page_title: Wishaw and Coltness Railway
section_title: Reaching Jerviston
hierarchical_section_title: Wishaw and Coltness Railway / Opening in stages / Reaching Jerviston
caption_attribution_description: English: Map of Wishaw and Coltness Railway system in 1845
context_page_description: The Wishaw and Coltness Railway was an early Scottish mineral railway. It ran for approximately 11 miles from Chapel Colliery, at Newmains in North Lanarkshire connecting to the Monkland and Kirkintilloch Railway near Whifflet, giving a means of transport for minerals around Newmains to market in Glasgow and Edinburgh.
  Shortage of capital made construction slow, and the line was opened in stages from 1833, opening fully on 9 March 1844.
  It was built to the track gauge of 4 ft 6 in, commonly used in Scotland for coal railways. It had several branches serving pits and ironworks.
  In 1849 it became part of the Caledonian Railway and sections of the original network form part of the modern West Coast Main Line railway.
context_section_description: As money became available, the next extension (actually the intended "main line") was built, about a mile long, and opening in 1838, running due south from the junction at "Holytown" (i.e. Mossend North Junction) to "Jerviston", serving several pits. The location was at the north end of the (later) Ravenscraig complex, and the route was to the east of the present Mossend - Motherwell line (opened in 1857).
caption: Wishaw and Coltness Railway system in 1845