The transported museum; Astonishing Glasgow Ep.49 

After university in Glasgow in 1973, I wasn't too sure what 'career path' to take. I had rent to pay, so signed up with Glasgow Corporation Transport as a bus conductor. The training school was in Albert Drive, directly across the road from the Transport Museum. I remember the bright blue, and bright green locomotives that looked absolutely wonderful. After six weeks of conducting I got asked if I'd like to train as a driver. Yes please to that. I and 3 other guys would meet up at Albert Drive. Two training buses would be parked outside, and with the instructors, we'd head off around Glasgow. Around 11am, we'd fetch up at whichever bus garage was the nearest for a mug of tea and, typically, a bacon butty. Did that job for 18 months. Must say, looking at that new museum at Riverside, with the exhibits in the air, or otherwise high up, I do wonder who the place is for ? Is it for the planners or is it for those who, presumably, pay money to come in. Thank you very much for putting up this video.

Completely agree with your comments about lack space in the new museum. They shouldn't have made it that stupid shape.

I've been to the Riverside museum once, and will never be back, just like you I've got too many good memories of Albert drive and Kelvinside where you could get up close and personal. The bus garage in Brigton is a good day oot I've been a couple of times when the big band was playing. And the price for pensioners is a bargain.

Thanks, that was great and I have to totally agree about it being spoiled by being too small and stacking their cars on the wall like a teenager with a model car collection. Instead of giving it an fancy roof which most people on the ground can't actually see, they would have been better making it a very large plain warehouse type building with the contents being the star.

You are absolutely right about the new museum. All flash, no substance.

The riverside museum is such a wasted space. It is a great building, but I don’t think the ultra modern design fits the concept of a vintage transport museum. It would be better used as a modern art gallery or something that reflects the architecture. My other main gripe is the yucky green interior. Does not fit with the shiney modern exterior imo.

Nah you aren't a grumpy old man, modern architecture is awful, we had all those beautiful buildings and they have gradually replaced them with brutalism and concrete, red sandstone for moulded monstrosities. The new Transport museum is not very inspiring at all I remember seeing all the model ships when they were still in Kelvingrove and the surroundings made them seem more magical, the new display at the riverside is sterile. Then of course there is the rip off parking charges if you have the impertinence to take your own personal transport to the transport museum.

You are right. It is not a museum; it is a visitor attraction, and successful as such. Great video again!

yes nice video totally agree with you about cars and the model boats. What a waste the Clyde room was far better.

Whenever I had visitors come, the go to place to visit was the old Transport Museum, a place I'd visit at least 3 or 4 every year. I would spend 2 or 3 hours in the Clyde Room alone, it was a fabulous place, it's about what Glasgow is famous for. When the new Riverside facility opened I was so excited, I went along with a couple of pals. To say that we were underwhelmed would be an understatement, I swore I'd never go back and I haven't. Who ever came up with the idea of hanging the cars on the walls should be jailed, it's criminal 😉😉

Compared to the cities previous transport museums the Riverside Museum is awful building is not suitable

I don't like the cars on the wall. And I like trucks.

Great video as usual. Totally agree with your comments on the new museum. It's a fabulous building in a great location, but nowhere near big enough to allow car, bus and bike lovers the chance to get up close to the vehicles, which is frustrating because as always with these types of exhibits the devil is in the detail. If I'm looking at a vintage car I want to look inside at the buttons, the seat coverings, the pedals etc. Sadly the design of the museum is form over function.

When this was openef in 2011 we where assured tjevexhibits woild be chaged out for others held in reserve, in 14 years nothing has really changed except an addotion subway carrage that was recently decommissioned , and mist the moving items no linger work (that thing with the ships models appears to have been taken out)

We never view cars from below, so why would they be exhibited in such a way?

Ahh.... miss the smell of the engine oil. Miss the mystique of viewing the model ships, boats etc, in the dark setting, when located at the KelvinH Hall. Didn't know the Kelvingrove Art Gallery was the initial setting for the Transport Musuem.

Agree about the lack of space that resulted in the GNSR locomotive being taken out of the collection. Thankfully not scrapped, just exiled to the SRPS museum at Bo'ness.

