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HMSO: The Greenburn Light Railway (Scotland) Order 2003

Scottish Executive Press Release

Greenburn; railway reinstatement to serve opencast mine

Greenburn is located to the west of New Cumnock and to the north of the former Lanemark coalmine. As part of the scheme to opencast mine here is the reinstatement of a closed line which ran from Creoch Junction, near Bank Junction, to the Lanemark coalmine, a brickworks and various tips.

The line is single track and will provide coal for the Longannet Power Station. The line even includes a tressle timber viaduct which is being re-built and concreted.

It is seldom that I visit a location to photograph a dismantled railway and return to photograph a newly-laid track.

This schematic shows the line to be re-instated in pink. The route runs west from Creoch Junction to a loading point by Greenburn.

Some photographs taken along the course of the line;

View in Summer 2003	View in Winter 2003
Looking north at the former Creoch Junction. The new line will occupy the trackbed here and join the existing line to Knockshinnoch.	No equivalent view Location can no longer be reached legally.
Looking east towards Creoch Junction from a former level crossing.	The same level crossing with line now laid.
Looking west towards Greenburn from the former level crossing.	Looking west from a similar location (note distant farm).
The former line served a brickworks, now closed.	The trackwork has reached the former brickworks.
Timber tressle viaduct immediately west of brickworks.	Bridge being re-built. The deck is being raised and concreted.
Site of future loading point, taken from trackbed.	A more recent photograph of the loading point. The track had not reached here in December 2003.