Glasgow Transport Museum/Riverside

[Torper]

It's odd in view of the criticisms levied here that 90% of 7,481 Tripadvisor visitors gave the museum four (25%) or five (65%) stars, that 2,671 Google reviewers gave it an average of 4½ stars, and that 1,491 Facebook reviewers gave it an average of 4.6 (out of 5).  People here may be picking holes in it, but the general public obviously like it.

 

DT

[Legend]

Its a very pleasant way of spending an hour or so. The Glenlee berthed outside is also very good for a quick visit . Brass monkeys in this weather though

Edited February 13, 2018 by Legend

[66C]

It's odd in view of the criticisms levied here that 90% of 7,481 Tripadvisor visitors gave the museum four (25%) or five (65%) stars, that 2,671 Google reviewers gave it an average of 4½ stars, and that 1,491 Facebook reviewers gave it an average of 4.6 (out of 5).  People here may be picking holes in it, but the general public obviously like it.

 

DT

 

I wonder how many of the Trip Advisor visitors ever visited the previous museum at the side of the Kelvin Hall or, for that matter, the original, very atmospheric transport museum in the old tramway depot at Coplawhill?

 

Those who remember what came before are, I am certain, greatly saddened by the caricature of a transport museum that is called the Riverside Museum.  The design was created by a world renowned architect who is also well known for the fire station in Germany that is not regarded as fit for purpose.  Not much publicity was given to the resignations of trustees when they discovered how the new museum was being implemented and they voted with their feet!

 

Bear in mind that there are no criteria for the number of stars awarded on review sites such as Trip Advisor.

 

Regards.

[caradoc]

It's odd in view of the criticisms levied here that 90% of 7,481 Tripadvisor visitors gave the museum four (25%) or five (65%) stars, that 2,671 Google reviewers gave it an average of 4½ stars, and that 1,491 Facebook reviewers gave it an average of 4.6 (out of 5).  People here may be picking holes in it, but the general public obviously like it.

 

DT

 

Although of course those figures only apply to the proportion of visitors who use such platforms to post reviews. While I did enjoy my visit to the Riverside, I personally believe it could be so much better, for the reasons given both by myself and others above.

[Vanguard 5374]

Been to Riverside and the previous transport museum, and can't help but feel it was so much better previously. Given the GSWR loco is the only surviving GSWR loco, I feel it's situated in a very stupid place.

[Torper]

Although of course those figures only apply to the proportion of visitors who use such platforms to post reviews.

 

Well of course they do.  But that's three separate platforms with 11643 reviews, the vast majority of which are very positive.  This is particularly impressive when you take into account the fact that people who have a bad experience are more likely to post a review than people who've have had a good one.

 

I appreciate that the new museum may not satisfy some people as much as the old one, bit it's nevertheless clear that the vast majority of the public who visit it are more than happy with the experience.  I also see that in post 16, Daddyman seems to have had a much better experience than he might have expected given the warnings he'd been given.

 

DT

[darrel]

I visited the Museum for the first and so far only time last summer and I have to agree that it could be so much better. For a start, why is it so reluctant to call itself a Transport Museum ? Then, there are some nice exhibits, the trams in particular, and some good scenes such as the Glasgow street and the Subway, but for me the major glaring, if not criminal, omission, is the lack of even one car of a Class 303 Blue Train; Built in Scotland and worked in Scotland, most of them for their entire life. They were a major part of the transport and indeed (to keep the Museum's management interested) social life of Glasgow and the West of Scotland for around 40 years.

 

They were supposed to take a driving trailer from 303048 but we kept a driving trailer for 303063 for them to take instead. They claimed they didn't have the room for it, even though they took on the 12 wheeled royal coach which was hardly representative of the way normal people travel. Then when they had the chance to make a bigger museum they made a smaller one.

Yes there are two class 311 vehicles at summerlee which have deteriorated over the years but they are currently in the early stages of restoration, going to take a few years but it will be something special when it's done.

[bobthesod4479]

Coming late to this thread, but to call the new museum a crap is in fact being generous

 

It is worse thsn crap, they had a bloody good museum in the previous one

 

a lovely glasgow street, 

A car showroom you could walk around 

The best display of ship models i have ever seen ( notwithstanding the model of my dads old ship HMS Dido)

Getting up close to the buses and trams and trolleybuses

 

Now it is just a soulless collection with no rhyme or reason

 

Locos separated from the tenders

Cars on shelves showing all the rust underneath????