Absolutely agree about the new Riverside museum. Particularly the old street. In the Kelvin Hall, the old street felt real, it was dark and had ambience. I loved that the wall had a painted scene to make it look like the street kept going. I was once stood next to the last shop on the left hand side and watched a toddler run smack into the wall, thinking it was a continuous street. Really struggled to not laugh. 😂

Modern iconic buildings make up a section of art by themselves. Mainly an exercise in the cult of the personality.

Yes indeed. The Riverside Museum. No Thanks. Staff not too keen either on help. The move from the Kelvin Hall was not the best of ideas. You have to ask who makes these decisions. What a waste.

Just catching up on this and was surprised how much it made me feel. So many memories of the previous locations. Going to the Transport Museum at its Tramway location was my favourite place with my grandparents as a kid. Then I loved the street in the Kelvin Hall. I did take my kids to the Riverside museum plenty times, but yes I missed the chance to walk around all the cars and it seemed simultaneously crowded and impersonal.

Another voice here to agree with you that the new museum is too cramped, and that Kelvinhall was much better.

In the same way as many others have said, I am not a fan of this new building. Previously loved to visit the transport museum, but not this current place. It may well have the world's oldest bicycle and other genuinely nice attractions, but their placement is ridiculously bad. I love the bus garage at Bridgeton and have now recommended that visitors avoid the Riverside Museum.

I vaguely recall going to the tramway as a kid at school, but have some fantastic memories at Kelvin Hall. I used to take my kids there probably every Second Saturday when their mum worked night shift on the Friday to allow her to get a few hours sleep. Would spend hours in the old street and the cinema watching old cartoons. Been to the riverside once, but disliked it so much I’ve never been back. A museum should be such that you can view the exhibits and for transport (especially cars) that men’s more that seeing the underside.

I cant warm to tho the Riverside ether. Its just to small with everything cramped in. For me, it looks like a musuem of art

I liked the tram rising up to heaven with the trailing rails behind it that used to be at the front door does anyone know what happened to it is it on display anywhere? Anyway my favourite museum was at Albert drive, I get annoyed when I go to the riverside I just think they could have made it so much better.

I really miss the kelvin hall museum. The old street was just incredible, especially the subway part. You could get close to the cars and smell the mechanics. The boat area was my least favourite but at least it was quite atmospheric. New one is a cop out by comparison, but yeah, seems to be successful enough. Don’t see the point in having an old Porsche or talbot in the sky, no different to a picture. Thanks for the video.

The new museum's a disgrace. You cant see the bloody cars. Absolutely shocking.

The kelvingrove enclosed street was magical and now it's an open plan caravan of garbage. They've totally ruined the vibe.

Great video, and I totally agree about the new museum. Unfortunately the architect was more concerned about showing off her architectural skills than showing off the exhibits in the museum. Major fail on her part.

Great video..... thanks. As a Govanhill boy I was only 5 minutes walk from the original Albert Drive museum and spent loads of time there in the late 60's. It was huge and full of trains busses and trams. I remember the wonderful Royal train. A couple of years before the Apollo 10 exhibition, they had a Gemini space capsule on exhibition there. There was no perspex screens and you could lean over and actually touch this thing that had been into space. The capsule was tiny inside with just enough room for the two seats. The outside looked like it was made from an old corrugated tin roof and it was all scorched black from re-entry. Could hardly believe that two men had orbited the earth in it. I never went to the Kelvinhall museum but two years ago when back in Glasgow I went to the new Riverside museum. Its not a patch on the original but its probably more family friendly and more relevant to the times we live in. Good to see the old tram rails still there at Copelawhill works. I remember the trams heading there for the last time that mucky September evening in 1962.

Old transport museum was much better!

Nice video Dave. I worked with a lot of the coach builders from Coplawhill works, when I was an apprentice. Saw LA1 being delivered as a child. Worked on LA1 in the Bus Works, Butterbiggens Road. Took my family to see it in Albert Drive. I think the underground exhibit in Albert Drive was best, as well as the trams and buses as we were allowed onto them. New museum looks great on the outside, but inside I was not impressed, to the point of feeling sad. I felt the soul of the previous immersive displays in Albert Drive and Kelvin Hall had been discarded. Thank you very much for making this video.

Totally agree about the new Transport Museum which it badly inadequate for the volume of our past inside & I've visited once since it opened despite living not far from it! I have fond memories of the first Transport Museum growing up but the Kelvin Hall was the main one i took my daughters to when they were growing up which they loved but like myself didn't like the present venue one bit! Impressive looking from the outside but horrid inside & I believe it'll have to be expanded massively of have to move again!!

