British Railway Modelling (BRM)
Stirling station: then and now
David Clough was inspired by a feature about Stirling station, published in ‘Railway Magazine’ in January 1927.
The Ancient and Royal Burgh of Stirling, the one-time home of Scotland’s parliament, sits on the River Forth, which the railway crosses just north of the station. Stirling station was opened by the Scottish Central Railway in 1848 when the company’s line arrived from the Caledonian Railway at Garrtsherrie (near Coatbridge) via Greenhill and Larbert.The Stirling and Dunfermline Railway opened from Alloa in 1852 and, like the Forth and Clyde Junction Railway that arrived in 1856, both soon became part of the North British Railway. While the former enjoyed success, the latter’s route to Balloch was never more than a very minor branch.
The station quickly became an important centre because it was in a pivotal position for radiating routes. Ownership rationalisation saw it become part of the Caledonian Railway, which consequently operated the main north-south route from Perth to Greenhill, while the North British came in from the east via Alloa or south from Falkirk over Caledonian metals. Railway grouping forced a reluctant Caledonian to become part of the London Midland & Scottish Railway (LMS), while the North British went into the London & North Eastern (LNER).
Traffic growth by 1915 required a much enlarged station and extensive goods facilities and marshalling yard. The Caledonian also had an engine shed.The station building was laid out in a grand, spacious manner, with sweeping staircases, and has stood the test of time. It is listed by Historic Environment Scotland as a Category A listed building.The platform layout in 1927 and today is set out in the table (bottom right).
In 1927, a loading dock and sidings were adjacent to platform 1, but today there is just one siding.The Callander and Oban route diverged further north at Dunblane and services that started
in Stirling used platform 1, as did other locals. Behind platform 2, at the south end, was the LMS goods shed and offices, together with carriage and goods sidings. North-facing platforms 4 and 5 served workings to Balloch and other LNER locals. Beyond platform 10 was a marshalling yard, a loading bank and LMS livestock loading dock, together with other sidings. A LMS engine shed and turntable were at the far south end.
Four tracks led northbound, with the Balloch branch diverging left soon after. Both the Caledonian and North British had their own bridges over the River Forth, and the latter then headed east to Alloa, while the former continued to Dunblane and Perth.
In the post-Grouping era, LMS trains usually used platforms 2 and 3 but could also use 6 or 9. LNER trains usually used 6 or 9 but could use 2 or 3. Goods trains usually used 6 or 9 but would use 10 if they were to be held.
Today, all the surplus land, including the Up side yard, has been sold off and the station is corralled on three sides by roads, especially the relatively new inner relief bypass.
The 1910 issue of Bradshaws shows some trains from EdinburghWaverley had through carriages for Balloch and the branch off to Aberfoyle, while others started north of the Forth Bridge, for example, at Dunfermline.
In 1927, there were five through LMS trains to Euston, six linking Glasgow
Buchanan Street and Aberdeen, four through services to Oban and seven to Edinburgh Princes Street. Locals served a range of destinations, including Creiff and Grangemouth, while three fish trains and a number of parcels and goods workings exchanged traffic at the station. On the LNER side, eight trains went to Edinburgh Waverley over the Forth Bridge, with locals providing links to destinations to the Fife coast. An unquantified number in the ‘Railway Magazine’ worked to Glasgow Queen Street, while five ran to Balloch.
Passenger traffic figures for the mid-1920s quote (round figures) 385,000 tickets issued, 600,000 collected and 110,000 platform tickets issued annually.
Points of interest in 1927 operations included the Euston to Aberdeen sleeper, which conveyed carriages, including a sleeping car, for Oban. These were stabled in a siding next to Platform 1 until being attached to the first service from Stirling to their destination.The 2.35am from Euston conveyed through carriages from Liverpool and Manchester and restaurant car from Crewe and terminated at Stirling at 4.30pm. All the Glasgow to Aberdeen workings had a Pullman restaurant car.
The Diesel Era
The transition from steam to diesel power at Stirling began in the late 1950s.The Scottish Region formed the view thatType 2 diesels offered better flexibility for its needs because these could be paired to give equivalent power to aType 4 where extra power was needed. Anglo Scottish services after the demise of steam were hauled by English-based Type 4 traction.This arrangement brought visits of the early ‘Peaks’ in the D1-D10 series (later Class 44) to Perth during the short time when
several were allocated to the LMR Western Lines, but English Electric Type 4s (Class 40) prevailed until the more powerful Brush and English ElectricType 4s (Class 47 and 50) displaced them from the mid-1960s.
