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Euston to Glasgow central - interesting sights out of the window

mind-the-gap

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Hi,

travelling Euston to Glasgow central next week for work, it’s been a good while (>30 years). since travelling that route and wondered what interesting things to spot on the trip?

will be daylight hours as unfortunately expenses could not stretch to the sleeper!

thankyou

PS will post a report on the Euston boarding experience !
 
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30907

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Changes in 30 years - starter for 10:

HS2 works at Euston (LH side)
Bletchley flyover #2.
Norton Bridge new flyover etc
Arriva depot south of Crewe used to have interesting stock.
Northern has quite a lot of new stock (also TfW at Crewe/Warrington).
Carlisle Kingmoor Yard has shrunk somewhat.
Carstairs new layout (RH side).
 

Mcr Warrior

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Scenically, it's quite difficult, IMHO, to better the "Fair Mile" (Lune Valley) on the right hand side of the WCML, between Oxenholme Lake District + Penrith North Lakes.
 

DelW

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Watch for the strange way the horizon behaves when a Pendolino tilts its way through reverse curves.

Plus trying to spot Shap and Beattock summits when the train hardly seems to have slowed climbing the banks.
 

D6130

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Wembley Stadium (RHS)

Ovaltine Farm, Kings Langley (RHS)

Berkhamstead Castle (RHS)

Whipsnade Zoo White Lion on Hillside (RHS between Cheddington and Tring)

Mentmore Towers (LHS between Cheddington and Leighton Buzzard)

Bletchley Flyover (both sides)

Concrete cows (RHS between Milton Keynes Central and Wolverton)

Northampton 'lighthouse' (Otis lift testing tower - RHS in distance after Blisworth)

Wilton or Whelton canal marina (RHS just before Watford Gap)

Remains of Great Central viaduct approaching Rugby.

Merevale Hall (Dracula's castle?) (LHS just after Atherstone)

Tamworth Castle (Briefly visible LHS just before station)

Lichfield Cathedral (3 spires - LHS)

Shugborough Tunnel, with 'Gates of Jerusalem' monument to Admiral Anson above Southern entrance, if you look forward on the curve).

Stafford Castle (briefly visible in distance LHS after the station)

New cut-off line and flyover at Norton Bridge (LHS about five minutes after passing through Stafford)

Hatton pumping station (RHS - about five minutes North of Norton Bridge)

Basford Hall Yard and Freightliner Depot (LHS approaching Crewe)

Crewe Railway Heritage Centre (LHS North end of Crewe station)

Dutton Viaduct across River Weaver (between Acton Bridge and Weaver Junction)

Closed Fiddler's Ferry power station (LHS approaching Warrington)

Manchester Ship Canal viaduct (approaching Warrington)

River Mersey viaduct (approaching Warrington)

Uncle Joe's Mintballs factory (RHS immediately after Wigan North Western)

Winter Hill and its TV transmitter (RHS between Wigan and Leyland)

Ribble viaduct approaching Preston

St Walburge's church (Third-tallest spire in UK) (LHS just North of Preston in fork of Blackpool and main lines)

Forton Motorway services former restaurant tower (RHS midway between Preston and Lancaster)

Lancaster University and Ashton Monument (RHS approaching Lancaster)

Lancaster Priory Church, Castle and River Lune viaduct (RHS North end of Lancaster station)

Morecambe Bay (Irish Sea) LHS at Hest Bank 3-4 minutes after leaving Lancaster (the only place where the WCML actually borders the West Coast!)

West Coast Railway Company Depot (formerly 'Steamtown' railway museum) (LHS approaching Carnforth - 5-6 minutes after leaving Lancaster)

Flat-topped Yorkshire Dales peak of Ingleborough (in distance RHS just after Carnforth)

Panoramic views of Kendal Castle and town - plus Lakeland peaks and fells (LHS just after Oxenholme)

Lune Gorge and Howgill Fells (RHS about 5-6 minutes North of Oxenholme)

Shap Summit (916 feet ASL - highest point on WCML in England)

Penrith Castle ruins (RHS alongside station)

Carlisle Cathedral and Castle (RHS just after departing station)

DRS locomotive depot and Carlisle marshalling yards (LHS 3-4 minutes after leaving station)

Solway Firth visible LHS when crossing River Esk viaduct (almost the West Coast!)

About a minute later....crossing the border into Scotland on the River Sark bridge at Gretna Junction - with Dumfries line curving off to the left

About another minute later....Quintinshill loops - scene of Britain's worst-ever rail disaster in 1915 with 227 fatalities

Lockerbie - quiet market town and scene of the Pan-AM flight 103 air disaster in December 1988

Beattock village - former station and loco depot which provided 'banking' engines and crews for the steep ten mile climb to....

