1911 Low Blantyre Station

1911 Low Blantyre Station

Pictured here in 1911, is Low Blantyre Station , pictured from the North platform, looking towards Glasgow. Scanned in high resolution, you can make out quite a bit of detail including the iron pedestrian footbridge in the background, and further back beyond it the iron road bridge.

Two figures stand on the side and i can’t help but wonder if one of them is the stationmaster. The first stationmaster was Mr James Burns who carried out his duties right up until the late 1860’s. I was not able to find out who the stationmaster was in 1910’s. By 1920s and early 1930’s, the stationmaster was Mr John Taylor who carried out this job up until 1935, when he was transferred away to another post and succeeded by Mr Hugh Brown.

In the foreground, to the right of where the photographer was standing, used to be a Goods shed. Up until 1904, this was located very close to the railway, but was subsequently demolished and rebuilt further back to the right of the small buildings shown, just out the picture, accessed from a railway Siding. The nearest houses to the goods shed were Homeston and Rosebank.

The flat rain shelter canopies were added in 1904, when previously people would take cover inside the ticket buildings. The Station looked very similar in this configuration up until 1974, when the old brick buildings were demolished and replaced by modern ticket offices.

Network Rail are currently undertaking projects throughout Scotland to remove the older iron pedestrian footbridge and to provide easier access for the elderly and disabled, are upgrading stations by creating lifts inside towers to cross platforms. I was involved in this programme in my day construction job in 2011 and 2012 and it is quite some undertaking. Low Blantyre Station is low priority for this work, as it has nearby ramps and access on Station Road itself.

On social media:

• Stewart Willis Does anyone know when this station was rebuilt. I was born in 1970 and in my head as a child I remember seeing the buildings like this on the left when travelling to Glasgow as a child. But then am thinking that can be right ?? When was the new station built I suppose is the question
• John McCourt Many a great train journey was started from Blantyre Station, anyone remember the afternoon special trains down to Troon Prestwick and Ayr, my Big Sister used to take me on these.
• Henry Hambley Great piece of history of a station which my family used many times mainly for trips into Glasgow. I tended to get travel sick on the bus hence the train. I especially liked travelling by steam trains though the diesel multiple units seemed much faster and it was possible to get a seat behind the driver which had large windows so you could see out unless the driver pulled the blind down ! Best of all was saturday evenings if we were going in to Glasgow for theatre or cinema when the train delivering the evening papers which had the football results arrived at Blantyre. It always seemed so busy.