In Colour
Locally-allocated Fairburn ‘4MT’ 2-6-4T No 42167 runs into Hamilton West with a service
from Glasgow Central in May 1959. This former Caledonian Railway line formed a loop
off the West Coast Main Line between Newton and Motherwell and was linked to the Strathaven
and Coalburn branches. The town had also been served by a North British Railway branch
from Shettleston until 1952, when the line was cut-back to Bothwell and then closed
altogether three years later. Bothwell had also been served by a ‘Caley’ branch from
Uddingston until 1950. Colour-Rail.com/305168
After some rationalisation of duplicate lines, modernisation of the suburban and branch
lines around Glasgow had become a priority by the late 1950s and a programme of dieselisation
and electrification was well underway by 1959. The Clyde Coast, East Kilbride, Uplawmoor
and the Cathcart Circle lines have all been covered in previous editions of ‘Steam
Days’ so we turn our attention to the remaining routes in Lanarkshire, mainly south
of the Clyde, not so far examined. The steam shed at Hamilton West had four roads
given over to the maintenance of new diesel units in 1959, although some steam activity
continued until 1962 when electric services reached Motherwell from Glasgow (Central)
and the remaining steam-operated local trains disappeared soon after.
Left: The lines out of Glasgow Central continued to employ former Caledonian semaphore
route indicators on workings well into the 1960s and Motherwell-allocated Fairburn
‘4MT’ 2-6-4T No 42208 is displaying the code for a train from either Hamilton, Strathaven
or Lesmahagow as it gets away from Eglinton Street en route to Glasgow Central in 1960. By this time many services in the Hamilton area had been
dieselised but there were still a few steam turns for ‘4MT’ 2-6-4Ts at Hamilton West,
Motherwell and Polmadie sheds, and this working is likely to be the 5.42pm from Strathaven.
Coalburn and Strathaven branch services were confined to a diesel-worked shuttle to
and from Hamilton Central throughout the day, but Glasgow Central through services
were provided morning, lunchtime and evening. W J Verden Anderson/Keith Verden-Anderson/Rail-Online
Bottom left: The evening exodus of workers from central Glasgow is almost over when
Motherwellallocated Fairburn ‘4MT’ 2-6-4T No 42689 departs over the River Clyde from
Glasgow Central at around 7pm in September 1960. Outlying communities served by branch
