ASK someone today to direct you to Bridge Street station and they'll point in the direction of the Subway.

Had you asked the same question in 1841, you'd have been directed to the soot-blackened building in the centre of this picture.

Built by the Glasgow and Paisley Joint Railway, it was then the last word in modern, high speed travel. And with no railway bridges yet spanning the Clyde, you had to get off here and walk into town.

Later, in 1890, a second Bridge Street station opened - it's the tall building further down the street. You can still see the back of it as you arrive at or leave from Central Station, which opened for business in 1879.

The old station and the buildings on the right were demolished in the late 1950s and today the site is open ground.