Loch Doon Gunnery School

The Bogton aerodrome and the main Loch Doon school site were linked to the main railway line at Dalmellington by a standard gauge railway (NS40NE 78.01; NS40SE 44.01) that ran south from Dalmellington; for 2.2km it ran along the eastern side or parallel to the drive to Craigengillan House as far as Linn Liver Bridge. From there it struck out SSE for about 950m, before turning SSW for the 550m to the southern terminus, where a 5m long platform and fragmentary building footings survive. The terminus of the railway lay about 1km north of the shore of the loch. Material seems to have been moved from here the 1.2km to the loch by road. The railway was completed in April 1917; proposals to extend it to the loch, involving the digging of a tunnel, led to the examination of the viability of the whole school project and its subsequent cancellation.

Information from HS/RCAHMS World War One Audit Project (GJB) 12 June 2013.

NS40NE 78.01 From 4741 0593 to 4737 0500

See also NS40SE 34.01 and for other parts of the Gunnery School see NS40SE 34.00; NX49NE 17.00 and NX49SE 36

A railway, built to assist in the construction of the First World War Loch Doon Gunnery School is situated to the W and S of Dalmellington. The railway takes a southerly course from the bridge over the Muck Water and approximates that of the driveway to Craigengillan House to a point about NS 4755 0480 (on map sheet NS40SE), where it diverges and continues S.

The railway was built to standard gauge and ran from about 200m NW of Dalmellington Station via Bogton airfield to a point near Dalfarson NS 4792 0262. It was completed during April 1917. It was the proposal to extend this railway by blasting a tunnel from the railhead at Dalfarson to the northern end of the loch that led to the Air Ministry examining the whole concept of the gunnery school and the halting of all work on this project.

Information from Kirkdale Archaeology, Loch Doon Action Group report.