Motorbikes where yo cannot work out which is which

 

Go to Summerlease (sp/) a museum that IS a museum

 

calling it Crap is giving it credit it doesnt deserve 

 

It is the kings new clothes

Some poor sap got sucked in by some smooth talking smoothie and lost the plot completely

 

If i never went there again it will be too soon

 

A total disappointemet and disaster on what went before

 

Glasgow should hang its head in shame

[davefrk]

That's what you get when a design team (not the council or the museum staff) are put in charge of the layout and design and I found out later they had never designed a 'transport' museum in their puff. I could tell you some of their crazy ideas that they were talked out of..... But.

 

Dave.

[Guest teacupteacup]

Coming late to this thread, but to call the new museum a crap is in fact being generous

 

It is worse thsn crap, they had a bloody good museum in the previous one

 

a lovely glasgow street, 

A car showroom you could walk around 

The best display of ship models i have ever seen ( notwithstanding the model of my dads old ship HMS Dido)

Getting up close to the buses and trams and trolleybuses

 

Now it is just a soulless collection with no rhyme or reason

 

Locos separated from the tenders

Cars on shelves showing all the rust underneath????

Motorbikes where yo cannot work out which is which

 

Go to Summerlease (sp/) a museum that IS a museum

 

calling it Crap is giving it credit it doesnt deserve 

 

It is the kings new clothes

Some poor sap got sucked in by some smooth talking smoothie and lost the plot completely

 

If i never went there again it will be too soon

 

A total disappointemet and disaster on what went before

 

Glasgow should hang its head in shame

My lady who must be obeyed's father served on HMS Dido!

[Dava]

My comments on the museum are at the start of this thread, but at least we can now see the sole-surviving 'Queen' of Scottsh turbine steamers moored on the Clyde outside, and PS 'Waverley' paddling past in season..

 

http://www.tsqueenmary.org.uk/vision.htm

 

The real Scottish Railway Museum is of course at Bo'Ness where 61994 can currently be seen, for much longer too I hope. Let's free 'the Riverside 4', starting with Caley no. 123., to be reunited with 419 and the magnificent pair of Caley coaches.

 

Dava

[Legend]

I agree with the display of the cars as they go up the wall is less than ideal . Also I suspect you are referring to the wall of ship models where you are peering up at the underside of models, which again is not brilliant . So I do agree that the museum owes a lot more to style than substance , but to describe it as crap is going a bit far.

 

At least all the trams are displayed, you can actually get on board some for at least a portion of the lower deck , which I don’t think you could do in the old museum. The Scottish locomotives are displayed although it is tricky getting pictures and there are some with tenders and locos parted, I cant quite remember why. But you can still spend an enjoyable couple of hours pottering around the museum. And the Glenlee tallship outside is also worth a visit.

 

So while less than ideal, step back and remember we have a facility that shows trains, trams etc preserved and it’s free. I think that’s worth celebrating, certainly not crap. Bo’ness is good too , the only problem being, well it’s in Bo’ness!

Edited October 20, 2018 by Legend

[Bon Accord]

 

So while less than ideal, step back and remember we have a facility that shows trains, trams etc preserved and it’s free. I think that’s worth celebrating, certainly not crap.

 

Yet exactly the same could be said for the old museum, with the prime difference being accessibility of the exhibits was much better. It therefore stands to reason that the new building isn't worth the money and certainly not worth celebrating.

Not forgetting the new building's proximity to the river, Glenlee, Queen Mary and Waverley make it all the more unfathomable that the Clyde Room has been lost.

[Steamport Southport]

I agree with the display of the cars as they go up the wall is less than ideal . Also I suspect you are referring to the wall of ship models where you are peering up at the underside of models, which again is not brilliant . So I do agree that the museum owes a lot more to style than substance , but to describe it as crap is going a bit far.

 

At least all the trams are displayed, you can actually get on board some for at least a portion of the lower deck , which I don’t think you could do in the old museum. The Scottish locomotives are displayed although it is tricky getting pictures and there are some with tenders and locos parted, I cant quite remember why. But you can still spend an enjoyable couple of hours pottering around the museum. And the Glenlee tallship outside is also worth a visit.

