by the North British Railway, which had operated the line and been a major shareholder from the start.

Closure

By summer 1950 Blanefield was being served by five trains a day. The line closed to passengers the next year, on 1 October 1951. The line north from Campsie Glen closed completely eight years later, with the ending of the remaining goods services in October 1959. In April 1966 by the final remaining goods services operated, and the remaining line was closed and soon lifted.