Glasgow & Southwestern Railway Steamers

on May 15, 2016

The opening of the Gourock and Ardrossan routes by the Caledonian Railway and the associated steamer services had immediate impacts of the business of the Glasgow & Southwestern Railway and Captain Alexander Williamson who ran his steamboats in association with the railway at Greenock and Captain William Buchanan who provided the service from Ardrossan to Arran. New steamers at Craigendoran had also secured for the North British Railway, the bulk of the Arrochar traffic in connection with their Loch Lomond tours. Faced with these inroads in multiple fronts, the Glasgow & Southwestern Railway made application to Parliament to run its own steamboat service. The Bill was passed in August 1891 but it placed some restrictions on the Glasgow & Southwestern steamers, preventing them sailing to the Lochfyne and Kintyre ports, and the west coast of Arran. They also could not extend...

Early Arran Steamers

on Dec 30, 2015

It was in 1834 that the Castle Company introduced a service from the Ayrshire coast to the Island of Arran. The veteran Inverary Castle sailed to Brodick from Troon where she connected with the horse-drawn railway from Kilmarnock. Ardrossan was included as a call in 1834 and the following year, Ardrossan was the Ayrshire terminus with a connecting coach from Kilmarnock. Although the Inverary Castle was described as extensively improved in both speed and comfort, she had been advertised for sale in the Spring, and was disposed of the following year when M‘Kellar’s Hero appeared on the route. The hull of the Hero was built by William Denny in Dumbarton in 1832 and her machinery was produced by Robert Napier. Duncan M‘Kellar added a larger and more successful vessel, the Victor, in 1836 so that Hero was available for the Arran service. Plan of the Glasgow, Paisley, Ardrossan and Ayr...