Glasgow's Train to Nowhere

As my first entry, I will start where I began. My first planned expedition was set in the Botanic Gardens in Glasgow's West End. Many of you may be asking the question - What lies hidden in the gardens that the public don't know of? Well many may know of it but deep in amongst a jungle of trees and vines there is a railway tunnel and platform. Here lies part of Glasgow's past, a major part as trains were a popular form of transport in previous times before having a car was a novelty as it is nowadays.

I arrived at the park in the afternoon when the whether was mild as it is in April. i took along with me my trusty Nikon which (not having a lot of experience with) I tried to take the most professional photo's i was capable of but i do need some help.

I hadn't ever heard of the railway that ran through Glasgow in the past, i only new of the lines we all use nowadays. i was excited but i didnt expect to find that much on the day...i was expecting to be let down, thinkinhg there wouldnt be much of it left. when i researched it online i found some photos and read some blogs just to get tips on how to find the best way down there and if the tunnel in the gardens was open for the public to walk through. i figured i'd get there and see if i could jump the fence and take a look down the tunnel and maybe even walk right though to the opening i had read about which looks up to the park level of ground so you can see the steel rafters and iron fences surrounding.

when i spotted the railway tunnel through the trees i was worried i wouldnt be able to access it easily or at all but i found an opening and had to slide down a hill (in totally inappropriate footwear) to get on to where the tracks would have been. once id tackled the terrain i got a better look of things and got the camera out:

unfortunately, on a closer look, the gates and locked but are clearly forced open at times so people can have a nose around in there. it was a bit creepy and very dark so i shoved the camera through to see what it picked up

it was just some graffiti and moss but i was expecting something weird to come out in the photo but then again i watch too many horror movies.



The old telegraph pole







The view of the platform from the tunnel



I'll be waiting a long time



The platform from the opposite side

despite its abandonement and the abuse it has received from vandals, i found the place somewhate enchanting and peaceful. its lost in the woods and a place where you feel you can go back in time and almost imagine people from the victorian age waiting on the platform for the next train. its so quiet for a place that would once have been bustling, noisy and busy at a time when it was the one of the most used forms of transport.

this is the view of the tunnel from the park level. these openings are hidden in some surrounding bushes and you have to go off the path a bit to get to them but there is something haunting about the fact people would have waited of the platforms below and furthermore to my surspise i found this part of the line was not disused as long ago as you might think.