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The Kirkcudbright Railway was a railway branch line linking Kirkcudbright to the Castle Douglas and Dumfries Railway at Castle Douglas. It opened in 1864, and closed in 1965. ==Formation and construction== By 1861 railways were at last being constructed in the thinly populated districts of South West Scotland. The Castle Douglas and Dumfries Railway (CD&DR) had opened in 1859, connecting with the much larger Glasgow and South Western Railway (G&SWR) at Dumfries, and the Portpatrick Railway, later to be the core of the Portpatrick and Wigtownshire Joint Railway, was being constructed with the intention of linking Portpatrick with the British main line network and encouraging a ferry service to the north of Ireland. Desiring the advantages of connection to the railway network, and fearing the loss of County Town status to Castle Douglas, local interests in Kirkcudbright promoted the ''Kirkcudbright Railway'' to connect the town with Castle Douglas. The cost of construction was estimated at £40,000; the G&SWR was content to offer support for the scheme, and agreed to subscribe £15,000 if the CD&DR would subscribe £5,000. The Kirkcudbright Railway (KR) obtained its authorising Act of Parliament on 1 August 1861.〔Date according to Smith and Carter; Ross says 2 August.〕〔David L Smith, ''The Little Railways of South West Scotland'', David and Charles, Newton Abbot, 1969, ISBN 0-7153-4652-0〕〔E F Carter, ''An Historical Geography of the Railways of the British Isles'', Cassell, London, 1959〕〔David Ross, ''The Glasgow & South Western Railway: A History'', Stenlake Publishing, Catrine, 2014, ISBN 978 1 84033 648 1〕 The first general meeting of the new Company did not take place until 25 October 1861. While construction was proceeding under Wylie & Peddie, the KR concluded an agreement with the G&SWR for the latter to work the line for 42½% of gross receipts after deduction of cartage costs. The construction was ready for a demonstration trip on 30 January 1864. The line opened to goods traffic on 17 February 1864 but the Board of Trade (BoT) Inspecting Officer declined to authorise passenger operation until the junction with the Portpatrick Railway was improved. The BoT had introduced a rule that junctions of single line railways must be made double-line at the point of connection, and the Castle Douglas junction did not comply. The line opened to passengers on 2 March 1864 between Kirkcudbright and a quickly-constructed station at St Andrew Street, Castle Douglas, short of the junction. The planned entry to the junction at Castle Douglas was extremely sharp; and Kirkcudbright trains entering the station had to use a short length of Portpatrick Railway track; it appears that permission for this had not been properly obtained. Signalling alterations were made at the Castle Douglas junction and a low speed restriction imposed, and through passenger running commenced on 15 August 1864.〔Detail from Smith, and Ross. Other references give different dates but Smith's account is backed up by a detailed logical explanation. Butt agrees the date of St Andrew Street but illogically gives a later date (7 March 1864) for Tarff and Kirkcudbright. Awdry simply gives 15 August and refers to the junction difficulty but not the temporary arrangement; Bradshaw's Directory and also Carter say the following day (16 August); Paterson refers only to the opening to goods traffic. However Ross gives 1 March as the start of the St Andrew Street passenger service.〕〔〔〔Christopher Awdry, ''Encyclopaedia of British Railway Companies'', Patrick Stephens Limited, Wellingborough, 1990, ISBN 1 85260 049 7〕 Capital was £60,000 in shares with borrowing powers up to £20,000.〔Bradshaw's Railway Manual, Shareholders' Guide, and Official Directory, 1865〕〔John Thomas, revised Alan S Paterson, ''A Regional History of the Railways of Great Britain: Volume 6: Scotland, The Lowlands and the Borders'', David & Charles (Holdings) Limited, Newton Abbot, 1984, ISBN 0 946537 12 7〕〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Kirkcudbright Railway」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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