In 1823 the proposed route of the Monkland & Kirkintilloch Railway , Scotland, was surveyed and a Government Act passed the following year to allow for the formation and building of the railway. The surveyor, Thomas Grainger (1794-1852), along with John Miller (b1805), were the engineers. William Baird & Co , coal and iron masters, Glasgow, Scotland were also appointed as engineers. The line opened in 1826 . It was built to take coal from the Monklands and deliver it to the Forth of Clyde Canal for shipping to Edinburgh, Scotland, and, to a lesser extent, Glasgow, Scotland. Coal from the Monklands already travelled to Glasgow via the Monkland canal.
The line, which was ten and a half miles long, ran from Kirkintilloch, East Dunbartonshire, Scotland, on the river Forth and Clyde Canal to coal pits at Kipps, Palacecraig and Rosehall in the Airdrie and Coatbridge area of North Lanarkshire, Scotland. It was the first public passenger line in Scotland. Initially, the trains were pulled under horse traction, but from 1831, locomotives were supplied by Murdoch, Aitken & Co, locomotive builders, Glasgow. The standard railway gauge was introduced in 1845 .
The line had a general working agreement with the Ballochney Railway Co , North Lanarkshire, and the Slamannan Railway , Falkirk, Scotland, where they each used the others' rolling stock. The three companies amalgamated in August 1848 to form the Monklands Railway . This company was purchased in 1862 by the Edinburgh & Glasgow Railway Co which in turn was taken over by the North British Railway Co in 1865 .
From the guide to the Records of the Monkland & Kirkintilloch Railway, Scotland, 1836-1850, (Glasgow University Archive Services)
