History
First main lines in Glasgow
In 1845 theNorth Clyde developments
From 1872 the Clyde Trustees undertook an ambitious project to build a large dock at Stobcross, on marshland on the north bank downstream. This became the Queen's Dock, and it opened in 1874.John Riddell, ''The Clyde'', The Fairlie Press, Fairlie, 1988, The North British Railway built a connecting line to it, leaving the GD&HR line at Maryhill and running south and then east. It took a wide circuit to reach Stobcross because of contours and housing development. This was theThe Glasgow Central Railway
The Caledonian clearly had to do something, and an independent engineer, Charles Forman, proposed a solution: a ''Glasgow Central Railway'' should be built on an east-west axis, connecting Maryhill in the north west of the city with Dalmarnock, on a short branch from Rutherglen on the main line, in the south east. It would run through the city centre south of the NBR line and have station facilities at the Caledonian's Glasgow Central terminal, as well as giving direct access to Stobcross and the Queen's Dock, still an important dock area. The Caledonian thought this was a good idea, and encouraged the development of the scheme. At this time the line that became theOpening
Finally construction was entering the final stages. The section from Maryhill to Stobcross opened to mineral traffic (to Queens Dock) on 26 November 1894. (The Lanarkshire and Dumbartonshire opened from Maryhill to Balornock Junction on the same day.) Passenger trains started to run from Rutherglen to Glasgow Cross on 1 November 1895, and the entire line opened to all traffic on 10 August 1896. 130 trains passed through the line each way. Central Station had two island platforms, and four through tracks. The Tollcross section opened throughout on 1 February 1897. Goods traffic was hugely important at the time, and was considerably simplified: instead of using running powers over the NBR from Sighthill to Stobcross, the trains could now run through the Central line, or alternatively via the Possil line of the L&DR.Early electrification proposals
Except at the extremities, the line ran through continuous tunnels and was operated by steam trains. (Some locomotives were fitted with condensing equipment.) 130 passenger trains ran each way daily, and heavy mineral traffic to Stobcross used the route. The ventilation and lighting of the subsurface stations were poor, and the environment attracted much criticism. At this time technical development suggested that electric traction might be feasible. TheConnections at the west end
The eastern end of the proposed railway fed into the Caledonian network towards Hamilton, Motherwell and Coatbridge. At the western end, it fed to the Queen's Dock at Stobcross, and to the important suburb at Maryhill, and also to nearby Dawsholm. Dawsholm was almost entirely industrial; for many years there had been an important textile printing works thereAlexander Thomson, ''Random Notes and Rambling Recollections of Drydock, the Dock, Or Kelvindock, All Now Known by the More Modern Name of Maryhill, 1750-1894'', Kerr & Richardson, Maryhill, 1895 and a large corporation gasworks had been established there in 1871 and much extended later.Canmore, ''Glasgow, Skaethorn Road, Dawsholm Gasworks'', web page at http://canmore.org.uk/site/44130/glasgow-skaethorn-road-dawsholm-gasworks, the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland Much supplementary industry, including a chemical works, was being established there. Dawsholm only lasted until 1908 as a passenger station, but it developed in its industrial significance, and the Caledonian built a six-road engine shed there which serviced most of the Central Railway's traction needs. Concurrently with the construction of the Glasgow Central Railway, the Caledonian was encouraging the promotion and building of the ''Lanarkshire and Dumbartonshire Railway''. (The company used the spelling Dumbartonshire, although later usage for the county adopted a spelling with the letter "n".) This was to link Balloch and Dumbarton with the north shore of the River Clyde to the Central line. The connection was at Stobcross, and also to a new through station at Maryhill continuing on to Possil and a junction at Balornock on the Caledonian main line from Buchanan Street. The route taken by the L&DR incorporated a large area of newly established heavy industry on North Clydeside and served rapidly developing residential areas. The Lanarkshire and Dumbartonshire line opened progressively in the years 1894 to 1896, and with the Central line was operated as an integral part of the Caledonian Railway: at last the Caledonian had secured a suburban network in the north and west of Glasgow.Post-war decline
