The Polloc and Govan Railway started off as a private railway owned and built by William Dixon, a Coal

Coal

Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds or coal seams. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...

 master; it ran along part of the route of his Govan

Govan

Govan is a district and former burgh now part of southwest City of Glasgow, Scotland. It is situated west of Glasgow city centre, on the south bank of the River Clyde, opposite the mouth of the River Kelvin and the district of Partick....

 tramway. The Govan tramway dated back to 1811.

Although the name of the surrounding area that gave its name to the railway company is called Pollok and close by is called Pollokshields, the Act of Parliament

Act of Parliament

An Act of Parliament is a statute enacted as primary legislation by a national or sub-national parliament. In the Republic of Ireland the term Act of the Oireachtas is used, and in the United States the term Act of Congress is used.In Commonwealth countries, the term is used both in a narrow...

 authorising the railway used the spelling Polloc.

The railway was bought by the Clydesdale Junction Railway

Clydesdale Junction Railway

The Clydesdale Junction Railway was a railway company in Scotland that was formed to run trains between Rutherglen and Motherwell, North Lanarkshire.- History :It received its Royal Assent on 31 July 1845....

 on 18 August 1846 and became part of the Caledonian Railway

Caledonian Railway

The Caledonian Railway was a major Scottish railway company. It was formed in the early 19th century and it was absorbed almost a century later into the London, Midland and Scottish Railway, in the 1923 railway grouping, by means of the Railways Act 1921...

.

On 14 March 1867 an Act of Parliament

Act of Parliament

An Act of Parliament is a statute enacted as primary legislation by a national or sub-national parliament. In the Republic of Ireland the term Act of the Oireachtas is used, and in the United States the term Act of Congress is used.In Commonwealth countries, the term is used both in a narrow...

 was obtained to lift part of the line; from West Street to the River Clyde.

Construction

The Polloc and Govan railway was authorised on 29 May 1830 and it linked Govan with the River Clyde

River Clyde

The River Clyde is a major river in Scotland. It is the ninth longest river in the United Kingdom, and the third longest in Scotland. Flowing through the major city of Glasgow, it was an important river for shipbuilding and trade in the British Empire....

, at Windmillcroft Quay at the Broomielaw, the Glasgow, Paisley and Johnstone Canal

Glasgow, Paisley and Johnstone Canal

The Glasgow, Paisley and Ardrossan Canal was a canal in the west of Scotland, running between Glasgow, Paisley and Johnstone which later became a railway. Despite the name, the canal was never completed down to Ardrossan, the termini being Port Eglinton in Glasgow and Thorn Brae in Johnstone...

 and Rutherglen

Rutherglen

Rutherglen is a town in South Lanarkshire, Scotland. In 1975, it lost its own local council and administratively became a component of the City of Glasgow. In 1996 Rutherglen was reallocated to the South Lanarkshire council area.-History:...

. It opened on 22 August 1840.

The railway was intended to transport coal and ironstone

Ironstone

Ironstone is a sedimentary rock, either deposited directly as a ferruginous sediment or created by chemical repacement, that contains a substantial proportion of an iron compound from which iron either can be or once was smelted commercially. This term is customarily restricted to hard coarsely...

 and for part of its route it ran down a public road: West Street. Its engineers were Grainger and Miller from Edinburgh

Edinburgh

Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...

 (Thomas Grainger

Thomas Grainger

Thomas Grainger FRSE was a Scottish civil engineer and surveyor. He was born in Ratho, outside Edinburgh, to Hugh Grainger and Helen Marshall. Educated at Edinburgh University, at sixteen he got a job with John Leslie, a land surveyor.He started his own practice in 1816. In 1825 he formed a...

 and John Miller

John Miller (engineer)

John Miller was a civil engineer of the 19th century. He was born in Ayr and died in Edinburgh. He went into partnership with Thomas Grainger in 1825. The partnership was responsible for many of Scotland's great railway projects. Miller took the lead role in surveying the Edinburgh and Glasgow...

).

Attempted expansion of the line

Several attempts were made to extend the line; other railway promoters also attempted to link to it as it provided direct access to the River Clyde.

Links to other lines

• Clydesdale Junction Railway
  Clydesdale Junction Railway
  The Clydesdale Junction Railway was a railway company in Scotland that was formed to run trains between Rutherglen and Motherwell, North Lanarkshire.- History :It received its Royal Assent on 31 July 1845....
  
  . End to end link made:
• General Terminus and Glasgow Harbour Railway
  General Terminus and Glasgow Harbour Railway
  The General Terminus and Glasgow Harbour Railway was authorised on 3 July 1846 and it opened, in part, in December 1848.Its main function was intended to be the transportation of coal from collieries and Lanarkshire and Ayrshire, over other railways, to a coal depot on the south bank of the River...