I share your sentiment , regarding modern museums, the new Liverpool museum is exactly the same, to modern, too small , no atmosphere! But I’ve lived up in Glasgow for the last 26 years , so I deeply regard the city my home , keep up the good work ❤️

The memories that come back from these old photos, thanks for the video. The Kelvin Museum was probably the best layout and the older museum was only 15 mins walk from home. And yes i qued around the block to see the Apolo moon capsule. But Riverside Museum sucks.

Interesting video. My first visit was a school trip in 1990. I remember seeing a bubble car and being really fascinated by it. I had never seen such a small car. I was so disappointed that the cars are too high up to look at in the new museum. It's like a museum built by people who don't understand the point of a museum. I was pleased to see the bubble car is still on display though 😂.

I have watched three of these wonderful videos now. They are fantastic. What I keep thinking and and regretting is why did Glasgow demolish so many wonderful buildings?

Really enjoyin your content dude😊 I go backwards/forwards on the transport museum design. Think it has good & bad angles- it can look very ‘warehousey’. My Dearly departed granda’s flying Scot bicycle hangs in there so I can forgive a little ❤

A mezzanine floor could in theory almost double its capacity and could easily be installed within the existing building's ceiling height.

Great video. I first visited the Transport Museum in 1972 and it holds many a great memory. The new Museum is a piece of 💩. Hadid was all about looks and failed to get what Transport in Glasgow was about. Not only are the historical buses missing but last I visited the trolley buses were gone as well. The St Enoch Hotel mosaic and model is gone. Poor selection of trains. No Coronation Scot Streamliners, no Gresley A4 Pacifics, no Glasgow Blue Electrics. Nothing is visible for air transport, despite the Rolls Royce previously being in Hillington. No effort was made to bring home our great ships, Queen Mary, QE2, Royal Yacht. The clipper Carrick which was berthed on the Clyde for years was let to rot and sold back to Australia. But at least the Museum has a stuffed Zebra.

I remember when the riverside museum was getting built and just wondering what it was each time I passed on the motorway

Must have followed you was there on Monday as part of my Glasgow trip.

I will try not to rant, because everytime I talk about the riverside museum it ends up in a rant about how bad it is. Completely agree with you about the new museum. I used to go to the original one when I was a child and I still think it was the best of the 3 I also remember the model railway it was one of my favourite things, maybe that's why I have one myself? Instead of wasting millions on a fancy design for the new building they should have made it a bigger museum. It has less floor space than the kelvin hall version. The subway part of the museum is awful the old museum had a replica station the current one looks like a modern station!!!! The cars, ships and bikes are badly displayed. Why is there a storm trooper? Who went to work on one of those? They had a chance to have a Glasgow blue train and refused to take it. They don't listen to constructive criticism. It's run by morons. I avoid going as much as possible as it just angers me and annoys me too much. Great video though. Brought back good memories of when we had a decent museum. Keep up the good work

am still looking to see the train set that missing when they move from albert drive and you will find the tram cars making money down south

Being a south sider myself....I recall in my youth being on the newton train passing through pollokshields east train station....seeing the sign that said alight here for the tramway museam...always peaked my interest and always was asking my folks to visit it.....Alas only a couple of.times they obliged.....good times

I thought the oldest bike was Katie Price

I watched the Apollo command module being delivered to the museum in 1971. The crate it was in was wider at the bottom (shaped like the module itself) and was just too big to get in the huge doors. Stonemasons were called and a huge sandstone block was removed to let the crate in. There was a huge crowd watching. The Apollo display opened a few days later. The command module had its hatch removed so you could see a mannequin in a space suit inside. You had to walk along the raised platforms you normally used to view the tramcars to see it. There was also a bit of moon rock on display in a perspex sphere. The queue to get in stretched round the corner into Pollokshaws Road. The gift shop (yes, as always, exit via the gift shop!) had great space items that appealed to my 8 year old self. Alas, I was skint! However the exact same stuff was on sale when I visited Kennedy Space Centre in 2015.

