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Then
and Now
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This is the
track layout of Queen St. in the 1950's taken from various old photographs.
The crossovers in the tunnel may have been of the scissors type.
If anyone has definite information please let me know. |
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The current
track layout at Glasgow Queen Street dates from the mid 1960's and has
seven platforms, with bi-dirctional running on both lines in the tunnel.
The sidings beside no 1 platform line were removed in the 1970's.
The signals shown here are pre 1998, when the new installation at Cowlairs
resulted in replacement signals being installed. |
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| A
typical 1980's scene at Queen Street station, with 47711 waiting to leave
on an Edinburgh Service while another class 47 arrives light engine from
Eastfield. A class 37 on the far right completes the scene.
(20/7/1985) |
There are two
things in common with the photograph on the left, Cunningham St bridge
with its massive retaining walls and of course being Glasgow it is raining!
Scanned from an old postcard, this veiw dates
from 1961 before the station was rebuilt and resignalled. The locomotives
are B.R. standard 5 4-6-0 no 73105 and LNER class C15 0-4-4 tank number
69188. |
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With the construction
of the Buchanan Galleries shopping centre, the view from the end of platforms
five and six has now been radically altered. The bridge which once
carried Cunningham Street over the line has gone, and the centre's car
park covers the tracks from the tunnel mouth to about where the bridge
once was. Note also the changes to the signalling, with three aspect colour
light signals replacing the old two aspect signals. On the 10th of
November 158733, respendant in it's new Scotrail livery, departs on an
afternoon service to Edinburgh. Oh!, and it's not raining! |
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Locomotive
Variety
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This shot was taken on the 20th of October 1980, shortly after the
introduction of the class 47 hauled push-pull services. Two class
27's are also visible in the station. |
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The last two class 47/7's of the original batch of twelve were turned
out in the large logo blue livery. 47711 "Greyfriars Bobby" is seen
at the head of an Edinburgh service. The signal posts and platform
edge has had a coat of paint since the above photograph was taken. |
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A mixed bag of stock before "sprinters with everything" was fully
in vouge. The new order can be seen with a class 156 in platform
1 and a class 158 departing from platform 2. A pair of class 107's
occupies platform 3 and the tail end of a rake of mark 2 coaches is in
platform 5 awaiting a class 47 to form a service for Inverness. The
class 158's had a poor reliability record when they were first introduced
in the region, earning them the nickname of "scuds". This was
because, like the notorious scud missiles fired during the Gulf War , they
would leave but nobody was sure where they would end up! |
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I love doing these "then and now shots", 170402 departs from platform
3 on the 10th of November 1999. The concrete patch shows where the
signal once was |
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During 1992 a special train was run for various dignitaries to mark
the 150th anniversary of the opening of the Glasgow to Edinburgh main line.
The train was hauled by A4 No.60009, masquerading as 60004 "William Whitelaw".
This grubby class 26 no. 26008 runs into the station to remove the
steam locomotive and its attendant support coach from platform 7 |
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The class 27 was for many years the most common locomotive to be
seen at Queen Street station, they hauled nearly all the West Highland
trains, the Dundee locals, and the original Glasgow to Edinburgh Push-Pulls.
By the time that this photograph was taken in 1985 they were well into
decline, and this locomotive is relegated to ECS working between Queen
Street and Cowlairs. The last of the class were withdrawn in 1987,
although seven of he class have survived into preservation. |
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On 20th of June 1985, newly converted class 37401 has brought an
ECS into platform 2 which will form the 9:50 to Scarborough. |
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L.N.E.R. class A4 pacific no. 60009 "Union of South Africa", running
as 60004 "William Whitelaw" at the buffer stops of platform 7 at Queen
Street.
The simple application of a vinyl "4" sticker over the 9 and replica
nameplates and front number plate was all that was required. |
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During the 1980's through working of trains from Kings Cross to
Glasgow Queen Street was, for a while, reinstated using IC125 units.
The trains originally only ran on Sundays but were later extended to every
day. IC125 units caused problems because of their length, the other
power car of this unit would have been in the tunnel mouth, blocking access
to platforms 5 and 6. These workings ceased when the ECML was electrified
and through services now run to Glasgow Central. This is 43122 "South
Yorkshire Metropolitan County" on the 20th of June 1985 |
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A class 107 runs into the station during the last few months of
use of these units. In the background the extensive scaffolding was
in place during the construction of the Buchannan Galleries shopping centre,
which now straddles the station approaches. |
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For 107 read 170, the very latest at Queen Street as 170402 arrives
with one of the new 15 minute frequency services from Edinburgh on the
10th of November 1999 |
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A typical 1990's scene at Queen Street, before the introduction
of the Scotrail livery and the class 170's. Locomotive hauled trains
are no longer scheduled to use the station and this view shows about the
most variety you can expect, with classes 150/2, 156 and 158 represented.
If you look closely at the platforms, you can see that platforms 2 and
5 have retained their original stone facing, indicating that they follow
the original alignment. The other platforms have concrete facing,
having been realigned during the 1960's. |
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