The Wishaw and Coltness Railway was an early Scottish mineral railway. It ran for approximately 11 miles from Chapel Colliery, at Newmains in North Lanarkshire connecting to the Monkland and Kirkintilloch Railway near Whifflet, giving a means of transport for minerals around Newmains to market in Glasgow and Edinburgh.
Shortage of capital made construction slow, and the line was opened in stages from 1833, opening fully on 9 March 1844.[1]
It was built to the track gauge of 4 ft 6 in (1,372 mm), commonly used in Scotland for coal railways. It had several branches serving pits and ironworks.
In 1849 it became part of the Caledonian Railway and sections of the original network form part of the modern West Coast Main Line railway.