1st of March 1848 Railway Comes to Stirling
On this day, Stirling was changed dramatically by the arrival of the railway. The Glasgow-Edinburgh line had been opened in 1842. The surprising upshot was that Stirling’s horse-drawn coaches had six years of good business carrying people to Falkirk or Castlecary to catch a train.
But, as the adverts from the local press show, the link to Stirling was completed and opened on 1st March,1848. The line was continued north to Perth on 22nd May.
But, as the adverts from the local press show, the link to Stirling was completed and opened on 1st March,1848. The line was continued north to Perth on 22nd May.
Images; Stirling Council Archives.
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The railways were much faster and cheaper than anything previously available. People who could never have afforded a coach-fare or their own horse could now use the train to go shopping or visit friends or go sightseeing – even doing the round trip to Edinburgh and back in a day! Perhaps even more important, large quantities of goods could also be quickly and cheaply moved. One fascinating result was a significant boost to Stirling’s tourist industry with day trippers from the big cities.
So, the train in the advert may not look like ‘new technology’ to us. But it did to the citizens of Stirling in 1848.
Eventually, of course, Stirling was to become a significant railway junction, the focus of a network of lines and with railways
as a major employer.
The railways did not just link people across space but across time, too! Notice the words in the advert; N.B. Time Taken from the Railway Clock. For centuries each locality had had its own time. Mid-day was when the sun was highest in the sky.
So mid-day in Edinburgh was a few minutes before mid-day in Glasgow. Stirling was somewhere in between. That did not matter when nothing moved faster than a galloping horse. But it was a difficulty for railway timetabling! So, ‘Railway Time’ was introduced as a standard time, across the country co-ordinated by electric telegraph. From 1880, Railway Time was superseded by Greenwich Mean Time and other standard times that we know today.
Sources;
So, the train in the advert may not look like ‘new technology’ to us. But it did to the citizens of Stirling in 1848.
Eventually, of course, Stirling was to become a significant railway junction, the focus of a network of lines and with railways
as a major employer.
The railways did not just link people across space but across time, too! Notice the words in the advert; N.B. Time Taken from the Railway Clock. For centuries each locality had had its own time. Mid-day was when the sun was highest in the sky.
So mid-day in Edinburgh was a few minutes before mid-day in Glasgow. Stirling was somewhere in between. That did not matter when nothing moved faster than a galloping horse. But it was a difficulty for railway timetabling! So, ‘Railway Time’ was introduced as a standard time, across the country co-ordinated by electric telegraph. From 1880, Railway Time was superseded by Greenwich Mean Time and other standard times that we know today.
Sources;
- Stirling Observer, 1848. Advertisements.
- John G Harrison, 2010. ‘The Kirkyard and Cemeteries beside Stirling Castle’, Forth Naturalist and Historian, volume 33, 49-59.
- Craig Mair, 1990. Stirling; The Royal Burgh, Edinburgh, p. 175.
- Bob McCutcheon, 1986. Stirling Observer; 150 Years On, Stirling, p. 83.