Cumberland Street

Location type

Station

Names and dates

Eglinton Street [GSW] (1900-1924)
Cumberland Street (1924-1966)

Note: text in square brackets is added for clarity and was not part of the location's name.

Opened on the City of Glasgow Union Railway.

Description

This was a four platform elevated station on the east side of Eglinton Street running east as far as the bridge over Surrey Street the Cumberland Street junction.

The station was located one storey above street level and was partly built on bridges, those crossing Abbotsford Place and Salisbury Street. The western half of the platforms were canopied, the station having large walls on either side and a central building to support the roof. There were entrances from Eglinton Street and Cumberland Street.

The station opened with the quadrupling of the line from Gorbals Junction (to the east) to Port Eglinton Junction (to the west). Two further tracks were laid to the south of the existing lines. The station replaced Main Street Gorbals, the Paisley bound platforms of Gorbals station.

For some traffic it competed with the Caledonian Railway's Eglinton Street station, on the west side of Eglinton Street and a little to the south, its lines being crossed by this station's lines running west. The bridges which crossed the Caledonian Railway's lines also crossed Eglinton Street.

After the grouping the station was renamed Cumberland Street to avoid confusion with the other station. Cumberland Street bordered the station on its north side.

The canopies were cut back severely before closure.

On closure the southern pair of tracks were lifted and redundant bridge over Eglinton Street removed. The rest remained intact until the 1980s. The southern part of the station including the island platform were demolished (a small part remains at the east end).

The entrance from Cumberland Street, at the east end of the station, remains intact. It is a fine red sandstone edifice but in ruinous condition. Below the pediment above the entrance it still displays 'STATION'. The massive bridge over Abbotsford Place still carried a portion of platform on its north side.

The remaining bridge over Eglinton Street and the approach lines to Glasgow Central carried a famous 'WHAT SUBLIMINAL ADVERT' (with the T in red) for many years.

Tags

Station

External links

Canmore site record
NLS Collection OS map of 1892-1914
NLS Collection OS map of 1944-67
NLS Map
NLS Map
NLS Map
NLS Map



Chronology Dates

30/09/1900City of Glasgow Union Railway
Main Street Gorbals closed, replaced by Eglinton Street [GSW] (later renamed Cumberland Street).
14/02/1966City of Glasgow Union Railway
Cumberland Street closed.