Springburn Virtual Museum

Railway industry

Attaching messenger rope to the front of an engine on Cowlairs Incline, c 1890s

The Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway Company was prevented from building a viaduct over the Forth and Clyde Canal as its operators saw the railway as competition. A tunnel was therefore required to be built from Queen Street up to Cowlairs, 150 feet higher.

The tunnel took 500 men two-and-a-half years to build, working continuous shifts. The resulting steep 1 in 44 incline meant a potential disaster if an engine's wheels did not grip the rails, so the company was afraid to rely on locomotives alone to pull up the trains.

The trains were therefore hauled up by a stationary engine at Cowlairs, which fed out an endless rope to which engines were linked by a 'messenger' rope or chain. On the descent, trains had to stop and have brake vans attached. The winding engine was used until it was replaced by banking engines in 1908.

Source: Glasgow City Archives