The Glasgow, Dumbarton & Helensburgh Railway Co was authorised in 1855 to build a railway linking Glasgow, Scotland, to Helensburgh, Argyll & Bute, Scotland. The line was opened in 1858 and provided the first continuous line of railway along the north banks of the river Clyde. From its junction with the Edinburgh & Glasgow Railway Co line at Cowlairs, Glasgow, it ran via Possil, Maryhill, Temple, Kilbowie and Old Kilpatrick to meet the Caledonian & Dunbartonshire Junction Railway at Bowling, West Dunbartonshire. From here it continued onto Helensburgh. The section of line between Dumbarton (Dalreoch Junction) and Bowling was built by the Caledonian & Dunbartonshire Junction Railway and was shared with the Helensburgh company paying half the cost of a bridge previously built by the Caledonian & Dunbartonshire. The companies formed a joint committee of management and joint announcements appeared as The Dunbartonshire Railways.
The company fell out with the Edinburgh & Glasgow Railway Co over the use of its Queen Street station, Glasgow, and the Caledonian Railway Co was quick to offer better terms for the use of its Buchannan Street station in the city. When the line opened in May 1858 the trains ran to Buchannan Street, but by the end of June and agreement had been reached with the Edinburgh & Glasgow and the trains went to the more convenient Queen Street station.
The Edinburgh & Glasgow Railway Co absorbed the Glasgow, Dumbarton & Helensburgh Railway Co and the Caledonian & Dunbartonshire Junction Railway in August 1862 and the Edinburgh & Glasgow was in turn purchased by the North British Railway Co in July 1865 .
Source: David Thomas,A Regional History of the Railways of Great Britain: Scotland(Newton Abbot, 1971)
From the guide to the Records of the Glasgow, Dumbarton & Helensburgh Railway Co, Scotland, 1855-1856, (Glasgow University Archive Services)
