Abandoned Scotland: Cumberland Street Train Station

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Original post: Abandoned Railway Station Cumberland Street Video - May 2011

Over the years and to this day we frequently pass by Cumberland Street Station, only once have we ever seen the boarding peeled back with an entry point and we made sure to capitalise on it. After going to numerous different failed locations it was a stroke of luck to see the entrance to this station. 

It was developed by the Glasgow and South Western Railway in 1900, as a replacement for Main Street station, Gorbals, following the doubling of the track from Port Eglinton to St Enoch station. It was in operation until 1966, when passenger services to St Enoch station ended. It has been proposed to reopen the station as part of the Glasgow Crossrail project. 

The video from our trip inside can be seen here:

Item by Abandoned Scotland - www.abandonedscotland.com -

Original post: Abandoned Railway Station Cumberland Street Video - May 2011

Photos on flickr: Cumberland St. Train Station

The fake Russian ghost town

ORIGINAL POST: LA GHOST TOWN RUSSA CHE NON ESISTE

Looking these photos feels like being suddenly thrown in a suggestive ghost town, maybe destroyed by a terrible bombing. But that’s not the case… 

These incredible half-destroyed buildings aren’t but a wonderful set made by a Russian film studio, “Mosfilm”, for a movie taking place during World War II. They certainly look impressive and extremely lifelike.

Mosfilm is one of the oldest and most productive studios in Europe. Some of the greatest Soviet directors worked for this studio, like Andrej Tarkovskij and Sergej Ėjzenštejn, creating among the best film produced in the URSS, like War and Peace and Dersu Uzala. Mosfilm was founded in Moscow in 1920 but was established in November 1923. The first film produced by the company was Boris Michin’s On the wings skyward. A second film studio complex was built in 1927 in Sparrow Hills, later named “Moscow amalgamated factory Sojuzkino the Tenth Anniversary of the October” in memory of the October Revolution. Only in 1936 was it renamed Mosfilm. When the URSS dissolved, the studio counted more than 3.000 films produced, but from then on it slowed down its pace until it basically became a private company. 

Today this incredible set (which you can see in the image gallery in our website) is occasionally visited by tourists coming to admire these evocative deserted roads and take some photos…

For further information you may find the Mosfilm official website here: Mosfilm.

Source: WhatsUpMovies

Translation by Marco Salvadori

Abandoned Scotland: Torpedo Testing Station

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Original post: Torpedo Testing Station - Arrochar - May 2011.

For an explore in May you’d expect, even in Scotland, that the weather would be fairly pleasant, but as always the weather loves to make our explores that slightly more interesting. The Torpedo Testing Station sits on the northern banks of Loch Long near to Arrochar and has long been left to rot by the military. 100 years old this year the station was closed in the 1980s. The place has had a colourful history, in 1915 a spy Augusto Alfredo Roggen was caught and hanged at the tower of London for taking photographs here...

Here is an old map of the site, where sadly several of the buildings have since been demolished: 

The Torpedo Testing Station can easily be missed when driving along the main road after Arrochar what with all the trees and shrubbery left to grow around it. There is a small access road which is where we parked up and went for a walk.

The main part of the station was set on fire with some of the damage visible here.

Most of the main pier is a shell housing nothing but broken windows and the remnants of what went before.

In this shot the weather actually looks quite welcome however this was just one of the brief dry spells when the horizontal rain let off for a few minutes before continuing its battering of the old station.

The old rails used to transport the torpedoes around the station are still set into the ground of most parts of it. Here you can see the doorways leading to the launching area, which unfortunately was not accessible for us due to the tide and the welded closed doors.

The inaccessible part of the station.

Next to the main part of the station was this slip way, complete with abandoned boat. Although this boat was possibly not used by the military.

Surprisingly we found what was left of the boat’s engine on the main road a good distance away.

The other side of those doors.

Around the station are various structures although we couldn’t access them either. Big sad face.

There were also various houses no doubt used to home some of the staff, caretakers or security for the place over the years. Although this place was closed in the 1980′s some of the houses still had satellite dishes attached to them.

One of the more interesting finds on the site was this relic of a caravan.

A good day out apart from the weather.

This a video of our journey:

Item by Abandoned Scotland - www.abandonedscotland.com -

Original post: Torpedo Testing Station - Arrochar - May 2011.

Photos on flickr: Torpedo Testing Station.