Glasgow trip

[Green Lane]

Took a trip to Glasgow on Monday 14th June.

Here are some casual photos I took:-

Liverpool Lime Street, Early Morning (Northern Rail dominate this half of the station ):-

Glasgow Central:-

Went to Queen Street:-

in order to catch the frequent shuttle service to Edinburgh Waverley:-

Later, back in Glasgow I entered Buchanan Street subway station via the travelator from Queen Street station. It was very quiet:-

My first time ever looking at 4-ft gauge track!

Travelled to Kelvinhall subway station:-

Still quite quiet on the way back, as I completed the entire loop! (well it was off-peak):-

Great day it was. Main purpose for me was to see various Art Galleries/Museums, but alway nice to take a few rail snaps too.

 

[Bittern]

Whenever I have to use the subway, I prefer to make sure it's in the middle of the day so it is quiet and thus so I can get a seat. Last time this wasn't the case, me and a few friends had been inspecting the old railway tunnel and abandoned Kirklee station in Botanic Gardens - the subway train back to St Enoch was packed (still managed to get a seat).

Did you do any of the suburbian lines at all? The Cathcart Circle, Ayrshire Coast and the Shotts lines are great wee trips.

 

[Green Lane]

Whenever I have to use the subway, I prefer to make sure it's in the middle of the day so it is quiet and thus so I can get a seat. Last time this wasn't the case, me and a few friends had been inspecting the old railway tunnel and abandoned Kirklee station in Botanic Gardens - the subway train back to St Enoch was packed (still managed to get a seat).

Yes, I can imagine it would be quite claustrophobic in those tiny carriages when packed. I really noticed how cramped it was in there. When someone sat opposite me, I felt I had to sit up and tuck my legs in a bit just so other passengers could comfortably get past.

I also noticed that both Inner Circle and Outer Cirlce trains seemed to wait at Govan for a few minutes. I coudn't work out why this was, but I'm guessing it was to keep to the correct timings on the loop, which it being so quiet it's possible the trains may have been running slightly quicker than expected.

Did you do any of the suburbian lines at all? The Cathcart Circle, Ayrshire Coast and the Shotts lines are great wee trips.

No, none at all yet, as on that day I spent most of my time in the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum and The Gallery of Modern Art (both in Glasgow) and also in the National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh, and of course strolling around both cities.

I enjoyed it so much though, I'll certainly be going back and next time I'd like to travel on the Cathcart Circle. Of course, I immediately noticed how those class 314 trains seemingly have the same body as Merseyrail trains, but appear to be 25kV AC rather than third rail. So that has piqued my curiosity enough to want to travel that route at some point.

I forgot to post my pics from on the way back.

Naturally got the London Euston train back from Glasgow Central. I like the train shed, nice and bright.:-

Changed at Wigan North Western for Liverpool. Great connection times. The pendo overtook the Liverpool train south of Preston such that it was merely 5 mins behind at Wigan and called at the same platform. Nice! I alighted the pendo and off it went en route to Euston. (Pretty full at that point I might add).

 

[CarterUSM]

Out of interest, what did you think of Kelvingrove? It's also a shame the transport museum has closed for the timebeing over the road. Though will be back better than ever elsewhere soon enough.

 

[Bittern]

Out of interest, what did you think of Kelvingrove? It's also a shame the transport museum has closed for the timebeing over the road. Though will be back better than ever elsewhere soon enough.

Yeah, about that. I would love to see the locos they have there in transportation.

 

[CarterUSM]

Yeah, about that. I would love to see the locos they have there in transportation.

Without a doubt, is it also true that the G&SWR loco they have is the only example of the company's in existence ?

 

[Retropractor]

Brilliant pictures!
My son is currently, a driver on the London Underground (Metropolitan Line). But we are all looking to emigrate up to Scotland, in the not too distant future. I think he would love to transfer to Scotrail, if that were possible.

 

[Bittern]

Without a doubt, is it also true that the G&SWR loco they have is the only example of the company's in existence ?

No idea. Wikipedia doesn't mention it. Though wouldn't today's Glasgow South Western line being named as it is be an example?

 

[CarterUSM]

No idea. Wikipedia doesn't mention it. Though wouldn't today's Glasgow South Western line being named as it is be an example?

apologies, I meant specifically locomotives. I'm sure I read or seen it somewhere. Can't find head nor hair of it at the moment though.

 

[Green Lane]

Out of interest, what did you think of Kelvingrove? It's also a shame the transport museum has closed for the timebeing over the road. Though will be back better than ever elsewhere soon enough.

I thought the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum was excellent. It was also much bigger than I expected. In fact I enthusiastically left a donation. I could easily go back there again sometime and spend much longer in there. Certainly it's in the same league as the very best London attractions IMHO. Highly recommended.

I was pleasantly surprised to see that they hold Lowry's "VE day" in there too.

Yes, totally agree about the Transport Museum. Would've loved to see that too, but knew before travelling that it was closed although I did walk past it. In fact someone in the Kelvingrove asked me how to get to it and I had to tell them it was temporarily closed. Again, do hope to visit it sometime!

From a Wirral point of view, along similar lines (but not as grand!) we have both the "Wirral Transport Museum" (great during the annual Wirral Bus and Tram show) and the "Lady Lever Art Gallery" here, I do recommend both.
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Brilliant pictures!
My son is currently, a driver on the London Underground (Metropolitan Line). But we are all looking to emigrate up to Scotland, in the not too distant future. I think he would love to transfer to Scotrail, if that were possible.

Thanks, I use a small low end camera (which is convenient for hiking and travel) and I'm always in a bit of a hurry, so I always tend to take quick, casual snaps. I'm not a tripod and zoom lens man! So my pics usually reflect that sort of modest quality. I've uploaded many more pics to various sites around the web, mainly Wikimedia commons. But just don't have the time currently to put together my own dedicated site.

Hope to get a new camera eventually though, as that one has developed a dead pixel (only visible on the full-res images) and I have great difficulty getting it to bring out the detail in darker scenes, which is why I keep cranking up the exposure bias as a quick fix - although that tends to wash the sky out somewhat.

 

[CarterUSM]

I'm very pleased to hear how much you enjoyed Kelvingrove and your kind comments about it, I grew up being taken there frequently and always found it fascinating, I also used to love when there was someone playing the massive organ in the main hall. It's a real gem of a place, and more so now that the basement has been opened up and more items can be on display at any one time.

 

[Retropractor]

Thanks, I use a small low end camera (which is convenient for hiking and travel) and I'm always in a bit of a hurry, so I always tend to take quick, casual snaps.

I often take a Kodak easyshare camera with me, in preference to A Nikon D200. Along with a mini casette recorder, to shout down the numbers.

 

[Green Lane]

I'm very pleased to hear how much you enjoyed Kelvingrove and your kind comments about it, I grew up being taken there frequently and always found it fascinating, I also used to love when there was someone playing the massive organ in the main hall. It's a real gem of a place, and more so now that the basement has been opened up and more items can be on display at any one time.

Indeed, I was glad that photography is permitted in the Kelvingrove.

(Sorry this is not rail related) I took many photos in there. Got the organ in on one of them at least, it certainly is grand. I can imagine the acoustics in there are quite impressive too!:-

 

[CarterUSM]

That's a fine photograph of it indeed! Yes, it certainly does provide a great sound when it is being played, though I have not heard it for around 15 years or so, i'm not sure if anyone still comes in to play it, i'd love to hear it again. Thanks again for sharing your trip with us.

 

[Bittern]

I was in there with my History class. We also went to the Transport Museum, which I prefered cause of the steam locos. XD