Symington railway station

The original system of the Caledonian Railway was authorised on 31 July 1845, and the main routes were three lines radiating from a junction at Carstairs.[1] The southern of these lines, that to Carlisle, was opened in two stages: the section south of Beattock opened first, on 10 September 1847;[2] and the remainder opened on 15 February 1848.[3] The station at Symington also opened on 15 February 1848.[4] Originally, it was situated immediately north of the underbridge carrying the railway over the Biggar Road (present A72 road), at grid reference NS991358. There were two platforms, a goods shed and some sidings; the station building was on the western (northbound) platform.[5]

The station became a junction with the opening of the first section of the Symington, Biggar and Broughton Railway, as far as Broughton, on 5 November 1860; this line was extended to Peebles in 1864.[6] In the meantime, on 30 November 1863, Symington station was re-sited at the junction, which was to the north of the original site.[4] The new station had three platforms and a turntable.[7] The main line curved from north-west to south through Symington; the line to Broughton and Peebles began at a junction facing Carstairs and ran eastwards then north-eastwards towards the first station at Coulter.[8]

In 1904 the station was able to handle all classes of traffic (goods, passengers, parcels, wheeled vehicles, livestock, etc.) and there was a goods crane capable of lifting 2 long tons (2,032 kg).[9]

• Awdry, Christopher (1990). Encyclopaedia of British Railway Companies. London: Guild Publishing. CN 8983.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Beeching, Richard (27 March 1963). The Reshaping of British Railways, part 1: Report (Report). London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office. Retrieved 22 March 2012.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Butt, R.V.J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations. Yeovil: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 1-85260-508-1. R508.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Conolly, W. Philip (January 1976). British Railways Pre-Grouping Atlas and Gazetteer (5th ed.). Shepperton: Ian Allan. ISBN 0-7110-0320-3. EX/0176.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Lewin, Henry Grote (1968) [1936]. The Railway Mania and its Aftermath. Newton Abbot: David & Charles. ISBN 0-7153-4262-2.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Nock, O.S. (1964) [1963]. The Caledonian Railway (2nd ed.). Shepperton: Ian Allan.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Yonge, John (December 2007) [1987]. Jacobs, Gerald (ed.). Railway Track Diagrams 1: Scotland & Isle of Man (5th ed.). Bradford on Avon: Trackmaps. ISBN 978-0-9549866-3-6.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Lanarkshire (Map). 1:2500. Ordnance Survey. 1859.
• Lanarkshire (Map). 1:2500. Ordnance Survey. 1897.
• The Railway Clearing House Handbook of Railway Stations 1904. Newton Abbot: David & Charles. 1970 [1904]. ISBN 0-7153-5120-6.

• Symington Station on navigable 1946 O.S. map
• Photographs of Symington at Railscot