Maxwell Park Station Adopted

Maxwell Park Train Station has been adopted by a local conservation group under Scotrail’s ‘Adopt a Station’ scheme.

Pollokshields Heritage has transformed the station’s former ticket office and turned it into a community meeting venue and exhibition space. The station adoption was officially launched by Jack Kernahan, author of ‘The Cathcart Circle’ and railway historian.

Jack shared memories of spending time at the station in the early 1960s when he was a pupil at Hutchie Grammar. Jack and his friend Hamish Stevenson helped out at the station in their spare time and did their best to maintain the gardens. Jack also donated some historic artefacts, including station master Tom McPherson’s hat, a map of the surrounding area drawn by a staff member in 1920, and a selection of photos and tickets from the 1960s. One of the photos from 1951 shows the station in the days before the line was electrified. Lighting came from gas lamps and the locomotives on the line were mostly steam powered.

The station was built in 1894 by the Caledonian Railway Company as one of the ten original stations on the Cathcart Circle. Although it was un-staffed by 1987, the building was ‘B’ listed in 1990. By 1996 the building was in serious disrepair, and British Rail actually applied to demolish it, as they subsequently did to Pollokshields West train station.