Beattock Summit....highest point on the WCML (1,016 feet ASL - signboard on RHS)

Elvanfoot....first of six crossings of the River Clyde

Crawford (LHS)....reputed to be the most haunted village in Scotland and second crossing of the Clyde

Abington....recessing loops in both directions

Lamington....third crossing of the Clyde

Tinto Hill (2,319 feet ASL - LHS)....prominent almost conical mountain with a large iron age hillfort on the summit

Float Viaduct....fourth Crossing of the River Clyde - followed almost immediately by Carstairs station, with its recently-realigned triangular junction (RHS) towards Edinburgh, overlooked from a nearby hill by the top-security Scottish State Hospital for the Criminally-Insane (or whatever it's called nowadays)

About one minute later (LHS) are Ravenstruther (pronounced 'Renstrie') sidings....originally used for loading opencast coal, but now repurposed for ballast from Cloburn Quarry

....followed by Lanark Junction (LHS) and then distant views of the town of Lanark (LHS)

Law Junction....line to Mossend and Perth via Holytown diverges RHS

Approaching Motherwell - Fir Park football ground LHS and Dalzell (prounounced 'D L') works (RHS)....all that remains of the once mighty Motherwell area steel industry

Leaving Motherwell....DRS loco depot RHS, after divergence of Perth line to the right

Between Uddingston and Newton....fifth crossing of the river Clyde

After Rutherglen....Polmadie Avanti and Caledonian Sleeper depot (RHS)

Approaching Glasgow Central....original Bridge Street station buildings (RHS), followed by sixth and final crossing of the River Clyde

Abbreviations: ASL=Above Sea Level; DRS=Direct Rail Services; LHS=Left Hand Side; RHS=Right Hand Side and WCML=West Coast Main Line

Have a good trip!
 

D6130

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At Bridge Street there is also a building, between the two pairs of lines, with a sign saying 'Eglington Street'..... It should be Eglinton, but has never been corrected.
True....although that's at the site of the former Eglinton Street station, just as you emerge from the tunnel about three quarters of a mile before reaching the former Bridge Street terminus, which closed when the line was extended across the river into the new Central station in 1879.
 

ian1944

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Finally, Glasgow Central concourse. Compare and contrast the ambience, architecture and general spaciousness with those of Euston. And the staff are likelier to be a damn sight friendlier, too.
 

LNW-GW Joint

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Have a good trip!
Can't beat that comprehensive list, but there's the Ingleton branch's Low Gill viaduct on the right as you reach the Lune gorge.
I find it easier coming south, but in clear weather you can see the Skiddaw massif over the Solway Firth at one point, also a glimpse of Helvellyn south of Penrith.
Preston-Glasgow - best fast run in the UK.
Plus all the high-speed curves (Weedon, Rugby, Rugeley, Whitmore etc).
 

D6130

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Can't beat that comprehensive list, but there's the Ingleton branch's Low Gill viaduct on the right as you reach the Lune gorge.
I find it easier coming south, but in clear weather you can see the Skiddaw massif over the Solway Firth at one point, also a glimpse of Helvellyn south of Penrith.
Preston-Glasgow - best fast run in the UK.
Plus all the high-speed curves (Weedon, Rugby, Rugeley, Whitmore etc).
Yes....forgot Low Gill viaduct. You can also see Blencathra (Saddleback) on the approach to Penrith....and as you correctly point out, in clear weather, Skiddaw is visible across the Solway Firth from Quintinshill to Kirtlebridge. On the right hand side, on the lower part of the descent from Shap Summit to Penrith, Cross Fell - and its slightly lower North Pennines neighbour Great Dun Fell, with its early warning radar station - are usually visible.

Many years ago, I used to kid my then girlfriend - now my wife - that Penrith Castle was deliberately built next to the station for the benefit of tourists arriving by train. Of course, she was unimpressed! The tower on top of Penrith Beacon used to be a prominent landmark on the East side of the line....but nowadays it has become concealed by the growth of the surrounding conifers and is no longer visible from the railway. I remember in days gone by at Christmas and Easter it used to have a large cross on the front, which was illuminated at night.

Another quirky lineside feature is - or was - the 'Australian Wood' on the hillside just North of Wamphray crossovers, midway between Lockerbie and Beattock. A smallish plantation of conifers on the hillside to the East of the railway, it was - according to Scottish railway colleagues - planted during the second world war by Aussie lumberjacks in the shape of their home country. However, in recent years I've had difficulty in identifying it from the train, so I am wondering whether it has been partially- or completely-felled.

The viaduct which carries the line over the Calder Water about a mile and a half North of Motherwell - on the direct line to Uddingston - has been known to generations of footplatemen as 'Babylon'. Apparently the weeping willow trees that grow on the embankments at either end of the viaduct are said to resemble the hanging gardens!

