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The Towerlands Tram Road was a 19th-century mineral railway or 'Bogey line' that transported coal, running from the old Towerlands Colliery and associated coal pits〔 near Bourtreehill to Irvine in one direction and to Dreghorn in the other direction. Both towns are located in North Ayrshire, Scotland.〔(25 inch to the mile OS Map : Ayr Sheet XVII.14 (Irvine) Survey date: 1856. Publication date: 1860 )〕〔(Rail Map Online )〕 ==History== The term 'Tram Road' is indicated on OS maps,〔〔(OS one-inch to the mile, 1890 )〕 and the course of the line mainly follows a route defined by the roads that existed at the time〔(John Thomson's Ayrshire map of 1828 )〕〔Johnson〕 from the Towerlands or Tourlands coal pits and the later colliery in two directions,〔 one separate branch line running to Dreghorn railway station where exchange sidings existed for transport further afield via the standard gauge Glasgow and South Western Railway's Dalry to Kilmarnock line and the other branch running to the outskirts of Irvine at Townhead, the tram road ending just short of Springfield House on Mill Road, once called Slate Mill Road.〔 The Great Reform Act Plans and Reports map of 1832 does not show the tram road〔(Great Reform Act Plans and Reports, 1832 )〕 that first appears in the 1856 OS maps.〔(OS Map - Ayrshire, Sheet XVII. 17. Survey date: 1856. Publication date: 1860 )〕 The Towerlands Colliery at Dreghorn had closed by 1878, and the OS map of 1890 only names and indicates the route of the tram road without marking the colliery or the tram road tracks.〔 Later OS maps mark the old colliery 'offices' as Towerlands Cottage.〔 In keeping with other such tram roads the line was probably worked by gravity, manually and by horses.〔The Haytor Tramroad〕 The use of horses is also indicated by the horse trough next to the line near Fencedyke.〔(OS Map - Ayr Sheet XVII. 10 (Irvine). Survey date: 1856. Publication date: 1860 )〕 The use of steam locomotives is not consistent with the tram road's infrastructure as indicated on the OS maps, with right angle bends, gaps at road junctions, etc.,〔 although the short section of line to Dreghorn was different in this respect, and a locomotive-style run-round loop is suggestive of some form of steam engine being in use here.〔 A 'tram' in historical terms was a low box-shaped four-wheeled cart or barrow used in coal mines,〔(The Free Dictionary )〕 often without a flange on its wheels that were either wood with metal tyres or made from metal. A 'tram road' was a roadway built to permit the passage of trams or waggons and consists of parallel tracks made of metal plates or rails, carved stone blocks or wooden rails, often with metal traction surface strips attached.〔(''Merriam-Webster Dictionary'' )〕 Tramroads often run on roads that are also used by cars, pedestrians, etc. One branch of the Towerlands Tram Road appears to have been relatively cheaply constructed to supply coal to the population of Irvine and to the Town Mill using horse drawn waggons or trams that used dedicated sections of tram road along the edge of the existing road in places, with a few diversions through fields where necessary. The horse-drawn waggons may have been able to continue and complete their journey into Irvine by road, and as noted a weighing machine was present at Townhead near the toll.〔 The Dreghorn branch is not shown as being physically joined to the Irvine branch. The presence of a run-round loop and a siding at Towerlands Colliery may be suggestive of the use of a steam locomotive, which would require a heavier gauge of track. This section of the line was built for the export of coal via the exchange sidings located at Dreghorn railway station as shown on the 1856 OS map. 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「Towerlands Tram Road」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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