Larkhall Line

[nuttytigger]

i've seen those ones. me and tip2tail were looking at them, some good photos on it, especially when you see how much work they have done, i still remember playing on the old platforms as a child and walking from the bottom of larkhall past the station to the viaduct!

[Charlie Endell]

How far from Larkhall Station is Broomhill Viaduct and what's the best way to gain access to it (I know it's now a dangerous structure; I don't want to cross it, simply view it)? I'm interested in the old Stonehouse / Strathaven lines and made a feeble attempt to find Broomhill Viaduct a couple of Sundays back but it was absolutely chucking it down. Would also like assistance locating the Stonehouse Viaduct - I believe the stone pillars that supported it are still there.

[nuttytigger]

get off at larkhall, then go out the station under the bridge, keep walking towards the leisure centre, go to the road and just follow it down. you should come to the viaduct eventually

[Charlie Endell]

get off at larkhall, then go out the station under the bridge, keep walking towards the leisure centre, go to the road and just follow it down. you should come to the viaduct eventually

Cheers - will hopefully check it out tomorrow.

[nuttytigger]

there is a bit down that road where you will have to go left to get to the viaduct, but just keep looking and you'll see it. let me know if you find it okay

[Charlie Endell]

I'm pretty confident I know where I'm going this time - last time I just parked in the station car park & looked down the route of the old line to Stonehouse. I see on multi-map that there's a that the leisure centre is on Broomhill Road - is this the road I should follow? Is there a path / road all the way to the viaduct or does it get fairly muddy?

[nuttytigger]

its a road, there may be puddles tho. when you see the viaduct and turn off left (its up an embankment where another lines up with it) it might be muddy.

[Charlie Endell]

Thanks for the directions - found it no problem but would probably have struggled a bit without a helping hand. I believe (from the Railscot site) that it's the highest girder viaduct in Scotland - I can certainly believe it! I felt giddy just looking up at it - I would have hated to have been one of the poor guys who built the thing (health and safety not being quite what it is now!). It was definitely worth a visit - took the dog with me a had a walk along the path that runs underneath the viaduct - I don't know that many disused viaducts that are still pretty much intact. There used to be an impressive viaduct out at Loudon Hill (on the line from Strathaven to Darvel) that I remember from my childhood but it was sadly demolished (in the 1980s I think).

[nuttytigger]

glad you found it okay. its the highest railway bridge in scotland i think.

[Charlie Endell]

I'm just glad they haven't removed the girder structure from the stone pillars (don't know whether the height made it too difficult / dangerous) - thanks once again for the directions!

[nuttytigger]

no probs, glad to be of service

[MadMac]

There used to be an impressive viaduct out at Loudon Hill (on the line from Strathaven to Darvel) that I remember from my childhood but it was sadly demolished (in the 1980s I think).

Story on that one was that BR sold it to a scrappie, but the structure was listed - he blew it up anyway, and when he was prosecuted, it turned out that the maximum fine they could impose was pennies compared to the scrap value.

[Charlie Endell]

There used to be an impressive viaduct out at Loudon Hill (on the line from Strathaven to Darvel) that I remember from my childhood but it was sadly demolished (in the 1980s I think).

Story on that one was that BR sold it to a scrappie, but the structure was listed - he blew it up anyway, and when he was prosecuted, it turned out that the maximum fine they could impose was pennies compared to the scrap value.

I didn't know that - a crying shame. I can only assume the bar steward worked for Glasgow City Council before setting up on his won.