Glasgow Transport Museum

[Pillock]

Or the riverside museum, or whatever it's called.

My employer lovingly arranged a three hour meeting six hours away from my house (yeah, cheers for that) but at least they booked a room at a good venue. I hit no traffic, unsurprisingly for hammering up the M6/M74 at 8am so was in Glasgow for 10 and could have a poke around.

 

Surprisingly well done Dulux job on this banger

 

Supposedly a cut and shut the police found, based on things like the wrong badge on the back. And assumedly the big wonky weld across the floor.

 

 

 

 

Random wall'o'cars

 

 

 

 

Because Glasgow

 

 

[Split_Pin]

The wall of cars is awful, cant get near any car to see up close/inside. Everything else is where you'd east expect, very disorganized. The ship models are on a flipping moving carousel too so no chance of studying detail.

 

It was designed by some high fallutin' woman with what looks like no appreciation of how people will want to look at the exhibits.

[Luckythirteen]

Agreed. It's all very artistic and clever in itself, but it kinda fails in its purpose.

The Dulux'ed cop Granada is hilarious though.

[privatewire]

It's so unlike the old Transport Museum, it almost feels like it's a display in a department store. The old museum was a place I visited time and time again, I've been once to the new one, and was underwhelmed.

[tooSavvy]

To 'display' is to pursue the 'art' of it. [them]

 

To 'consume/absorb' is to care about the 'very fabric' of it. [us]

 

"Keep ya ffinn HANDS OFF!" .... ahh, how it was them days

 

 

TS

[Matt]

I reckon Glasgow picked the designer because she is big within those circles so it would look good when they market Glasgow to the world, which it does, but it makes for a properly fucking shit layout for a museum - I mean what the hell is that car wall thing? Whoever thought that was a good idea for a museum needs a proper clout around the head, maybe it'd make them realise what a dense twat they are. The actual building it'self it cool looking but the designer clearly wasn't qualified to do the interior.

 

I won't be going back or recommending that anyone else does.

[Mr_Bo11ox]

Looks like some good shiz in there, does seem a bit of a shame that some of it is hung on a wall 50ft up where you cant look at it properly though.

[cort16]

It's a really nice building but it's not as good a museum for getting close to old chod as the old one.

[eddyramrod]

I've been within reach of this place all week, but totally failed to even remember it existed, much less manage a visit.  Looking at the pics and comments though, I think I did the right thing.

[DodgyBastard]

I loved the old one, the new one is shit.

[Ronnie L]

I live quite close to the Riverside Museum and have visited it quite a few times since it opened. I agree with all that's been said about the car wall and the fact that the stuff isn't displayed or organised the way proper vehicle enthusiasts want to see them, ie up-close and properly grouped together. However I wouldn't want these posts to put anyone off going there if they happen to be in Glasgow. There is a lot of good stuff to look at and quite a lot of the cars are on the floor and can be looked at in minute detail. Although I think the car wall is a shocking waste of good exhibits, it does have one (and only one) advantage and that is that you can actually see UNDER many of the cars. (The MGB appeared to be typically rough underneath IIRC).

I preferred the 2 previous versions of the Glasgow Museum of Transport, especially the one at the Kelvin Hall. They were much more honest and didn't have any silly pretensions to being arty of fashionable. However the new Riverside Museum is hugely popular with Glaswegians and visitors alike, it's always been busy any time I've been there. So they must be doing something right. And let's give credit to Glasgow City C

[Ronnie L]

Sorry, hit the post button there by mistake  ......... to continue ................. let's give credit to Glasgow City Council for continuing to make it FREE - NO ADMISSION CHARGE. Shouldn't really complain too much, eh?

[Pillock]

Yeah, I was quite impressed bit didn't go there expecting it to be a car museum with a little printed sheet on who designed the glovebox lid on a 1972 Spamjavelin. It's a shame you can't see in some of the cars because they're halfway up a wall but then again it's mass appeal innit, designed for someone's dad who just wants to point at an old car and claim he had one.

 

Plus, free.

[HillmanImp]

They are real cars? I thought they were toy ones. 

[Ronnie L]

No, they are real cars, although in photos they look exactly like Dinky / Corgi 1/43 die-cast models. I think that was the arty-farty thinking behind it. They look like models displayed in a toy-shop. VERY annoying for proper car-nuts though. Mind you, when you see it in real life you've got to admire the engineering which went into designing and building that wall, not to mention lifting the cars into place and keeping them up there!

[rainagain]

One of the things that really annoyed me about it was upstairs there's a big display about how crap Sir Clive Sinclair was. No mention of all the good stuff he invented or how he helped bring home computing to the masses. No just that he invented the C5 and it was crap, lets all laugh at him

[Pillock]

It's got a Spectrum and some of his other computery bits in, and it does actually say that he made money from the computers that he then used on the C5 experiment.

[AnthonyG]

Much of the 'good stuff' he invented didn't actually work. He was a bit of a shyster, albeit with some good ideas. 90% of the actual work was done by others who were rarely rewarded with appropriate pay or recognition, until they upped and left and started their own firms.

[Junkman]

Darr as bin a murrdah...

[mrcitroen]

Been a few times with the family etc etc

 

Preferred the old one at the Kelvin Hall with the mock up uncle Arnie showroom where you could walk round & peer inside the cars. I also miss the Clyde room with all the model ships. That in itself was a reason to visit. The detail and craftsmanship in those models was nothing short of stunning.

 

The new museum does come in for a lot of slagging off, but although as a car enthusiast if find it cack, we always come away having had a good day. Give it a few years and I think the interior will be re arranged.

 

One time I was there, went to the loo and someone had a dump in the urinal. They also have a feedback from and suggestion box. Maybe he could not find them!

[skoda_fan]

I agree, a rubbish layout. What's the point of exhibits no one can see properly? The same thinking has gone into the Skoda Museum in the Czech Republic. Used to be excellent, now a lot of the cars are placed randomly on a floor to ceiling racking type structure, so you can't see them properly. It's like walking into a storage facility. "Progress" I guess!

[oldcars]

When i saw the cars racked like that i though u-pull it was now under cover.

[rml2345]

Much preferred it at the Kelvin Hall as you could get a proper look at the exhibits, particularly the ship models in the Clyde room. The Riverside seems to be a hit with the general public though and much busier than the old one so I guess we're the minority.

At least it's free, leaving money to go for a hurl on the Subway to cheer yourself up afterwards.

[cort16]

I hate that subway. You can tell weegies are historically short arses by the fact the train is 4 ft tall.

[Junkman]

At first glance I thought the cars on whe wall shelves are very large scale models, which prompted unbearably high wantage and the plottage of a burglary.

But since they are indeed real cars I iz disappoint and they are safe.