From the outset, the Central Railway was found to be unattractive for passengers; the smoky atmosphere, and the dirty condition of the station and the trains were constantly commented upon. Street tramcars by contrast were frequent, clean, and had stops close to city destinations that the railway could not always match. The railways were nationalised in 1948, and the duplication of lines for passengers and goods was a disadvantage, now that competition was irrelevant. Some individual stations had already been closed. The line was closed to passengers between Maryhill and Stobcross on 2 November 1959, although goods and mineral traffic continued from the Possil line via Maryhill to the Queen's Dock until 14 August 1960; after that date a service to Kelvinbridge continued until 6 July 1964. The NBR route to Helensburgh was selected for modernisation, and the route was electrified in 1960, causing a revolution in passenger convenience. This only exaggerated the negative perception of the Central Railway, and on 5 October 1964 the Central Railway network was closed to passenger traffic. The Possil line lost its goods traffic as well, as it simply paralleled the NBR route. A short section serving Tollcross from Carmyle was the only remnant, for goods trains, lasting until 4 April 1966.Argyle Line
For some years, therefore, the line lay unused. Then in the 1970s the Glasgow political mood shifted in favour of rail transport. The Greater Glasgow Passenger Transport Authority decided to fund reopening of part of the Central Railway, as a passenger link line from a junction near Partick on the NBR electric line to Rutherglen. Financial authority was given in 1974, and on 1 November 1979 the newSignalling
The signalling in the long and difficult tunnel section was conventional, using the Tyers Lock and Block system, but the signals themselves had no semaphore arms; instead they had a rising spectacle plate that exhibited the usual night time oil lamp colours to drivers. This subjected the Caledonian and its successor railway to criticism, as the smoky tunnel conditions, coupled with commonplace bunker-first running, led to difficulty for drivers. The intensive train service and the occasional failure of the lock and block system seems to have encouraged signalmen to adopt irregular practices to deal with the failures. The purpose of the lock and block system is to prevent signalmen from accepting a train until a preceding train has passed and the signals restored to danger. Collisions resulted from the irregular practice when a train failed in section and signalmen assumed that it had in fact had passed unnoticed, and irregularly released the system. A remarkable innovation with a form of power signalling was installed at Stobcross. The station was in a very cramped site already heavily built up. At the east end, where the line emerged from the tunnel section, there was a sharp curve and a signal box had to be located there: "Stobcross East". At the location where the signal box had to be located to allow the signalman to observe the passage and location of trains, there was inadequate space for a conventional box. The solution adopted was to build a master-and-slave system: a manned signal box was placed where visibility of trains was convenient, and a dependent box with full interlocking was placed in a convenient space, but where visibility was poor. The latter box was normally unstaffed, and it was operated by hydraulic power from the staffed box, which contained the block instruments. The innovation was not a success, and in 1909 it was replaced by a conventional signalbox arrangement. Some of the signals in the tunnel section were disc signals and some semaphore signals at stations between the tunnels had foreshortened arms. In 1956 modern colour light signalling was installed on the line, controlled from Stobcross and Bridgeton, with track circuit control intermediately. This enabled the closure of boxes at Dalmarnock, Glasgow Green, Glasgow Cross, Glasgow Central, Anderston Cross and Partick Central No.2. Each signal had an electric detonator placer.Railway Magazine September 1957 pp. 609-612Accidents
