ไม่สามารถเล่นวิดีโอนี้
ขออภัยในความไม่สะดวก
GLASGOW'S DISUSED RAILWAYS - Stobcross to Maryhill via Botanic Gardens 1981, by Douglas Thomson
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 15 ส.ค. 2024
- A very rare 1080p high definition slide show of the entire route and back, of this historical disused track bed between the above locations, almost all of which has since either disappeared or completely inaccessible to the general public.
Includes every former station, using my own fully restored colour views from 1981. where possible, even rarer anonymous older views of the stations have also been included for added nostalgic atmosphere and enjoyment. The two ultra-rare colour shots of Kirklee Station building in 1969, shortly before it was demolished, are by very kind permission of Ian Russell, the photographer.
Hi Douglas The idea of exploring the line westward from Bridgeton to Kelvinbridge came from an old Scottish Television broadcast featuring a presenter called Bill Tennant. He did a short TV video broadcast, circa 1965, where he drove though the tunnel from Stobcross to Glasgow Central in a Land Rover possibly in cohort with British Rail staff. This awakened me to the possibility that I could walk these tunnels fairly safely and explore them myself. After closure in October 1964 BR thought it prudent to remove the track and signalling apparatus because of vandalism and theft so with the track removed I figured that exploration was fairly safe. In these days you could gain entry to the tunnels from Stobcross by just walking in through an open gate to yards at Finnieston. in my own case I entered at Bridgeton Cross in 1967 where I walked though a tenement close into the back green which had a broken fence leading down a grassy slope to what had been a siding area. From there you could get direct entry into the westbound tunnel toward the old Glasgow Green Station. Alternatively you could go into the eastbound tunnel to Celtic Park or south east into the Dalmarnock tunnel. I and two of my pals took the westbound tunnel to Glasgow Green and then under Monteith Row to Glasgow Cross station and then on to Glasgow Central Low Level (huge underground area), Anderston and Stobcross stations. It was a fascinating experience. The atmosphere inside the tunnels still had the sulphury smell left by the trains and the walls of the tunnel and workmen's refuges were black with soot deposit. Even the platform at Glasgow Cross had a soft feel to it due to the soot. There was no echo reverb from speaking due to the anechoic effect of the layer of grime. The offices in the station still had paperwork strewn on the floor and the telephone intercoms were still intact although disconnected. We took some photos for a historical record of what we knew would soon disappear. We continued on from Stobcross walking all the way along the rightmost route toward Kelvinbridge. When we arrived at the end, the exit mouth had iron bars and a gate across it. There was a builder's yard beyond where the goods sidings used to be. A considerate yard employee let us out of the tunnel and the yard and ushered us into the street. It was this private yard impediment that prevented us going on toward Botanic Gardens at that time. Once you entered the tunnel at Glasgow Green there was no access or egress until you reached Stobcross at Finnieston. You needed a reliable flashlight because everything was pitch black except for a small triangle of light shining down at Glasgow Cross and a small sky opening between the surrounding shops, buildings at Glasgow Central Low Level where it's old goods sidings used to be. No egress there though as all doorways were blocked up or locked. Half of the station buildings at Central Low Level and the ''end of platform' signal box had already been demolished. The toilets near the sky opening were still flushing and a luggage barrow still rested on the platform next to it. On another walk, when we reached Stobcross, we took the leftmost route inside the bellmouth tunnel that led to Kelvin Hall station. The buildings and signage were still intact there.
Thankyou for such a brilliantly detailed account of how you explored this less accessible section of the line, Ian - it allowed me to perfectly visualize the spirit of adventure of coming across everything that you found and photographed! Like I said before, it was my greatest regret from a historical point of view that by 1981, it was no longer possible to explore this section on foot, because by that time (as well as having developed nerves of steel exploring all the shorter west end tunnels!), I had acquired a decent torch with a carrying handle and a very large battery that would've easily survived the 3-miles in each direction of exploration to Bridgeton Cross, from Stobcross, which is where I would've entered from. However, thanks to yourself, I now have so much more historical information about all the stations the route, with all your immersive shots to support it. As you suggested in your forum, it seems other people had stopped short of trying to get shots of these stations, due to all their adverse lighting conditions. I also loved your shots inside the old signalbox, pulling the still-remaining levers before they disappeared - that would've been an awesome bonus to come across these! It was also especially interesting to learn about the tunnel entrance at Kelvinbridge already having iron bars even in the late 60s - it seems to this day, the gate has been left open and shut on a regular basis, and it's always just been your luck if you found them open, which I had done a couple of times in the late 1970s, when I first discovered the tunnel. As can be seen in my video here, the gates were locked with the working yard gone on the day I arrived to take the photos in Spring 1981, so I had to walk right through from Stobcross to get just one single shot looking out through the bars into Kelvinbridge yard, before having to walk all the way back through to Stobcross (and also back though several yards of knee-deep water underneath Argyle Street!) again to get out!
