Overview of Grouse Railway

A disused narrow-gauge railway which runs across Duchal Moor in Inverclyde, the Grouse Railway lies 3 miles (5 km) west southwest of Kilmacolm. With its multiple branches following the contours of the hills, the railway was the work of ship-building magnates Sir James Lithgow (1883 - 1952) and Henry Lithgow (1886 - 1948), designed to convey their shooting parties around the grouse moor. Completed around 1922 and extending to 7 miles (11 km), the railway used materials salvaged from old warships and two petrol-driven engines bought from the former HM Factory Gretna, the remarkable munitions factory located in SW Scotland, which was being dismantled around this time. The Lithgow brothers built the railway using the work-force from their Port Glasgow ship-yards, which were lying idle following the downturn in orders which followed the First World War.

King Edward VIII was amongst guests to make use of the railway which remained operational until the 1970s.