Glasgow's Last Days of Steam

In 1831 the opening of the Garnkirk & Glasgow Railway heralded the arrival of the Railway Age in Glasgow and within a few decades the city was home to one of the largest suburban networks in Britain. The Glasgow City & District Railway alone carried 15,000 passengers on its opening day. Remnants of this system are still in use, but in this collection of fifty-five photographs, all taken by the author, invokes the final years of steam on this remarkable network, before the vagaries of British Rail and subsequent privatisation took their toll. Fascinating details and eccentricities include the trains which ran on the tramlines of Renfrew Road and the 'Television Train', from which cabaret shows were broadcast to the nation. Locations, all adorned by the steam locomotives which worked the network, include: Bellahouston & Dumbreck, Buchanan Street, Knightswood South Junction, Maryhill Junction, Partick, St Enoch, South Side, Springburn works and Strathbungo amongst others.