Fascinating
Great stuff Douglas, I originally saw you late 60's photos on another website (I think Subterranean Glasgow) loved your description of the old stations and tunnels, many of which I have walked (alone). I wonder, do you have any more photos of Rutherglen Station (where I live now), as you know it was a huge expanse in a triangular configuration (9 platforms, officially) , in your old photos, there is only a glimpse the bay platforms on the North West city bound lines + signal box, I'd love to see what remained in 1967 of the rest of the station, thanks?!
What a wonderful series of videos. A fascinating insight into the old railways around Glasgow. Thanks for all the hard work you’ve put in to these videos, they’re are great!
Many thanks!
You are most welcome Douglas. We both shared the same conviction to preserve the memory of Glasgow's railways which is why I was so amazed and delighted to see your excellent 1981 pictures.
Long after I had taken mine in the 1960's I had wished that I had taken more as I witnessed the gradual destruction of the evidence. I never envisaged that a like minded rail buff would capture so well all the images that I had missed and in such professional manner later on. In these early days I used to run out of film after going to a great deal of trouble walking the railway formations and tunnels. Colour film was expensive and the camera technology was not as good then as it is today. When making models I had to guess so much of the unseen detail. Now I have it in abundance. Thank you.
You're also very welcome Ian! I was 19 when I took these, and spent all my spare cash on Kodachrome film to do it, because I had so many fond memories of exploring the west end tunnels after school with my pals. These pals had long lost interest by 1981, and at the time I wished they'd been taken a few years earlier in a less advanced state of dereliction to be of more interest to other people! So only last year they were recovered, assembled and restored, after learning about so much fresh interest in the lines, now so little remains to be seen. Once again I'm so grateful to finally come across someone like yourself who'd shared as much passion as myself, and willing to capture so well all the other less accessible locations on the route that I'd have given anything to visit while they were still explorable. One question - was there any other access at all along the very long underground route between Bridgeton and Stobcross at the time you explored it?
Wow. Thanks for this. The Kelvinbridge photo towards the end is incredible. It took me a few seconds to realise it was a 70s(?) view. Fascinating.
Just some more information about the route from Bridgeton Cross to Stobcross. When you left Bridgeton Cross Low Level station the tunnel was 'cut and cover' construction under the roadway until Glasgow Green Sta. where it became the normal semi-circular method of brick build, until you came to Glasgow Cross where cut and cover resumed all the way under Argyle Street to Anderston Station and Finnieston goods yards. At Stobcross sta. (now Exhibition Centre) the tunnel as you know was standard semi circular. In the cut and cover sections the workmen's refuges were taller with round semi-circular top arches. In the standard sections the refuges were of smaller height with a shallower top arch. I saw a large sooty black arched opening in the tunnel wall, under and at the east side of Lewis's department store that had a thick sewer pipe running horizontally across it's opening and supported in the centre underneath by a single vertical rod. Behind this was a passage of 40 or so yards that led south to a large chamber with a huge paddle fan that was used to extract smoke from the tunnel. I think it was steam operated initially and the smoke passed upward from it to the outside through a tall square section chimney. This chimney stack can be seen in old aerial photos of the nearby St. Enoch station. It fell out of use and consequently made the Central Low Level Station become nothing other than a 'smoky hole'. It is said that passengers who used the line frequently opened the carriage doors with a brown paper bag.
Yet more fascinating information Ian, I've never heard of anything like that in a railway tunnel before, and may actually have missed that myself if I'd walked the route! Many thanks for helping me build a clear picture of so many great details along this route that I never got the chance to see, and never thought I'd ever hear anything about up until now. It's very much appreciated, as I adored exploring the routes I did get the chance to see, before they disappeared!
Your work is of National historic importance! You must contact the NLS and have this priceless work archived.