The special conditions of intensive working in the tunnel sections made the task difficult. Signalmen and drivers were under pressure to work the heavy train service efficiently, in the most challenging of conditions. To avoid stopping passenger trains in tunnel sections, a relaxation of the rules was in force permitting the clearance of the home signal (protecting entry to a station area) without bringing the train quite or nearly to a stand. The consequence of this was that drivers rarely encountered any home signal at danger, and some were accustomed to fail to look out for it. Many of the signals were of miniature arm or disc type, and the tunnel signals were oil lamps of inconsistent performance. Bunker-first or tender first running and the smoky tunnel conditions made signal spotting difficult. Out of sequence running and the heavy running of special goods and excursion trains added to the signalmen's load. A rear-end collision took place near Anderston Cross in 1900. A signalman irregularly used a cancelling key, which negated the controls of the lock-and-block system, and he allowed a second train into the section.Board of Trade, ''Accident Returns: Extract for the Accident at Anderston Cross on 25th August 1900'', 1900 In 1939 a side-swiping collision took place at Stobcross. Two trains had been simultaneously accepted up to the converging junction from the west; this was improper as there was no overlap available. One of the trains overran the home signal which was at danger.Ministry of Transport, ''Report on the Accident at Stobcross West Junction on 22nd February 1939'', Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1939 In 1949 a rear-end collision took place at Glasgow Cross; a passenger train driven by an experienced driver ran through several stop signals standing at danger; low standards of attention to signalling equipment maintenance were exposed, and it was clear that drivers were used to running through the line without being able to see many of the signals.Ministry of Transport, ''Report on the Accident which occurred on 31st January 1949, at Glasgow Cross in the Scottish Region British Railways'', Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1949 In 1951 a rear-end collision took place at Stobcross; a signalman worked the block instruments irregularly, and there were two wrong-side defects in the lock and block system that enabled this.Ministry of Transport, ''Report on the Collision which occurred on 9th June 1951 at Stobcross in the Scottish Region British Railways'', Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1951 In 1952 a rear-end collision took place at Bridgeton Cross; a train stalled in the section and a signalman thought the train had passed and that the Lock-and-Block apparatus had failed; he improperly released the lock and signalled a following train through.Ministry of Transport, ''Report on the Collision which occurred on 18th August 1952 between Dalmarnock and Bridgeton Cross in the Scottish Region British Railways, 1952'', Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1953Topography
Original line
For much of its route the line was in a shallow cut-and-cover tunnel, and gradients were imposed by the road levels. Glasgow Central station was in a dip to enable the footbridge between platforms to cross the line, below the main station above. Location list:Dawsholm branch
* Dawsholm; opened 1 October 1896; closed 1 May 1908; * ''Kirklee Junction'';Main line
* Maryhill; opened 10 August 1896; renamed Maryhill Central 1952; closed 5 October 1964; * ''Kirklee Junction''; see above; * Kirklee; opened 10 August 1896; closed 1 January 1917; reopened 2 June 1919; closed 1 May 1939; * Botanic Gardens; opened 10 August 1896; closed 1 January 1917; reopened 2 June 1919; closed 6 February 1939; * Kelvin Bridge; opened 10 August 1896; closed 1 January 1917; reopened 2 June 1919; closed 4 August 1952; * Stobcross; opened 1 May 1896; closed 3 August 1959; * Anderston Cross; opened 10 August 1896; closed 3 August 1959; * Glasgow Central; opened 10 August 1896; closed 5 October 1964; * Glasgow Cross; opened 1 November 1895; closed 5 October 1964; * Glasgow Green; opened 1 November 1895; closed 1 January 1917; reopened 2 June 1919; closed 2 November 1953; * Bridgeton Cross; opened 1 November 1895; closed 5 October 1964; * Dalmarnock; opened 1 November 1895; closed 5 October 1964.Tollcross line
* Bridgeton Cross; see above; * Parkhead; opened 23 November 1870; renamed Parkhead Stadium 1952; closed 5 October 1964; * Tollcross; opened 1 February 1897; closed 5 October 1964; * Carmyle; station on Rutherglen and Coatbridge line; closed 5 October 1964; * ''Carmyle Junction''; * Newton; station on main line. The line continued to Rutherglen using the London Road branch.1979 line
* ''Partick Junction''; on Queen Street line; * Finnieston; renamed Exhibition Centre 1986; * Anderston; * Glasgow Central; * Argyle Street; * Bridgeton; * Dalmarnock; * Rutherglen.Images
References
Notes
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* * * {{Historical Scottish railway companies Pre-grouping British railway companies Closed railway lines in Scotland Early Scottish railway companies Beeching closures in Scotland Railway companies established in 1888 British companies established in 1888 Railway lines opened in 1889 Railway companies disestablished in 1966 1888 establishments in Scotland 1966 disestablishments in Scotland