In the Winter - when there are no leaves on the trees - as you cross the viaduct over the Clyde between Uddingston and Newton, it's possible to get a brief glimpse of the ruins of Bothwell Castle, a mile or so to the South.

I could go on....but will try not to! :D
 
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Pleased to see that D6130 #6 looks out for many of the things I do on the southern section of the line.

I'll add the Wrigleys Spearmint factory (RHS) (building still there but no longer Wrigleys), McVities biscuits (LHS) (still operating) and Tring Cutting (both sides) and Roade Cutting (both sides)

and the thing I miss the most the "Euston Station 1 mile" sign which was on the RHS sign approaching Euston and which I assume has been a victim of all the HS2 works.

Now who still plays "morning!" when passing through the tunnels on the approach to Euston?
 

Hadders

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Finally, Glasgow Central concourse. Compare and contrast the ambience, architecture and general spaciousness with those of Euston. And the staff are likelier to be a damn sight friendlier, too.
Glasgow Central has far fewer passengers than Euston. You can see the trains and you the concourse slops upwards towards the train unlike at Euston where you have to go down relatively steep ramps.

I'm no apologist for Euston but staff at Glasgow can sometimes be officious, making passengers queue ont he concourse before a few minutes before departure.
 

Falcon1200

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The viaduct which carries the line over the Calder Water about a mile and a half North of Motherwell - on the direct line to Uddingston - has been known to generations of footplatemen as 'Babylon'.

Interesting - In all my time working for the railway in Scotland I only knew that structure as Orbiston Viaduct.

staff at Glasgow can sometimes be officious, making passengers queue ont he concourse before a few minutes before departure.

In my experience at Central that is very rare; More often passengers choose to queue at the entrance to Platforms 1 and 2, pending their train being boarded.
 

AWCook

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I'll add Hawswater Dam Face just after Shap heading north. I only noticed it myself for the first time this year despite going up and down the West Coast since the 1970s!
 

route101

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Glasgow Central has far fewer passengers than Euston. You can see the trains and you the concourse slops upwards towards the train unlike at Euston where you have to go down relatively steep ramps.

I'm no apologist for Euston but staff at Glasgow can sometimes be officious, making passengers queue ont he concourse before a few minutes before departure.
Yes, I think started during Covid and they have kept the process. You used to board quite early at Glasgow Central.
 

Peter0124

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Yes, I think started during Covid and they have kept the process. You used to board quite early at Glasgow Central.
You also have pretty bizarre changes from covid there like standing on the left, walk on the right on the escalators. Ie the opposite to pretty much everywhere else.
 

Gloster

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Prompted by something above, I am wondering if there used to be a very large, predominately off white/pale yellow hoarding on a hill(ock) to the east of the WCML somewhere towards its southern end? Could it have been opposite the Ovaltine factory and advertising that beverage? Or is this a false memory of fifty years standing?
 

Merle Haggard

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Prompted by something above, I am wondering if there used to be a very large, predominately off white/pale yellow hoarding on a hill(ock) to the east of the WCML somewhere towards its southern end? Could it have been opposite the Ovaltine factory and advertising that beverage? Or is this a false memory of fifty years standing?

I remember it as well.
On the opposite side of the line to the Ovaltine factory, and at the top of the hill you mention, was the Ovaltine Farm. It looked more like the film set of a farmhouse of long ago, but nearer to the railway was the hoarding you mention which I think said just 'Ovaltine farm'.
However, I have a possibly false memory of a hoarding with a picture of 'The Ovaltinies' (a group of children) but, similarly, I might be wrong.
 

Pacef8

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If you stop at Lancaster you can spot the family and friends doing a day visit. Separate to that the huge ex coal slag heaps north of Carlisle . The wood yard for Chirk chronos factory as well.
 

Ken H

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@D6130 mentions Hest Bank in post #6. Its other claim to fame is its the first level crossing after leaving Euston.
 

D6130

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That’s a fantastically comprehensive list,but you seem to have forgotten the sheer delight of the Crosfields factory at Bank Quay station :)
Is that what became the Unilever soap powder factory which towers over the line at the North end of the station on the West Side? It used to envelop the whole area with a foul pungent smell....but I believe that it's now closed and awaiting demolition.
If you stop at Lancaster you can spot the family and friends doing a day visit.
This one is lost on me....please explain!

Another prominent feature alongside the line which I forgot to mention is the Steven's Croft biomass-fired power station - and its associated wood yard and chipping plant - on the West side of the line about three miles North of Lockerbie.
 
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Amos

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Is that what became the Unilever soap powder factory which towers over the line at the North end of the station on the West Side? It used to envelop the whole area with a foul pungent smell....but I believe that it's now closed and awaiting demolition.
That’s the one.I haven’t been past in a long time, but it looked like it was falling to bits last time I did get there. I might be a little bit strange, but I did quite like the soapy smell.
 

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