Before authorisation William Stirling established a textile dyeworks at Cordale, near Renton in the valley of the
River Leven, in 1770. Other industrialists in textile finishing established nearby and the area between Balloch and Dumbarton quickly became a centre of the industry.
Turkey red dye became a famous part of the textile industry. Dumbarton had long been an important town on the road from the Western Highlands and Glasgow, and shipbuilding had developed into an important industry in the town. The
Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway (E&GR) had started operation in 1842, showing the advantages of an inter-urban railway line. There was a frenzy of railway promotion in the following years and in 1845 the
Caledonian Railway along with many other Scottish lines obtained their acts of Parliament; a Scottish network was beginning to form. Seeing the benefit of a railway connection, in 1844 promoters put forward a scheme for a line from the line near Cowlairs, immediately north of Glasgow, to run through Dumbarton to Helensburgh and Balloch; from Cowlairs the line would make a broad sweep round the northern margin of Glasgow, approximately on the course of the later Cowlairs—Maryhill—Westerton—Dalmuir line.
Construction and opening On 26 June 1846 the Caledonian and Dumbartonshire Junction Railway (C&DJR) was authorised by the '''''' (
9 & 10 Vict. c. lxxxi) to construct the line; The authorised share capital was £600,000, The Caledonian offered to lease the entire line at 5% on its capital. The lease would only become active when the completed its line, and the priority for the was raising capital at once to pay for the construction of its line. It decided to retain its independence. Nonetheless, as the original plan for a lease to the , and use of its Queen Street terminus in Glasgow, had fallen through, the need a connection to the Caledonian and its Glasgow terminus, and the Caledonian was agreeable to this. Therefore, the following year the obtained a further act of Parliament, the '''''' (
10 & 11 Vict. c. lxxxiii), on 2 July 1847 authorising an extension to a terminal station at Port Dundas Road in Glasgow, and a short branch to connect with the Glasgow Garnkirk and Coatbridge Railway (successor to the
Garnkirk and Glasgow Railway), which had agreed to lease its line to the Caledonian. This act authorised a further addition, of £50,000, to the capital of the company. which with similar shareholdings in other proposed lines, later provoked a scandal). In fact only a total of £183,510 of capital was subscribed. Perhaps conceding that the physical connection to the Caledonian Railway had not been achieved, the company's publicity at the time referred to the
Dumbartonshire Railway.
In operation The little railway did surprisingly well, thanks to the Burns Brothers' efforts. Eight fast sailings daily operated from Glasgow to Bowling, connecting with trains there, and a 90-minute journey from Glasgow reached Loch Lomond. Day excursions to Loch Lomond became immensely popular as the notion of tourism developed, and 600 tourists from Edinburgh visited Loch Lomond in a single day, by the , Clyde steamer, and the . Coal from the Monkland pits was brought to Bowling on the Forth and Clyde Canal, substantially reducing costs in the area served by the railway and on Loch Lomondside. Steamer connections on the Loch reached
Inverarnan at the foot of Glen Falloch and it was possible to reach Oban from Glasgow in a day (by coach from Inverarnan). The line was worked by the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway.
The Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway takes over The
Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway (E&GR) was working the two lines, and an obvious next step was to absorb them. The did so on 14 August 1862. The was itself absorbed into the North British Railway system on 1 August 1865. The Lanarkshire and Dumbartonshire Railway Act 1891 was "a triumph for the Caledonian" (as sponsor of the ). However, there was considerable shareholder opposition to the expensive duplication, and also local people objected. In the following parliamentary session therefore, a compromise was reached, in which the Dumbarton to Balloch line of the North British Railway would be transferred to joint status, with the and the Caledonian also sharing the management of the line. This was not to the liking of the but it was forced to acquiesce, and the arrangement was ratified by the '''''' (
55 & 56 Vict. c. clxx), which gained authorisation on 27 June 1892. When the completed its line to Dumbarton, the onward route to Balloch would be transferred to Joint Railway status. The enhanced access to the industry of the Leven Valley, promised by the , was provided in the years following the 1892 act. At this period the dyeworks industries (printing textiles) was vigorous, and there were extensive sidings on both sides of the line, but especially between the line and the Leven, and also in Dumbarton itself. Steam trains continued running (as a planned arrangement) throughout the Caledonian route until 1964, when that line was closed. Use of Balloch Pier station declined heavily in the following years, and for some years there was no timetabled passenger service, although the line remained available for excursion traffic. The last passenger trains operated in September 1986. At the present day electric passenger trains run from Balloch to Glasgow and beyond, on a broadly half-hourly interval service, operated by
ScotRail.
The Maid of the Loch From the earliest days steamers on Loch Lomond had operated in connection with the trains, and for much of the period were owned by one or other of the railways. In 1953 started operation: the largest vessel built for inland waterway operation in Britain, and the last paddle steamer to be built in Britain. Because of her size, she was assembled on the loch. She ceased operation on the loch in 1981. ==Stations==