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The Port Road

The Port Road. This website is dedicated to The Port Road which is the collective name for the "Portpatrick Railway", "Wigtownshire Railway" and "Castle Douglas and Dumfries Railway". The Portpatrick and Wigtonshire railways were amalgamated in 1885 and in combination with Castle Douglas to Dumfries became known as "The Port Road".

At time of writing 27th April 2015 this is still the beginning of a long term project to learn and understand the history of The Port Road, for now you will see a series of expanding photographic galleries in the menu structure as I visit and photograph specific sites on the line and its branch lines. In addition to study on "The Port Road" you can also now find some Galleries on the still active West Highland Line which will be updated from time to time

This page and many others will be updated and evolve over time but I hope to turn it into a general reference point for for those interested in studying a once vibrant enterprise which was both about life and crucially "full of life"

For now the inspiration for the project comes from the following link, namely a film shot by enthusiasts in the closing days of the Port Road in 1965. It shows many landmarks which can still be seen today, you can view the video via the NLS Library website by clicking this link

Read also about The Railway That Went The Wrong Way from Alistair Livingston

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News

Portpatrick Station

Terminus of the Port Road, Portpatrick Station, now a private residence. Closed 6 February 1950. The demise of Portpatrick station is very poorly documented, at one point in the 1860's there was even a seperate branch "harbour line" originally used by passengers but only for a period of around a year, the branch remained open to freight for a couple of years and the main station remained part of the port road untill 1950 but was obviously closed long before the Beeching Axe. Below you can see a few historical pictures including one of the station as it is today, a map of the line as it was in 1860's during the brief time the harbour branch existed and also a satellite view of the line arriving from Stranrear to its final terminus. A gallery of current pictures showing the station and line can be seen at the bottom of this page

Terminus

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ps   Portpatrick town rlies

Portpatrick Hotel