The main entrance to the Glasgow Central Station is on Gordon Street in Glasgow.
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| Glasgow Central Station |
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| Caledonian Railway Memorial Glasgow Central Station |
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| Caledonian Railway Memorial Glasgow Central Station |
The Caledonian Railway was formed on 31 July 1845, its main objective being to provide main line links to the English rail network. In 1848 the first main lines opened. The Caledonia Railway (CR) connected with the London and North Western Railway (LNWR) at Carlisle, proceeding north to Carstairs. The line then split, north west to Glasgow and north east to
Edinburgh.
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| Dining Car Express c.1914 |
In 1865 the Caledonian absorbed the Scottish Central Railway (SCR), in doing so it extended to Stirling, Perth, Callander and Crieff. Another absorption in 1865, the Scottish Central railway, extended the CR to Dundee and Aberdeen. The absorption of SCR also brought with it a link to Oban.
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| Caledonian Locomotive & Train near Oban |
The CR operated the Greenock and Wemys Bay Railway which provided connections to steamers on the Clyde which prided links to Scottish Islands and Argyll. It became part of the Caledonian in 1893. In 1889, the nominally independent Caledonian Steam Packet Company was formed to operate ferries from the Clyde, eventually providing a service from Gourock to Rothesay, Largs and Millport. In 1890 a service from Androssan to Arran was established.
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| Caledonian Railway 1913 Map |
Glasgow Central station was extended between 1901 and 1906 and another railway bridge constructed. The Glasgow Central Hotel, originally built in 1813 was also extended as part of the construction.
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| Caledonian Railway Glasgow Central Station and Hotel |
Caledonian Railway in World War One
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| Caledonian Railway Perth Railway Station |
On the outbreak if
WW1 the Caledonian Railway had traffic from thirty large engineering works,
forty three iron and steel works, thirty five shipyards and many smaller
enterprises. The necessities of war saw large increases in output from these
industrial locations. To supply the Royal Navy there was a requirement to move
Welsh Coal to Scapa Flow. The West Coast Main Line provided better security
(the East coast main line running along the coastal areas north of Newcastle),
so large volume of coal trains and return empties increased traffic on the
Caledonian. Over the course of the war traffic at Carlisle increased 91% north
bound and 162% southbound.
The demand for
munitions led to the establishment of National Filling Factories. On the CR
this included the NFF Grangetown , near Glasgow (prodution commenced January
1916) and NFF
Gretna (which started production in April 1916). Six timber camps were
established on the CR network, new military camps, airbases added more goods to
move, and in some cases necessitated new works to handle the volumes.
Passenger traffic
increased due to movement of military personnel, over 7,600,000 additional
passengers were carried throughout the war. Troop trains moved soldiers from
barracks in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen and other large towns. One movement
resulted in the worst railway disaster in British history at Quintinshill,
near Gretna, May 2nd 1915.
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| Gretna Railway Station World War One |
As with many other
Railway Companies, the CR locomotive and carriage works included ammunition,
guns, horse drawn vehicles and defence stores.
Four paddle steamers from the Caledonian Steam Packet Company were requisitioned by the Admiralty to operate as auxiliary minesweepers, two being sunk by mines whilst in service.
Four paddle steamers from the Caledonian Steam Packet Company were requisitioned by the Admiralty to operate as auxiliary minesweepers, two being sunk by mines whilst in service.
The Caledonia
Railway released 5,229 staff to join Her Majesty's forces, representing 22% of
the total staff employed on 4th August 1914.