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Please read the notes. |
Glasgow Subway "Rush Hour" © Robert Glass, John Douglas & Peter Douglas 2001-2003. |
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| About the Glasgow Subway |
| The
Glasgow Subway is the third oldest subway system in the
world, after London and Budapest. It was first opened to
the public in 1896. Following an accident the same day,
it was closed and eventually opened for regular passenger
use in 1897. Fifteen stations were served by a 10km
double track route running in two seperate tunnels, which
became known as the Inner Circle (Anti Clockwise) and the
Outer Circle (Clockwise). It was closed again in 1977 due
to a modernisation programme and re-opened in 1980. As
part of the modernisation, four stations were renamed - Partick
Cross was renamed Kelvinhall, Merkland Street became
Partick, Govan Cross was shortened to Govan, and finally
Copeland Road was renamed Ibrox. Journey time on both circles is approximately 24 minutes and all services stop at every station. The frequency of trains on the current system varies from about one every four minutes at peak times and one every 8 minutes at off-peak times. The entire line is Subway and depth varies from 7 feet to 155 feet in places. The track is an unusual gauge of 1220mm or 4 feet. Originally, the trains were hauled through the system by a continuous moving cable, which was moved by a coal-fired boiler in Scotland Street, at a steady speed of 12.5mph. Trains were fitted with Grippers, that gripped (!) the cable. To stop, the grippers were released. In 1934, work began on electrification to a 600Vdc third rail system. This system is still in use today and the top speed of the trains is now approximately 35mph, or 55km/hr. The current stock used on the lines is controlled remotely, acceleration, braking and top speed included. A driver is employed to supervise operation and control the doors at stations. The driver must also press a start button when the train is ready to depart. An emergency override is provided. Manual controls are provided, although they are only used to move the trains around the maintenance depot, plus to and from the same depot. Once on a loop, the automatic system controls the train. There are no sidings on the system and maintenance of trains is carried out on the surface at a depot in Broomloan Road, near Ibrox. Originally, this meant that a lift had to be used to remove trains from the tunnels to the depot above. This has since been removed and two ramps (one for each Circle) built to provide access to the depot. It's here that your shift begins... Note: The system is operated by Strathclyde Passenger Transport who painted their trains and buses "Strathclyde Red". The Subway was no exception and it became known by the media as the "Clockwork Orange". Please see the Links page for sites containing information about the Glasgow Subway and pictures, from both the past and present. |
| BVE Route Scenario |
| Probably the first
route for BVE where you must complete a full shift on the
line and it's during a 'Rush Hour Morning' too, so your
train is required to cope with morning commuters on the
Glasgow Subway. Having left the carriage sheds, the shift begins at a reversing point in the Broomloan Road Depot (above ground), from where you descend into the Subway tunnels with ECS to Ibrox. Here the journey officially begins...Twice around the circle, transporting Glasgow's commuters to their destinations. Public service eventually ends at Govan, just over an hour later. But you have to return your train to the depot, so it's back to Broomloan Road... |
| Route Information |
| Distance
2x
10 km (6 miles) Stations (From the depot) - Ibrox, Cessnock, Kinning Park, Shields Road, West Street, Bridge Street, St Enoch, Buchanan Street, Cowcaddens, St Georges Cross, Kelvinbridge, Hillhead, Kelvin Hall, Partick, Govan...and do it again, before heading back to the depot! Journey time approx 60 mins The timetable is longer than the screen display, so you will need to scroll down to see the whole list. To do this in BVE, open the timetable and press 'Shift+F4' to scroll down and 'CRTL+F4' to scroll back up! Alternatively, hold down the right mouse button and move the mouse down, or up! Signalling Coloured Light Two Aspect |
| Driving Information and Hints |
Your journey (on the Inner Circle) time is approximately 55 minutes and the schedule to serve each station is quite tight and if you are on time at Govan you have a longer stop during which a staff member walks through the train to lift waste paper, etc. Thus keeping the trains clean as possible. Don't worry! It's not the driver's job! ;o) Controlling the train will take some practice, particulary between Partick/Govan and Bridge Street/St Enoch. This is where the lines dip under the River Clyde, firstly in the West (heading south) then the East of the City (heading north). Gradients here are quite steep, so some practice with braking is required to keep to the speed limit on the down grade and it's full power all the way up the other side. Speed limit around the depot area and ramps is 15 Km/h and 10 Km/h on crossovers. The speed limit for normal operation is 55 Km/h. Markers are displayed en-route. Beware of the speed limit after Cowcaddens! Drivers; please try to keep to the speed limits. Although they are quite slow, they are prototypical and the timetable is set up accordingly. Note: A good procedure for driving the train in order to keep to the schedule, is to use Pwr Notch 1 to 10 km/h, Notch 2 to 20 km/h and Notch 3 until the line speed is reached. Braking; Brk Notch 1 by end of tunnel, Notch 2 upon entering station and Notch 3 is only needed occasionally, where the end of the platform is built on a steep downgrade, which it generally is (Orginal idea was to aid accelleration of departing trains). |
