Cowlairs railway works

They were closed in 1994 but the depot site was redeveloped in 2005 and is once again in use as a maintenance facility for Class 170 trains by First ScotRail.

The two locomotives were used for trials as banking engines on the 1 in 42 Cowlairs incline that started as soon as the trains left Queen Street station.

From then until 1909, the incline used cable haulage to assist trains; banking resumed in 1909 and continued until the withdrawal of type 2 diesels around 1980.

After the NBR amalgamated into the London and North Eastern Railway at the 1923 Grouping, new production finished, except for boilers and castings, such as brake blocks.

The maintenance depot replaced existing bases, including Cathcart, Lenzie and Shields Road.

A Cowlairs production plate on a North British Railway Company engine
The former Cowlairs Locomotive Works at Inverurie Street, Springburn in April 1970.
Site of the former Cowlairs Locomotive Works at Inverurie Street, Springburn in July 2009 (Carlisle St on the left was extended north through the former site).