Glasgow Central is the major mainline rail terminus in Glasgow, Scotland. The station was opened by the Caledonian Railway on 1 August 1879. It is the northern terminus of the West Coast Main Line (397 miles (640 km) north of London Euston), and for inter-city services between Glasgow and England. With over 30 million passengers in 2015-16, Glasgow Central is the twelfth-busiest railway station in Britain, and the busiest in Scotland. According to Network Rail, over 38 million people use it annually, 80% of whom are passengers. The station is protected as a category A listed building.

Central Station has a spacious concourse containing shops, catering outlets, ticket offices and a travel centre. It is fronted by the Central Hotel on Gordon Street, designed by Robert Rowand Anderson. The station building also houses a long line of shops and bars down the Union Street side. The undercroft of the station is not open to the general public: it houses private car-parking and utility functions for both the station itself and the adjoining Central Hotel.

The station's famous architectural features are the large glass-walled bridge that takes the station building over Argyle Street, nicknamed as the "Hielanman's Umbrella" (Highlandman's Umbrella) by locals because it was used as a gathering place for visiting Highlanders; and the former ticket offices / platform and train-destination information building. This was a large oval building, with the booking office on the ground floor and the train information display for passengers on large printed cloth destination boards placed behind large windows on the first floor by a team of two men. Underneath the "Umbrella" is a bustling array of shops and bars, as well as the "Arches" nightclub, theatre, gallery and restaurant complex.

The simulation
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The station layout is based on that in use from circa 1908 and is taken from a signalling diagram held by the Signalling Record Society. Beyond the station the layout information is taken from internet sources with signalling added to suit.

Colour light signalling has been used in lieu of semaphore signals to make the simulation compatible with the requirements of the simulation program. The area was resignalled and the Glasgow Central Signalling Centre, located in the "vee" of Bridge Street Junction, opened on 2nd January 1961.

History of Central station
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The original station, opened on the north bank of the River Clyde, had eight platforms and was linked to Bridge Street station by a railway bridge over Argyle Street and a four-track railway bridge, built by Sir William Arrol, which crossed the Clyde to the south. The station was built over the site of Grahamston village, whose central street (Alston Street) was demolished to make way for the station platforms. The station was soon congested. In 1890, a temporary solution of widening the bridge over Argyle Street and inserting a ninth platform on Argyle Street bridge was completed. It was also initially intended to increase Bridge Street station to eight through lines and to increase Central station to 13 platforms.
 
The low-level platforms, originally two island platforms, were originally a separate station, and were added to serve the underground Glasgow Central Railway, authorised on 10 August 1888 and opened on 10 August 1896. The Glasgow Central Railway was taken over by the Caledonian Railway in 1890. Services ran from Maryhill Central and from the Lanarkshire and Dunbartonshire Railway in the west through to Rutherglen and via Tollcross through to Carmyle, Newton, and other Caledonian Railway destinations to the east of Glasgow.

By 1900 the station was again found to be too small, passenger numbers per annum on the high-level station having increased by 5.156 million since the first extension was completed in 1890. Passenger usage per annum in 1899 was 16.841 million on the high-level station and 6.416 million on the low-level station, a total of 23.257 million. The station is on two levels: the High-Level station at the same level as Gordon Street, which bridges over Argyle Street, and the underground Low-Level station.

Between 1901 and 1905 the original station was rebuilt. The station was extended over the top of Argyle Street, and thirteen platforms were built. An additional eight-track bridge, the Caledonian Railway Bridge, was built over the Clyde, and the original bridge was raised by 30 inches (0.75 m). Bridge Street station was then closed. Also during the 1901-1905 rebuild a series of sidings was created at the end of Platforms 11 and 12 on the bridge over the River Clyde. These were named West Bank Siding, Mid Bank Siding and East Bank Siding. A dock siding - No. 14 Dock was created at the south end of Platform 13.

Eglinton Street Station closed in 1968
 
Platform and siding capacities 
(in chains, where 1 chain = 1 loco, 1 Coach or 3 wagons.)

Platforms 		Station Sidings
1 = 6+8			Colosseum = 3
2 = 5+10		Cathcart Engine = 2
3 = 9			East Bank = 2
4 = 8			Middle Bank = 1
5 = 7			West Bank = 2
6 = 6			Bank Spur = 1
7 = 6			Dock = 4
8 = 6			Clyde Place = 3
9 = 4+9
10 = 13
11 = 17
12 = 9
13 = 12

Carriage Sidings	Cook Street Sidings
1 = 23				1 = 4
2 = 24				2 = 4		
3 = 29
4 = 20
5 = 21
6 = 24
7 = 16
8 = 32

Startup Picture

Standard 2-6-4T 80121 busies itself on empty stock duties at Glasgow Central Station. Note the OHLE was already in situ here from the then recent electrification of some of the suburban services. This engine spent its entire active life of 11 years working out of 66A Polmadie Shed just a short distance from this station. Date: 16 August 1965. Source: https://tomcurtisrailgallery.weebly.com/

Many more photos of Glasgow Central at different dates are available on-line. An excellent source is https://www.flickr.com/photos/train-pix/16460667890 .

Acknowledgements

Thanks to the PC-Rail testing team for all their help in getting this simulation up and running.
