Perth to Glasgow 1960s

[0161]

I was listening to an interview with Sir Alex Ferguson on Radio 4 at the weekend, where he talked about his time playing for St Johnstone.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0015tw6

He mentioned that one of the reasons he left St Johnstone was because he was unable to get a train back from Perth to Glasgow; he cited only being able to get a night train to Coatbridge, and then a bus into Glasgow.

This would have been the early '60s, and the train I imagine, would have been a sleeper following the route of the Clansman avoiding Glasgow at Cumbernauld and following the WCML.

Surely though there would have been standard passenger services in the evenings between Perth and Glasgow? There certainly was in the '90s.

 

[SuspectUsual]

Was he referring to the situation after an evening game, or an afternoon one? If it was an evening game - generally 730pm kickoffs back then - it’d be at least 915pm by the time the game finished, and I’m guessing another hour after that to allow for showering, refreshments, managerial rants, physio etc etc. Add the time to get to the station and you’d maybe be looking for a train at about 1045pm. Would there have been one?

 

[Cheshire Scot]

I was listening to an interview with Sir Alex Ferguson on Radio 4 at the weekend, where he talked about his time playing for St Johnstone.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0015tw6

He mentioned that one of the reasons he left St Johnstone was because he was unable to get a train back from Perth to Glasgow; he cited only being able to get a night train to Coatbridge, and then a bus into Glasgow.

This would have been the early '60s, and the train I imagine, would have been a sleeper following the route of the Clansman avoiding Glasgow at Cumbernauld and following the WCML.

Surely though there would have been standard passenger services in the evenings between Perth and Glasgow? There certainly was in the '90s.

In the 1966/67 timetable there were trains from Perth to Glasgow 20.37 and 22.15 - the latter not too tight for a midweek back which back then would have kicked off at 19.30 and finished within minutes of 21.10 - 10mins for half time and no 'Fergie time' added on back then. Trains to Coatbridge Central at 21.15 and 22.30.

Thinking about it by 66/67 he would have left St Johnstone for Dunfermline, surely even harder to get back from there midweek - checks timetable 21.30 from Dunfermline Lower to Glasgow Buchanan Street or 21.46 Dunfermline Higher 21.50 Lower to Haymarket for the 22.33 from Haymarket to Queen St - from memory East End Park was closer to Higher than Lower.

Into the 70s and there was a Football periodical - I think monthly - 'Football Scot' by which time Fergie was sticking his elbows into opposing defenders whilst wearing the dark blue of Falkirk. There was a regular feature 'a day in the life of' and I recall in one issue the subject was Fergie, with a series of photos showing him catching the train from Queen St to Grahamston for the very short walk to Brockville, attending training then back to Grahamston for the DMU home. In that era quite a number of footballers travelled daily by train from their home towns to attend training with their club (just as Fergie would have done to Perth and Dunfermline) and I recall seeing several Rangers players passing through Queen St having travelled from Edinburgh or in the case of Derek Johnstone from Dundee.

Edit: Having checked the bookshelf, Fergie was a part-timer at St Johnstone (semi-pro in today speak), travelling to Perth two evenings a week for training after a full day at work. He moved to Dunfemline in 1964 and to Rangers in 1967.

 

[Taunton]

We don't know where he actually lived in Glasgow, for getting onwards from the train station; he presumably didn't live in Buchanan Street. However, I think the last bus from Coatbridge into Glasgow in those times would likely be around 11pm, if that, so getting there gave little advantage; it was the out-of-town Eastern Scottish bus rather than the Glasgow city one. If I remember correctly, by this time Coatbridge Central station, on the Stirling to Motherwell line, was strangely only open at night, the southbound trains from Inverness etc to Euston around midnight, and the northbound ones stopped there before breakfast time.

Probably 1973, and we students from Edinburgh went to Aberdeen one snowy January Saturday morning, getting at Dundee the Glasgow train onwards. To our joy, being on university expenses, there was a restaurant car, and in there was the "reserve" (or whatever they are called) team from one of the major Glasgow clubs. Aberdeen were playing at Glasgow that day, and apparently the reserves thus went the other way to meet the Aberdeen reserves that afternoon. The Scottish internal restaurant cars probably did even less business on a Saturday than they did in the week, I think the team plus our student group of four were the only ones in there, so must have come as a bit of a shocker to have a near-full car; the chef however had obviously managed to have sufficient food on hand. A right shower they all were, all in the same suits, though rather dishevelled, and looking glum all round, probably aided by the prospect of their afternoon game being in a snowstorm.

 

[Cheshire Scot]

We don't know where he actually lived in Glasgow, for getting onwards from the train station; he presumably didn't live in Buchanan Street.

If I remember correctly, by this time Coatbridge Central station, on the Stirling to Motherwell line, was strangely only open at night, the southbound trains from Inverness etc to Euston around midnight, and the northbound ones stopped there before breakfast time.

Fergie has always been proud of his roots in Govan, so quite possible that would be the area where he lived in his late teens/early twenties.

The daytime WCML to/from Perth trains also called at Coatbridge Central -- in 66/67 there were two each way (plus the 'mail' from Carlisle in the late evening).

 

[D6130]

Fergie has always been proud of his roots in Govan, so quite possible that would be the area where he lived in his late teens/early twenties.

Wikipedia tells me that he played for St Johnstone between 1960 and 1964. I only have Summer timetables for that period, so they may not be wholly accurate for the football season, but in 1961 the last Saturday daytime train departed from Perth at 22 05 (19 45 from Aberdeen via Forfar), arriving at Buchanan Street at 23 40. On weekday evenings he would have had to take the 22 15 departure, running via Coatbridge Central (but a through train) and arriving at Glasgow Central at 00 11. Fast forward to the 1963 timetable....and the times are still exactly the same.