Pointhouse Depot
The former tram shed of the Rothesay and Ettrick Bay Light Railway up to closure in 1936, now the island's bus depot and continuing in that role with West Coast Motors.
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High Road
Port Bannatyne
Bute
PA20 0NY
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Scotland’s only island tramway, horse-drawn when established in 1879 was electrified and extended in 1902 to become the Rothesay and Ettrick Bay Light Railway, a 3ft 6 in gauge tramline popular with holidaymakers that maintained its 20 cars here.
On closure in September 1936, the building became the island's bus depot and continues in that role operated by West Coast Motors, who lease it from Stagecoach Western. There are still tramway rails embedded in the floor.
The depot consists of single storey red brick sheds with arcaded bays. A narrow building in front of the garage houses the enquiry office for the bus company. It was constructed in the early 20th century as part of the tramway development, and is a category C listed building, although the depot is not listed.
Around 1 mile (1.6 km) of the reserved trackbed has been reused as a footpath and also forms part of the West Island Way long distance footpath.
Rothesay Museum have three artefacts from the tramway. The handle used to operate the controller of the final tram to run on the system is displayed in a glass case. They also have the cast metal base for one of the overhead line poles, and a replica seat from a toastrack car. The cast iron ends are original, and although the woodwork is newer, its maker used the original specifications to ensure its accuracy
Port Bannatyne is a planned village 3 km north of Rothesay, on the A844 midway to the onetime tram terminus at Ettrick Bay.
Direct navigation links:
what3words address: ///armrest.opened.estimate
Leach, A. (1969) 'Rothesay Tramways: A brief history, 1882 - 1936', Trans Buteshire Natur Hist Soc, vol. XVII, 1969.
Bloomfield, G T (2012). The North of Scotland Hydro-Electric Board Area (PDF). University of Guelph. Archived(PDF) from the original on 28 June 2023.
Holland, Julian (2007). Amazing and Extraordinary Railway Facts. David & Charles. ISBN 978-0-7153-2582-7.
Klapper, Charles (1974). The Golden Age of Tramways. David & Charles. ISBN 978-0-7153-6458-1.
Turner, Keith (1996). The Directory of British Tramways. Patrick Stephens. ISBN 978-1-85260-549-0.
Twaddle, Graham (2000). Old Bute. Stenlake Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84033-099-1.