Wow, so many memories for me in this. My grandfather drove trams in the 1930s (he was killed in an accident in 1934 so I never met him) and my Uncle drove trams and buses in Glasgow until the 1960s I think. I was born in Glasgow but we emigrated to Australia when I was 2 and I did not have any memories of Glasgow until 1972 when as a 13 year old we returned for a visit. My Uncle on the first day I was there took myself and my cousins (who I had just met for the first time) to the Transport Museum in Pollokshields. He dropped us off outside and collected us a few hours later. I have little recollection of it inside but the outside of the building I do remember and the photos brought back all those memories. At that time I had little interest in transport, but by the mid-1990s when I was in Glasgow on a sabbatical for 6 months I was very interested in trams and I spent many weekends at the Museum of Transport at Kelvin Hall. The recreated street scene was definitely a favourite. I think by that time I had a real appreciation of how Glasgow's public transport was woven into my family history and also how Kelvin Hall was a large part of my father's life as he lived nearby and attended many events there. I haven't been to Glasgow since 2006 so I am looking forward to seeing the Riverside Museum when I do, but from your video it just doesn't have the same feel as the Museum at Kelvin Hall. Another thing about that Museum was you could have cup of tea and a cake in the cafe on the upper level and look down on the exhibits. Magic.! Finally. I never thought about the doubledecker chocolate bar as connected to all this - I can buy them over here in our supermakets (under "UK Foods"!) and I will now always eat them and and think of the Museum of Transport! Thank you so much for making this video!

Thank you, and Best Wishes

The tramway round the corner what a place, great video wonderful and insightful as per usual well done my dude , you make me proud to be a glesga boy

I remember there was an episode of....something, might have been Cartoon Cavalcade that was filmed in the old transport museum, one of those things I wish would surface on RU-vid! I've been to the Riverside once, on the day it opened!

I'm glad I got to see it.

The smell of the old transport museum I would describe like a coal smell, and a smokey oak smell. Haven't seen the new one yet, reckon that's the plan for my dads next birthday, last year we did the central station tour.

behind the museum there is a very handy ferry to Govan :)

I wonder what happened to the model of Carlisle Citadel Station that was in the Albert Drive Museum?

Song "Last tram tae Auchenshuggle"... I think you are quite right about the inaccessability of many of the exhibits. You need a telescope to examine the bikes!

My Aunt lived on St John's Road off Albert Drive. Every time we visited her we wanted to visit the transport museum. I have clearer memories of the Kelvin Hall & the old street. I have been to the new one & while I liked it, you make a good point about space & cars being stacked. I hadn't thought about it at the time.

I love the new building, but it is a mix of good and bad as a museum. The new street and subway station are very good, but as you say the cars are way to high out of view and although the moving rail that displays some of the model ships (when it is working) is pretty neat, I do miss the upstairs room in the old museum where you could walk around the display cases up close. I imagine when the Govan footbridge opens it’ll get even busier as it will be more or less on the Subway network.

As a fellow Soo sider born in 1968, I was also taken there as a child in the early '70s, and remember the smell very well too.

I seem to remember an episode of Still Game that was filmed in the new museum. They were standing in front of the tram that hit the boy which is how Victor and Jack met. Another great video from the Local Historian.

Great vid once again. I especially enjoyed the peek inside the Tramway.

great video btw! 👍

I do think the new museum has one thing going for it, the location, I think its a magnificent location to just be at.

seen to much by around i mean 59 bus

Empire biscuits used to be called German biscuits. Another great video.

Thanks

Thanks

Brilliant episode, that brought back many memories. Thanks 👍

Really enjoyed this one, thanks Dave. Sadly I've never been to any incarnation of the Transport Museum, need to fix that. I do remember getting lost at a Motor Show in the Kelvin Hall in the late 70s.

The Riverside is a good museum. You just need to remember that it is NOT the Transport Museum. I too have fond memories of the carpet in the old café! Really miss the Clyde room. Being able to trace the evolution of ship design was a real highlight for me.

Was there in September....A whole bunch of stuff was before my time...70...yup...before even my time...The big laugh was 2 young guys being amazed by the wee blue invalid car....They stood there, could not fathom it, where the door was, and had no clue what it was...Stepped up...explained its' existence, and value to thousands over they years...Also explained that in days gone by, they would be seen at many football fields...a semi circle of them behind the goal posts.....I did not ask if they could tell the time on an old watch...lol....They were blown away by its' usage.....Great museum, another Glasgow treasure....time waits for none of us

weeven ??? , as in woven .