Glasgow Central Station

Moderators: John, Sharon, Fossil, Lucky Poet, crusty_bint, Jazza, dazza

Postby nuttytigger » Wed Jun 02, 2004 10:36 pm

usually on a saturday about 30% of the train was pished!! but the days celtic were playing and the supporters were getting the train to dalmarnock/bridgeton there was a hell of a lot more, that was always fun, there were never enough seats and then about 200 more ppl trying to squeeze on, you were nearly out a window :evil:
User avatar
nuttytigger
Third Stripe
Third Stripe
 
Posts: 1672
Joined: Mon Feb 09, 2004 11:31 am

Postby james73 » Thu Jun 03, 2004 1:45 pm

amcd wrote:Cumbo...

From the Glasgow : Scotland in Old Photographs book...

"To the left of the Jamaica Street bridge is the Central Station railway viaduct of 1876-8 built for the Caledonian Railway Co. which demolished an insalubrious area west of Jamaica Street to make way for Central Station. The Company added a second bridge immediately downstream between 1899 and 1905 when the station was enlarged."

I remember reading somewhere when the other viaduct was demolished... *searches google* aha.. http://www.jhowie.force9.co.uk/glasgowcentral.htm

"1961 when the old Clyde viaduct was demolished and all traffic was concentrated on the six tracks on the new viaduct."

EDIT. don't mean to steal James' thunder.. :oops:


::): ::): ::):

Actually, I don’t know *why* the original bridge was removed - I don’t have
that book that Jim Howie refers to. I had assumed it might have been
simply a case of removing it to simplify the track layout somewhat with the
impending electrification of the station's main approaches.

As for Bridge Street station, the demolition of the station frontage was yet another
to be added to the list of 'Architectural Vandalism carried out by the City
Fathers' I'm afraid... :roll:




James H
He's over there...
james73
Third Stripe
Third Stripe
 
Posts: 2035
Joined: Wed Dec 17, 2003 4:08 pm
Location: urbanglasgow.co.uk - come & join us.....

Postby james73 » Thu Jun 03, 2004 1:48 pm

cumbo wrote:Fossil From that last photo I would say that some of the bridge on the right hand side going into Central has been removed exposing the pillar supports .....Any reason? :?:


Correct. The steel bridge deck was removed. The pillars remain to this
day. Those are the ones you were asking about earlier.




James H
He's over there...
james73
Third Stripe
Third Stripe
 
Posts: 2035
Joined: Wed Dec 17, 2003 4:08 pm
Location: urbanglasgow.co.uk - come & join us.....

Postby nodrog » Thu Jun 03, 2004 1:51 pm

They are rather nice pillars!

I think I do have the book Howie is referring to; I'll see if I can dig it out & see if it gives any more detail on quite why it was demolished rather than just left. It was the older of the two bridges as I remember; perhaps that was something to do with it.

I do remember some discussion about possibly rebuilding the other bridge to help alleviate the congestion on the station approaches, especially once the Glasgow Airport link is operating. Of course, it'll never happen...
"I'd just move on to the 'hot-air ballooning vigilante' stage of my career earlier than planned"

www.scottishcinemas.org.uk
www.twitter.com/scottishcinemas
User avatar
nodrog
Third Stripe
Third Stripe
 
Posts: 770
Joined: Thu Feb 19, 2004 3:37 pm
Location: Glasgow

Postby james73 » Thu Jun 03, 2004 1:58 pm

nodrog wrote:They are rather nice pillars!

I think I do have the book Howie is referring to; I'll see if I can dig it out & see if it gives any more detail on quite why it was demolished rather than just left. It was the older of the two bridges as I remember; perhaps that was something to do with it.

I do remember some discussion about possibly rebuilding the other bridge to help alleviate the congestion on the station approaches, especially once the Glasgow Airport link is operating. Of course, it'll never happen...


No, I doubt that would happen either. It would require a lot of track
remodelling at the mouth of the station, and that sort of thing just doesn't
tend to happen any more.

And yes, that bridge was the original bridge, as the station was notably
smaller when it first opened and was later extended westwards. I think it
only had 8 platforms(?) originally.



James H
He's over there...
james73
Third Stripe
Third Stripe
 
Posts: 2035
Joined: Wed Dec 17, 2003 4:08 pm
Location: urbanglasgow.co.uk - come & join us.....

Postby martin » Thu Jun 03, 2004 5:08 pm

nuttytigger wrote:i hate the new departure boards, the ones for low level which i use could do with a clock on them, they just say time of the next train but you have no-way of knowing what time it actually is, anyone else agree with me??

I agree with you - it's a bit of a pain when you're trying to get from the car park to platform 1, so you can see just how fast you need to run to make sure you won't miss your train. Having a clock that was synched up to 'railway time' would be ideal.
martin
Second Stripe
Second Stripe
 
Posts: 196
Joined: Tue Apr 20, 2004 8:28 pm

Postby scotia47 » Sat Jun 05, 2004 10:51 pm

If it was maybe twice its actual size, then I think it would be very, very good. Maybe it's just me, but I find the bright orange lettering easier to read than the old green (once you get close enough to actually read it). 8O

Case in point:

[Saddo mode]

Most of the buses round here have those green dot displays. I've always found them quite hard to read, esspecially at night. A handul of the newer ones though have the orange displays simliar to those on GC's board. Compared to to the green ones, they are far brighter and crisper, and are always easily read regardless of light levels. It makes a big difference at night, you can see what number it is a mile off (almost).

