U.K. Field Trip Part 8 – Glasgow Riverside Museum – The Museum of Transport

Click on each image for a closer look!

On our final day in the UK, we took the opportunity to visit one of the newest museums, the Glasgow Riverside Museum, which opened earlier this year. The Museum is the new home of the collection of the Glasgow Museum of Transport, which for many years was housed at Kelvinhall in central Glasgow.

While the old museum was one of the busiest museums in the UK for many years, despite the volume of visitors, it would not be recognized as a well organized or presented collection. For many years, the museum was housed in the equivalent of a warehouse, with cars parked close together, and trains and tram cars crammed into small spaces on short sections of track within the building. Recognizing this problem, several years ago fundraising began, and a new museum site along the River Clyde was chosen, culminating in the closure of the old museum in 2010, and the opening of the Riverfront Museum in spring of this year. The new museum allows for much better presentation of the exhibits, along with new exhibits, such as a South African Railway 15F 4-8-2 Steam Locomotive built by North British Locomotives in Glasgow, shipped to South Africa, and repatriated in 2007 for restoration and display.

Of particular interest to TRHA Volunteers are the Railway and Transit exhibits. Four former Scottish locomotives are on display, Caledonian Single 123, North British Railway “Glen Douglas”, Highland Railway “Jones Goods” No. 103 and Glasgow and South Western Railway No.9 are all within the museum. In addition, as noted South African No.3007, a 3’6” Cape Gauge monster built by North British in Glasgow is a centrepiece of the collection. Several double decker Glasgow Trams are presented, along with a replica of an 1890’s Glasgow Subway Station in the “Street 1895-1930” recreation of a Glasgow Street from the first quarter of the last century.

The new museum has from all accounts been a huge success, with very high visitor numbers (as evidenced by it being packed during our visit), and is well worth a visit for any rail or transportation fan who finds themselves in Glasgow.

Description of images:

#1 - The Street, Hose Drawn Tram, transit to Canada £2
#2 - SAR 3007
#3 - SAR 3007 Plates
#4 - Glen Douglas and Double Decker Tram
#5 - Caley Single, Jones Good, Glasgow SW 9
#6 - Wall of Cars

This is the final installment of this series of TRHA News postings about this field trip. To read the entire series, start by clicking here.

Posting and pictures by Stephen Gardiner and Heather Meger!