Sifting through Michael Patterson’s Flickr photos feed featuring scenes in UK railway stations in the 1980s, you might be forgiven for thinking he's something of a train buff.
And while he's clearly got a penchant for rail-related matters, there is a reason behind his large collection of fascinating captures.
Starting in the late 1970s, Michael was employed by a British Rail heritage watchdog to record the nation's train stations in a bid to improve public relations with passengers. Along the way, he stopped off in Glasgow to snap a number of photographs of the city's two mainline railway terminals: Queen Street and Central Station.
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Mostly taken in the 1980s and early 1990s, the collection of around 50 images allows us to peel back the decades and see just how much the two Glasgow stations have changed in the years since.
Michael, who lives in Lincolnshire, but hails from the Wirral near Liverpool, says he found Glasgow’s stations to be among the most impressive in Britain.
Speaking to Glasgow Live, Michael, 73, said: “The thing that really grabs you about Central Station is, first of all, the sheer size. It’s one of the largest railway stations on the network. The unique feature about it is the rounded timber buildings, which are all around the concourse and are quite spectacular.
“As for Queen Street, the one thing that’s overwhelming there is the beautiful single-span, semi-circular roof. That’s one of the great glories of Britain’s railway system.”
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There's a certain nostalgia attached to Michael's photographs. The Central Station photographs show a number of things that are sure to stir fond memories for commuters of a certain age.
The John Menzies newsstand selling the "Glasgow Herald", the Casey Jones burger bar, the manually-operated destination board, retro seating fixtures and banking adverts for chequebook holders are all things from a very different era. Fashion-wise, it's also fascinating to see commuters wearing flares, orange-lined snorkel parkas and older women with maxi coats and headscarves.
In a handful of exterior shots of Central Station we can see the contrast between the recently-cleaned stonework and the soot-stained facades that had yet to receive the same treatment.
Michael explained: “In 1979, the whole of the station frontage and the Central Hotel were filthy after decades of city grime. One of the photographs shows the contrast between the area at the entrance which had been cleaned and the rest of the building which was still blackened with grime.
“The result was magnificent and the architectural details that were revealed are just fantastic.”
Having taken thousands of photos of UK stations over the years, Michael says he is delighted that his extensive collection has been given a new lease of life online.
He said: “In the early 2000s, I joined Flickr and thought, ‘it’s time I shared my photos and put them up’. It was a laborious process. All my collections were slides, transparencies, and I had to upload those to my computer one-by-one, which took a long time.
“It’s been very worthwhile though and I’m glad people can get to see the photos which would otherwise be sitting in drawers.”
Michael Patterson is a photographer with a passion for the architecture of Britain's railway hotels. Formerly employed at the British Railways Board headquarters, he now lives in Boston, Lincolnshire.
He is the author of a number of books on the subject of Britain and Europe's railways, including Railway Hotels and Europe by Sleeping Car, which are available online.
Click the gallery link below to view a selection of Michael Patterson's images of Glasgow Central and Queen Street.
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