| Credits |
| John & Peter Douglas - For support and testing many
ideas and correcting even more mistakes! And for
researching a great deal of the information, including
the gradients, curvature, line speeds, station and tunnel
details. And for recording the sounds used in the route, plus
writing the timetable and the clever idea for the random
signalling. Special thanks to the following people for all of their support and taking the time to test the route and provide excellent and extremely helpful feedback... Anthony Bowden (Rail Sim Routes UK) Chris Cooper Stephen Cross - (OzRail) Thanks also for the above driving procedure. Bryan Dudley (Rail Tech) Steve Green (Train Sim Central) - Thanks also for the tunnel signal masks and fixing the train's acceleration sound. And anyone else involved ... |
| Download (Updated
28th December 2003) Please note that the copyright and ownership of the materials contained within the download belongs to the developers. If you would like to use any of the files from the download, please contact me: robert@scotrailsim.co.uk |
Download Glasgow Subway "Rush Hour" Route (0.6 MB - contains the route file, objects and images) Download Glasgow Subway "Rush Hour" Sounds (0.5 MB - contains sounds) Download Glasgow Subway "Rush Hour" Train (1 MB - contains the train with full-height cab and moving brake & power levers) N.B. Extract the files to your BVE folder, e.g. C:\Program Files\BVE (The patch below installs the old style
480x200 BVE panel into your train folder, Download Glasgow Subway "Rush Hour" Train Patch (75 KB - contains reduced-height cab for the train above, with moving brake & power levers)
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| Important Information and Developer's Notes |
| This
route contains random objects in the form of depot trains (look
out for the "Donkey") and passengers. The route
also has a simplified form of random signalling implemented. Bitmaps are optimised to prevent problems with transparencies and are all 256*256 pixels (or less) and 256 colours. And, the route works on a 266MHz with 16 MB Video Card and 256 MB RAM. So, any machines in the range will cope and as always, the faster the better. But, if you do experience any hesitation or low frame rates, please try running the route with 'Draw Distance' reduced. BVE and all it's add ons are freeware, but copyright © on all material belongs to the developers unless stated otherwise. So it is recommended that you seek permission before you consider releasing any work that contains, or is based upon, material created by someone else. For more information about this aspect of development, please read the following guidelines: BVE Developer Guidelines - A set of guidelines, to help new BVE developers avoid copyright pitfalls when releasing a new BVE add-on These can be found at Anthony Bowden's website (Rail Sim Routes UK), and you can access the relevant section directly, by clicking on the banner below...
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| Some Screen Shots |
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Before the descent into the tunnels. Note the SPTE unit awaiting the signal to clear before descending onto the Outer Circle - might not be there next time you run the route ;o) (Carriage workshops behind train, on the left) |
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On the Inner Circle! One of thirty stops (2x15) to pick up commuters. Seen approaching the stop at busy Kelvin Hall station. |
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Daylight! Leaving the Subway system and returning to the depot area. |
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Quick signal check at the top of the ramps near the end of your shift. Note the 'hybrid' on the right. One of two sets on the UG consisting of both 'centenary' and 'SPTE' liveried units - again, might not be there next time. ;o) |
Every effort has been made to ensure that the information here is accurate and correct. Use the information you find here at your own risk! Scottish Rail Sim Files and its affiliates are not responsible for any damage or loss due to use (or misuse) of information found here. This site is not affiliated with, or endorsed by, Strathclyde Passenger Transport, First Scotrail, or any Train Operating Company. |
| © Robert Glass 2001-2005 unless stated otherwise. Contributors retain ownership and copyright of their own material. No part of this site may be reproduced without permission from the copyright holder(s). Permission may be sought by contacting the web site owner (details available on the contact page). Note direct-linking (hot-linking, leeching, etc.) to files is strictly prohibited. |
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