Kelvinside

Location type

Station

Names and dates

Kelvinside (1897-1917)
Kelvinside (1919-1942)

Opened on the Lanarkshire and Dumbartonshire Railway.

Description

This was a two platform station on the south side of Great Western Road with a superb surface building by architect John James Burnet. The station was opened on the Lanarkshire and Dumbartonshire Railway, a protege of the Caledonian Railway.

The two storey building held the ticket and other offices and railway staff accommodation. The building above the north end of the station with staircases down to the platforms. Given the quality of houses in the surrounding area (Hyndland, Kelvinside and along Great Western Road) the station was built to match with features such as balustrades and decorative urns, described as 'Beaux Arts' (a French style from 1830 to 1900). In carved scrolling interlaced letters 'CR' is displayed on the left side of the frontage and '1897' to the right. Above is a balustrade, flanked with stone urns.

The station was designed in a period when railway companies were becoming aware of crowd movements and there were entry and exit staircases. Platforms were located in a shallow dressed stone cutting with glazed canopies along the northern half, closer to the building. From the glazed footbridge, adjoining and to the south of the building, a view south over the station could be had.

To the north the railway ran through Balgray Tunnel to Bellshaugh Junction. To the south the line ran above ground before entering a tunnel passing under what is now Hyndland station. There was a goods yard on the east side of the line south of the station, accessed from the south. It was equipped with a travelling crane and a water tank but had no goods shed.

The passenger service ran from Rutherglen in a loop via Glasgow Central Low Level, Crow Road and Kirklee.

The signal box closed in 1936 (or 1933, sources vary). This was located south of the station on the east side of the line with a view north over the platforms and south to the connection between goods yard and line. The goods yard survived the box closure.

The station closed early, in 1942, probably due to competition from tram routes (opened 1872 and electrified 1901) and Hyndland station. (The station had previously closed in the Great War, an indication it was not essential.) Canopies were removed from the platforms and later the stairways. The line itself - not only a commuter route but also a longer distance goods and minerals corridor from the Clyde docks and shipyards and Dumbartonshire to the Lanarkshire steel works and other destinations - remained open until 1966 (its curve at Partick West towards Glasgow closed in 1964). Goods and minerals were diverted to the almost parallel North British Railway routes.

The building was used for various purposes after closure, including as housing. It became increasing derelict and suffered a fire around 1980. It was decided to retain the notable building which was restored and opened as a restaurant named 'Carriages' in 1983. This suffered another fire around 1995, was restored again, and re-opened as 'Stazione' (ground floor) and 'Lux' (above). It has also been known as 'The Italian Bistro'. Since 2015 it has been 1051 GWR .

Short portions of the platforms remain below the station building, in the entrance of the Balgray Tunnel. To the south the platform site and goods yard have been built over around 1986/7 with modern housing. A substantial boundary wall between the grounds of Gartnavel Hospital and the railway remain on the former line's west side. The north portal of the tunnel under Hyndland was blocked and a house built over the entrance.

Local

Gartnavel General Hospital

Tags

Station

External links

Canmore site record
NLS Collection OS map of 1892-1914
NLS Collection OS map of 1944-67
NLS Map
06/12/2021

Facilities

Listing: B




Chronology Dates

01/05/1896Lanarkshire and Dumbartonshire Railway
Maryhill Junction to Bellshaugh Junction to Clydebank Riverside, Partick West Junction to Stobcross and Bellshaugh Junction to Kirklee Junction opened for goods. Kelvinside, Partick Central, Scotstoun Goods, Whiteinch [CR], Yoker [CR] opened to goods. Branch into the Clyde Bank Iron Shipyard [2nd] opened.
01/04/1897Lanarkshire and Dumbartonshire Railway
Kelvinside opened.
01/07/1942Lanarkshire and Dumbartonshire Railway
Kelvinside closed.

News items

22/12/2022Uncovering the secrets of Balgray tunnel [Railstaff]

Books


A Regional History of the Railways of Great Britain: Scotland - The Lowlands and the Borders v. 6 (Regional railway history series)

An Illustrated History of Glasgow's Railways

The Vanished Railways of Old Western Dunbartonshire (Britains Railways/Old Photos)