Assuming it's still there , (I haven't lived in Glasgow since 1996 ) Maryhill shopping centre (co op as was) still has the line under the centre, it was built with possible reopening in mind . Enough room to rebuild the station in the basement .
Was mates with the caretaker in the late 80's who told me about it but sadly never got the chance to see it for myself . Cheers on a great series . And hello from N.Ireland
I went there a while ago, someone left the gate unlocked, it’s massive underneath but the tunnel to possil is filled with rubble, at least from the entrance.
Great stuff. I stay above the Thornwood /clarence drive tunnel and spent my childhood walking thru to Kirklee station to catch frogs in a disused scrapyard. We played in the old station, now the restaurant. Clarence drive & Thornwood old stations were great playgrounds too. Magical days in the 60s & 70s.
Kirklee Station was so beautiful.
Once gain, really interesting, Douglas. Thank you. Having historic photographs within the presentation helps put the 1981 scenes into perspective. I appreciate that this would have been difficult for yesterday's slide show ... I haven't seen many photographs of the Switchback route in operation.
Many thanks!
As kids from Hathaway St in the mid to late 70's we used walk through the old disused tunnel where the station used to be and come out at Cadder golf course. Our mothers would have skelped our backsides had we been caught. Good memories :)
When I worked with BR as a fireman in 1974 there were a lot of old steam locomotive drivers still working including my uncle who was a main line driver my grandfather was also a mainline driver out of dawsholm sheds long gone now my uncle moved up to eastfield traction depot that’s when I started in the railway a lot of the old tunnels we’re still in use then all the old drivers knew them and I travelled through them if mainline were closed for some reason
Wow! Thank you!
You're welcome!
As children we used to play at the Kirklee site
There are some great photos in this lot, thanks very much for compiling them into this video. I particularly liked the shot at about 1:26 of the steam train passing through the Kelvinbridge area, great stuff. I knew of the tunnel at the NW corner of the site at the mansions but hadn't appreciated the line of the tracks would be so close to the river.
I like the picture of Kirklee Station? The photographer's angle and the winter light are exactly the same as the 35mm slide I took in 1969. Ian Russell
Hi Ian, I've added a credit in the text above for both your awesome colour views of Kirklee Station building. Many thanks for bringing it to my attention, and also for giving me your very kind permission to allow them to remain in this video here!
I must offer you even more thanks for bringing to my attention your many stunning late-1960s colour views of this entire line through to Dalmarnock, which by 1981 had, of course, been fully restored. It had always been my wish that I'd managed to get shots of that section of the line before restoration, and had also managed to explore these tunnels, if I'd known about them earlier than I did. I'd never seen any of your other views before, and they're all very atmospheric, immersive and beautifully captured - and also ultra-rare. Thankyou so much for sharing these and letting me know about them!
Brilliant video. 👍 🏴 👍
From Fraser, husband of Leslie
It's hard to believe there is so much abandoned railway infrastructure in Glasow, but I assume it 's a result of competition between the North British and the Caledonian railways. What is incredible is it has all been left to moulder away with none of it being sold off and built on. I also suspect the Glasgow tramways took away much of the anticipated traffic when the railways were built in the 19th century.
BTW my mother was borne and brought up in Greenock and we used to visit our Grandparents there every year. Visits to Glasgow were, unfortunately, quite rare.
I think most of them were axed by Dr Beeching
great video
West end is full of old train tunnels & I'm privileged to have toured a few of them back in the day. Harder to get into now with the health & safety red tape.
Thinking back to my 1967 Kelvinbridge exploration the tunnel exit gates would of lighter construction then. I would guess that they would have been put up then by the builder's company to keep thieves from getting access to his yard from the tunnel. The yard occupied the park area as it is now but the occupation lasted only for a time before the land use changed. The watchman guy that let us out had a key for the gate. We must have looked innocent to him or just daft. Re: The smoke extractor in Dunlop Street off Argyle Street.(Next to the old Lewis's department store). There are architect's drawings on the UG thread that show a sectional elevation of the underground passage to the extraction building showing the fan gear. You would need to search through the pages to find it. It was built by an English engineering firm that was involved with equipment for London's railways. In fact the construction design of the cut and cover tunnel system was copied from that of the London Metropolitan lines.
