Hi from Inverness
 

Hi to all members. I have gradually gained a new found interest in Railway History rather than an all consuming interest from childhood ( I'm now in my forties) and my knowledge is currently relatively limited.

I discovered through family research that both a Great Grandfather and Grandfather worked on the railways in the first half of the 20th century possibly with Glasgow & South Western, as a driver and fireman respectively. They lived in the Renfrewshire area (Port Glasgow) which is my only reason to think this at the moment ( if members think it could be another line I'd be very grateful to hear from them). I hope to try and track down service records if at all possible once I have more concrete info.

The History of the Scottish routes will be my main interest from a historical perspective as I regularly travel Inverness - Glasgow and have always enjoyed the Victorian feel to some stations, and can imagine them packed with Scottish battalions embarking in 1914-18 and how little has changed since they stood on the platforms in terms of infrastructure but how different the trains are passing through. My technical knowledge is very limited ( in truth virtually non existent) but am keen to learn at least a rudimentary knowledge to give me a greater appreciation of the subject.

Anyway that is briefly my reason for being here and I hope to be able to offer something somewhere along the line as well as hopefully picking up some tips from the experts.

Best wishes Atholl

Hello Atholl and a warm welcome to the forum. I'm no "expert" but I do know that the Glasgow and South Western Railway was one of the companies which became the L.M.S. (London Midland and Scottish Railway) at the "grouping" at the start of 1923. The only other Railway company in the area was the Caledonian Railway Company, this also became part of the L.M.S. in 1923.
Hope this helps.
Regards, 62440.

Welcome to the Forum Atholl. You are the second person in the last couple of months to have relations that worked for the Glasgow and South Western. I can tell you that some of the locomotive record cards collected by the late David Smith, author of "Tales of the Galsgoe and South Western," are now in the Scottish record Office in Edinburgh. On the G&SWR crews were allocated to particular locos and records of the crews are, I believe, recorded on the cards. Could be a long drawn out task to find anything and could be a fruitless search! I believe that all the cards are now on microfiche.

Look forward to your posts.

Best wishes,

John H-T.

Hello Atholl and welcome to the Railway Forum.

Hello Atholl and a warm welcome to the forum.

Hello and welcome to the forum, enjoy and all the best.

Many thanks for the welcome and in particular the advise on tracking down records which I will follow up and hopefully find some material that will be worthy of posting up. Can I also ask .. In terms of posting photos what are the main areas that other members would find interesting, particularly if they're not normally this far North. There are many potential geographical shots such as the Viaduct over the River Nairn or the Strathspey Railway but I'm interested in what would be seen as interesting or original to experienced enthusiasts .. Are there other Highland based forum members who already provide such material .. or is the preference for shots of specific engines seen around the country .. ? Thanks again ..

Welcome to the forum Atholl.

Hi Atholl, My thoughts are that whatever photos you post will be of interest to someone on here, also the opposite is true, we seem to be a very mixed bunch of people with one thing in common. A liking for things that run on rails! Steam, Diesel, Electric, Gravity, Horse drawn, you name it, if it's got flanged wheels it's right for someone!:D

Having said that, we don't see much stuff from north of the border so it will make a pleasant change.

Regards, 62440

Hello & welcome to the forum Atholl. Post anything you like in the gallery - I'm sure they'll all be of interest:). I suspect that the members of the forum have a varied interest and so some will prefer steam locos, some diesels, some landscapes etc.

Tony