[/Saddo mode]

Where was I? Oh, yeah... if the board's size didn't let it down, I would love it.
scotia47
Second Stripe
Second Stripe
 
Posts: 353
Joined: Wed May 05, 2004 9:24 pm

Old bridge

Postby gap74 » Sun Jun 06, 2004 12:52 am

From http://www.railscot.co.uk:

The first version of the station was approached by two lines across the Clyde on a bridge (now demolished) which ran to four platforms. This older section of the station was to the east side of the current site where platforms 1,2,3,4 are today. The original terminus had no canopy. The station expanded slightly until a major expansion when Bridge Street station, which had become a through station at two of its platforms, was demolished and a new larger bridge over the Clyde built next to the older one. This bridge is the one presently in use today. Using both bridges a much larger station was built. With re-signalling the deteriorating older bridge became redundant and was removed in the 1960s.

From The Buildings of Scotland: Glasgow:

Of the first bridge, built in 1876-8 (engineer B.H. Blyth, of Blyth & Cunningham of Edinburgh), contemporary with the first part of Central Station, only the piers remain just upstream of the second (and current) bridge, the tracks and girders having been removed in 1966-7. For each pier two cast iron cylinders, 4.5m (15ft) diameter in the river and 4m (13ft) on the banks, were sunk to bedrock, filled with concrete and extended above the river bed with masonary, the outside stones being of Dalbeattie granite. The two granite shafts of each pier rise high out of the water and are still linked by arched cast iron frames placed there, by the engineer's admission, purely for ornament.

Incidentally, I have some pics of the various Central Station bridges that show unusual views - including one of the Argyle St bridge before it was covered. Will dig them out and scan them before the night is out!

Gary
User avatar
gap74
Third Stripe
Third Stripe
 
Posts: 1532
Joined: Thu Mar 18, 2004 12:33 am

Clyde Bridges

Postby gap74 » Sun Jun 06, 2004 1:16 am

OK, these are from a little 1977 book called Glasgow by Tram, by Ian Stewart.

Image
From the caption under the picture: Argyle Street in the late 1890s [...] this particular view is of interest as it shows the original bridge carrying trains from Central Station. The bridge was given a roofed structure in the later extension of the station.

Image
Jamaica Street Bridge around 1937.

Image
Not really the rail bridge, but interesting nonetheless - from the caption: A view of Jamaica Bridge around 1894 before it was widened. The "accommodation bridge" on the right was a temporary structure which handled traffic during reconstruction of the main bridge.

Gary
User avatar
gap74
Third Stripe
Third Stripe
 
Posts: 1532
Joined: Thu Mar 18, 2004 12:33 am

Postby DMcNay » Sun Jun 06, 2004 9:21 pm

The Modern Fossil wrote:
nuttytigger wrote:i hate the new departure boards, the ones for low level which i use could do with a clock on them, they just say time of the next train but you have no-way of knowing what time it actually is, anyone else agree with me??


..you could use your watch, mobile phone clock or ask your fellow passengers what time it is.

-F-


Or go down to the low level, look at the boards there, and notice they have the time on them. Right where it says "Time Now..."
Too few hours in the day.
User avatar
DMcNay
Third Stripe
Third Stripe
 
Posts: 2484
Joined: Sun Jan 25, 2004 2:00 am
Location: Bloody hell, is this site still here?

Postby purplegrum » Mon Jun 07, 2004 8:24 am

Isn't there a big red clock high up on every platform?
purplegrum
Third Stripe
Third Stripe
 
Posts: 622
Joined: Sun Apr 25, 2004 4:16 pm

Postby DMcNay » Mon Jun 07, 2004 8:28 am

At the risk of offending someone, I will say this:

Just buy a f*cking watch. It's not like they cost much.
Too few hours in the day.
User avatar
DMcNay
Third Stripe
Third Stripe
 
Posts: 2484
Joined: Sun Jan 25, 2004 2:00 am
Location: Bloody hell, is this site still here?

Re: Old bridge

Postby james73 » Mon Jun 07, 2004 10:16 am

gap74 wrote:From The Buildings of Scotland: Glasgow:

Of the first bridge, built in 1876-8 (engineer B.H. Blyth, of Blyth & Cunningham of Edinburgh), contemporary with the first part of Central Station, only the piers remain just upstream of the second (and current) bridge, the tracks and girders having been removed in 1966-7. For each pier two cast iron cylinders, 4.5m (15ft) diameter in the river and 4m (13ft) on the banks, were sunk to bedrock, filled with concrete and extended above the river bed with masonary, the outside stones being of Dalbeattie granite. The two granite shafts of each pier rise high out of the water and are still linked by arched cast iron frames placed there, by the engineer's admission, purely for ornament.


I'd question the date of removal of the original bridge. I've seen numerous
photos on the net of Central in the early 60's and the original bridge was
gone. As I stated earlier, I reckon the decision to close it was taken after
they decided to electify the station. Better to electrify the 6 tracks over the
newer bridge than all 10 tracks.



James H
He's over there...
james73
Third Stripe
Third Stripe
 
Posts: 2035
Joined: Wed Dec 17, 2003 4:08 pm
Location: urbanglasgow.co.uk - come & join us.....

Postby Pgcc93 » Mon Jun 07, 2004 12:08 pm

Re: date of the bridge removal. You can see it being dismantled in the aerial photographs in the Mitchell Library dated 1966.
User avatar
Pgcc93
Third Stripe
Third Stripe
 
Posts: 4104
Joined: Thu Jul 24, 2003 8:12 pm
Location: Hotel Du Vin

Postby Pgcc93 » Mon Jun 07, 2004 1:02 pm

Heres a pic of the station taken on an early UE trip when I was still in short trousers :wink:. Anyone hazard a guess to the year this was taken?
Image
User avatar
Pgcc93
Third Stripe
Third Stripe
 
Posts: 4104
Joined: Thu Jul 24, 2003 8:12 pm
Location: Hotel Du Vin

PreviousNext

Return to Glasgow Chat (Coffee Lounge)

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: Google [Bot] and 37 guests