Back in the day, thought Stobcross Station (now Exhibition Station) was called Finnieston Station, and have always known it as that from the late ’70’s. Ask for a ticket for Finnieston from an older member of staff at Queen Street Station, and they’ll automatically give you a ticket to Exhibition Station with a wee smile 😊.
Love looking at lost railways. Botanic Gardens I take is still there? It could be turned into an open air museum. I was wondering if it could be restored but that would probably take away some of the park
Thanks again Martin. The Botanics Station is still there fully intact beneath the Park, but securely fenced off. The former site of the entrance building is also still flattened and unused, so the whole site would make a marvellous museum, perhaps with an ambitious recreation of the ornate original building on the original site, so no park space at all would be needed. This whole line could also be re-opened at a push, with some extra work.
I lived in Glasgow for a time in the early 80s, and I remember some of these disused lines. I didn't know that you could get in to the old Botanic Garden station, otherwise I would have gone and taken a look! I don't suppose there are any prospects of reopening?
Hi Ian, in 1981 when these were shot, access was easy and fully open at both ends (Kirklee and Kelvinbridge) to the Botanics' station. It's a bit ironic that today, inside the Botanic Gardens, there's a very attractive sign attached to the end of one of the smoke vents above the station, to inform visitors of its presence down below - yet actual public access is now nil - the new high-security fences at both ends and above the station are like Fort Knox!
This line could actually be re-opened at a push - River Kelvin flood-defences would be needed at Kelvinbridge, a slight detour required around new houses at Kirklee, a new station beneath Tesco at Maryhill, and uncovering 1,000s of tons of earth that were used to fill in the tunnels in Ruchill Golf Course after these shots were taken, to allow for a circle line to join up with the existing Possilpark line into Queen Street High Level.
Unlike all other closed lines in Glasgow, it's not completely impossible!
@@douglasthomson513 I saw that through the summer of last year the gates at both ends were open for a small time. Any idea how or why?
@@davidgraham7932 This has happened on a regular basis over the years with these particular gates, and if I knew when and why they're left open from time to time I'd be tempted to go back and explore them again myself!
Douglas my 1969 digitized photograph of Kirklee Station was posted by myself in 2013 on the 'Urban Glasgow' website. You can find it and other views of Kirklee Station in the thread marked 'Glasgow from the Past/Abandoned Central Low Level in 1967/ page 19 . Scroll to lower half of page. Another one of my pictures is on page 33. Please continue to use these here with a credit.
Born there 1947 left 1956.
Am I right to say that there’s a railway line running under Kelvingrove park?! 😱
Yes this is it, between Gibson Street and Argyle street in both directions
@@douglasthomson513 😮 amazing!
Around the year 3020 some archaeologists with find them and offer some theories on what they were.🥸🤪
6:18 rolling a joint.
Beeching should've been jailed for this.🤬
Not Beeching’s fault. He was just the civil servant tasked with the job. Ernest Marples (Conservative - Minister for Transport) commissioned the report, making sure Beeching’s name went on the front and not his.
After the Conservative Party lost the election in October 1964, it was actually the LABOUR PARTY that signed off on The Beeching’s Report under MacMillan, the actual dirty deed being carried out by Dame Barbara Castle (Labour - Minister for Transport).
Where can I find these locations on something like Google maps
4:53 is that kirklee?
Is it possible to find these on google maps?
Commentary would improve this video tenfold.......
been in every one of thes tunnels when i was a kid encluding kirklee to the tunnels in posil and the old boting pond at the pond hotel great western road there is a very small tunnel that went from the other side of the great viaduct in the valley maryhill to dawsholm gas works the little train that took the pepper rolls up to the old tar works it was blown up by the army back in 1971 there was olso a tunnal up at milingavy nere the burnbrea hotel and a old station that was nixt to the worlds first mono rial a big circle of congreat with the trian still on it it was like a rocket ship at the front we used to play on it when we wear kids even the old clyde tunnal at anderson went under the clyde. and the turn tabble lader sheds at kelvindale road trian works. even been thrue the scotland st tunnel in edinburgh.
A lot of great memories and hisorical info about Dawsholm and Milngavie I wasn't aware of there John, thanks. You may have also seen my 2 videos from Stobcross to Possil, one for each direction, that cover the west end tunnels you mentioned, and same for Possil to Dalmarnock if you're interested. I've never managed to gain access to Scotland Street Tunnel, as the gates were always locked so that was great you got in!