The Scottish Region formulated its diesel scheme for the Glasgow to Aberdeen route in June 1959, and this was based on using 18 North British Type 2s (Class 21) for passenger, parcels and freight movements.
The BritishTransport Commission approved the scheme on December
17th. Although details of the scheme are not to hand, trains calling at, or passing, Stirling along the ex-LMS line would be a part of the scheme.The former LNER lines would have to wait a little longer for steam replacement.
By October 1960, the Scottish Region was revising its thinking and a fresh submission went to the BritishTransport Commission. A peculiar line of argument held that the North BritishType 2s was not really aType 2 because it was now rated at 1,000hp for technical reasons instead of 1,100hp; the lower value was the same as the English ElectricType 1s (Class 20s) on order for the Region. A further issue was the class had a control system that meant locomotives could only work in multiple within the class and not with other designs. A very strange argument was made against the use on freight services, which said the class was unsuitable for shunting work due to forward and rearward visibility problems.
The proposal was to use North British Type 2s in multiple on all passenger trains along the Glasgow to Aberdeen route, with an augmented Glasgow to Dundee and expanded Perth to Aberdeen operations.This plan required 38 North BritishType 2s, not the 18 of the 1959 proposal, of which 32 would be diagrammed (85%) and six undergoing maintenance. Based on the Eastern Region and Scottish Region’s initial experience with the North BritishType 2s, it seems bizarre to think that an availability of 85% would be remotely achievable.
The additional North British
Type 2s were being reallocated from the Eastern Region in order to concentrate all the type in Scotland. The BritishTransport Commission was not happy with the use of locomotives in multiple but agreed until other work could be found that would not require multiple operation. The Commission believed that a singleType 2 was inadequate for the principal services over the route and recommendedType 3 traction.
History records that the use of North BritishType 2s in multiple did not last long, allegedly due to poor locomotive reliability, and services reverted to steam in 1962 until more suitable diesels became available. Thus, for several years, former LNER Pacifics of the A2 and A4 classes appeared on many of these services, especially the principal Aberdeen to Glasgow trains.
Later on, Class 40 became the mainstay on the expresses, while Class 27 handled the Glasgow to Dundee stopping trains. Class 47s of several sub-types displaced by HSTs in England were moved north towards the end of the 1970s and Class 40 had faded away by 1982. Locomotive haulage by Class 47/7 came to an end in the early 1990s as Class 158 DMUs became available.
Glasgow to Inverness passenger trains saw dieselisation after those to Aberdeen. By virtue of Highland Line gradients, these were handled by pairs of the Sulzer and BRCW Type 2s (Class 24 and 26), usually a mixed pair until the former were withdrawn in the early 1970s, when pairs of Class 26 held sway until
Type 4s became available later in the 1970s. Services bound for Oban via the Callander & Oban route saw steam replaced by BRCWType 2s (Class 27) for a period before the line closed.
Stirling became a Motorail centre in 1966, and over the following decades, these trains ran from Sutton Coldfield, Kensington Olympia, Newton-leWillows, Newton Abbot, Newhaven Harbour (for Dieppe), Dover and Brockenhurst (for the Isle ofWight). Operating losses brought the axing in 1989 of the London to Stirling service, and all Motorail activities had gone by rail privatisation.
Very little is on record concerning freight motive power at Stirling. For sure, the Scottish Region preferred to allocate the SulzerType 2s (Class 25) to this work and, of course, the Region had a large allocation of ‘Clayton’ and English ElectricType 1s (Class 17 and Class 20), and both designs were used almost exclusively on freight.
Today, Stirling remains on the main route between Glasgow and Perth. It is the junction for the branch line to Alloa and the currently out-of-use line to Dunfermline via Kincardine. It is also served by trains on the Edinburgh to Dunblane route and long-distance services to Dundee and Aberdeen and to Inverness via the Highland Main Line. Alloa regained its passenger service on May 15th, 2008.Trial electric train running commenced in November 2018 between Stirling, Dunblane and Alloa, with service operation initiated the following month.