However, when the line reached Glasgow, the operators of the Forth and Clyde Canal (at the time a direct competitor of the new railway line) refused to allow it to pass over the canal on a bridge. As a result, the railway had to tunnel under it, creating a slope that was too steep for early steam traction engines to be able to climb. The solution was to install powerful stationary engines at Cowlairs at the top of this slope to haul trains up it using a hemp rope.

Cont./

This method of getting trains up the steep incline out of Queen Street Station continued until 1908 when cable-hauling was finally replaced by banking engines. The Avon Viaduct still forms part of the mainline route between Glasgow and Edinburgh to this day, more than 160 years after it was first built.

#glasgow #edinburgh #railways #oldrailways #viaduct #avonviaduct #linlithgow #queenstreetstation

@thisismyglasgow and they had special rules for that tunnel for a very long time. there was a special hazard where a departing train could be slipping on the rails and the train crew can't tell in the smoke and the dark if they're still moving forwards or if they're sliding backwards downhill

@thisismyglasgow on a related note - Graham Farish are re-releasing their Mk2a coaches in BR blue and grey this year. I'm hoping to get enough vehicles to model the Edinburgh-Glasgow push-pull services