The Original Route
As part of the G&SWR, the Paisley Canal line's original Glasgow terminus was at St Enoch station. The line ran from St Enoch station to three stations in Paisley: Paisley Hawkhead Road, Paisley Canal station, and Paisley West; with intermediate passenger stations at: Shields, Bellahouston and Crookston and a terminus at North Johnstone.
Between Paisley West and Elderslie, the line of the railway deviated slightly from the original line of the Glasgow, Paisley and Johnstone canal; a former loop in the canal was used to hold cooling water for the cotton thread mills at Ferguslie.
At Elderslie Junction it ran alongside the Glasgow and South Western Railway line running from Paisley Gilmour Street station to Johnstone and beyond, before crossing it via a dive-under crossing. The line terminated at a station at North Johnstone, however another junction near Elderslie provided access onto the Bridge of Weir Railway. This is not the G&SWR Johnstone North railway station on the Dalry and North Johnstone Line, but an earlier station of the same name at a slightly different location.
The main difference between the original and current routes into Glasgow after 1966 was the alteration of Shields Junction to head to Glasgow Central instead of St Enoch, which was closed in 27 June 1966 to passenger services and 5 June 1967 to goods and parcel trains; the station was demolished in 1975 and the St Enoch Centre (taking its name from the former occupier of the site) now stands on the site of the old station.
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