Publication Account
Date 1986
Event ID 1017687
Category Descriptive Accounts
Type Publication Account
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/1017687
St Enoch Station was the principal terminus of the Glasgow and South Western Railway Company, which operated Anglo-Scottish services jointly with the Midland Railway. The station was opened for traffic in October 1876, and the five-storeyed hotel facing St Enoch Square was completed in July 1879, evidently incorporating the earliest electric lighting-system in Glasgow. The commercial success of the station led to the construction of six additional platforms between 1898 and 1902, bringing up the total number to twelve. The station was closed in 1966, the hotel in 1974, and the entire complex has since been demolished.
The special distinction of the train-shed was its pair of impressive arched overall roofs . The roof of the original (northern) shed was of five-centred elliptical form and of wrought-iron and steel construction. It had a clear span of about 204 ft (62.2m), a height of 83 ft (25.30m), and a length of about 525 ft (160m) divided up by latticed arch-ribs into sixteen bays. The arch-ribs bore the date 1877 (when the station was already in operation) and the maker's name, Messrs Andrew Handyside & Co. Ltd. of Derby and London, which reflected the interest and influence of the Midland Railway in a design which would serve as a counterpart to that of their own larger and more celebrated terminal station at London St Pancras. The design engineers for St Enoch were John Fowler and James F Blair. The roof over the southern extension was of similar but smaller arched form, being 293 ft 7 in (89.48m) long, 65 ft (19.81m) high, and having an internal clear span of 143ft (43.60m). Beyond the sheds, the platforms were covered with glazed awnings.
Information from ‘Monuments of Industry: An Illustrated Historical Record’, (1986).
