History
The railway act for the proposed railway received Royal assent in 1846. A turntable was installed at Balloch in 1850, and on 15 July 1850 the line was opened. Steamer services on Loch Lomond ran from Balloch Pier railway station, and at the south end of the line Bowling railway station gave access to Clyde steamers providing connecting services along the River Clyde to Glasgow and the Firth of Clyde.
In 1858 the Bowling station terminus became a station on the Glasgow, Dumbarton and Helensburgh Railway, which connected to the Balloch line at Dalreoch Junction. In 1862 the GD&HR was absorbed into the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway, which was in turn absorbed into the North British Railway in 1865.
The joint railway was formed by an agreement on the 31 October 1891 between the Caledonian Railway and the North British Railway. Amongst other things, this line enabled the Lanarkshire and Dunbartonshire Railway to gain access to Balloch. This occurred as a result of the Caledonian Railway proposing a parallel route between Dumbarton and Loch Lomond under the title of the Dumbarton, Jamestown and Loch Lomond Railway. As the Caledonian Railway pre-empted the opening of the L&DR, they were unprepared for the joint ownership of the line in 1896.
Read more about this topic: Caledonian And Dunbartonshire Junction Railway
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