 

So while less than ideal, step back and remember we have a facility that shows trains, trams etc preserved and it’s free. I think that’s worth celebrating, certainly not crap. Bo’ness is good too , the only problem being, well it’s in Bo’ness!

 

Other museums have done it far better though. It's just a mishmash.

 

Try MOSI in Manchester for how a transport museum should be done.

 

Best one I've visited though was the Prague Technical Museum. Yes, some of the exhibits are in strange places like motorcycles around the balconies, but you can still access them all. Apart from the planes dangling from the ceiling, but you can still get a fantastic view of them. You've got to have a head for heights though.

 

http://www.ntm.cz/en

 

http://www.ntm.cz/en/en-expozice/doprava

 

 

Jason

[Dava]

I suspect what the City Fathers of Glsgow thought they were going to get was an iconic post-modern building such as Gehry's Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao which would put Glasgow back on the international cultural map. But the much-hyped Zaha Hadid organisation did not quite deliver this. It possibly looks better from the air, as in the view from the Queen Mary website above, than from the ground or inside where the placing of exhibits is indeed post-modern.

 

It is we can be fairly sure the best transport museum Glasgow is going to get in most of our lifetimes.

[jasp]

My comments on the museum are at the start of this thread, but at least we can now see the sole-surviving 'Queen' of Scottsh turbine steamers moored on the Clyde outside, and PS 'Waverley' paddling past in season..

http://www.tsqueenmary.org.uk/vision.htm

The real Scottish Railway Museum is of course at Bo'Ness where 61994 can currently be seen, for much longer too I hope. Let's free 'the Riverside 4', starting with Caley no. 123., to be reunited with 419 and the magnificent pair of Caley coaches.

Dava

It may be of interest that Bo’ness are hosting a Caledonian Railway weekend, 2-4 November with 419 and 828, the latter on a visit from Aviemore, along with the two Caley coaches and much more.

Jim P

[pH]

I’ve now visited this museum on two occasions. The first time was by myself. Having seen the previous two transport museums in Glasgow – at  Coplawhill and Kelvin Hall –  and the technology/engineering exhibits in Kelvingrove Art Gallery, I was seriously disappointed in Riverside.

 

I visited again this September. My wife and I had gone to the UK with our son and his family, staying near Glasgow. They had gone to the Transport Museum with their two-year-old son and he had had a blast. The next day son, daughter-in-law and 6 month old had gone to Edinburgh and our two-year-old grandson had stayed with us. It poured all day so, since we couldn’t go anywhere outdoors and since grandson had enjoyed it so much the day before, we went back to the transport museum. He was delighted to be going back. He raced in the door, dragging us to one exhibit after another that he’d seen the day before, saying “Remember this?”. His favourite exhibit was the police car with the open boot, showing the kind of things that would be carried there.

 

My wife enjoyed the visit too. We grew up on Clydeside in the 1950s and 60s, so she remembered a lot of the items and recreations in the displays. We did hear quite a few comments of visitors of an age with us (i.e. old!) along the lines of ‘I remember …”. The ‘Glenlee’ was definitely worth seeing. We got a picture of our grandson using the Morse key that’s in a display there, hooked up to a lamp. Since his great-grandfather was a Navy signaller through WW2, that’s kind of special.

 

So – it is not a ‘transport museum’. In my opinion, it’s a ‘modern social history’ museum with a significant transport component. (Darrel, in post #17 above, says that’s what a member of staff told him it was, so I agree.) It’s not aimed at people with a serious interest in the engineering, it’s far more meant to appeal to ‘the general public’. As such, I’d say it works pretty well.

 

However, it means there is still a place for a real ‘transport museum’ in, or close to, Glasgow. (Summerlee, with its transport exhibits is, in my opinion, a bit far out. A visit to it needs a separate day from a visit to Riverside.) I have thoughts about what could be done, but that’s a separate discussion.

[Legend]

Yep , a notable omission in the Riverside Museum is a Glasgow Blue Train , which was the main mode of transport for many of us for 40 years . Summerlee has one , but I think is not (yet) getting restored. Of course finding somewhere to put it would be a challenge as there is no space in the existing building .

[luckymucklebackit]

It is so sad that the Scottish Collection have no chance of ever running again, how good would it have been to have them on the Jacobite double headed with each other or with the regular locos.

 

Free the Riverside Four!!!!!

 

Jim

[Legend]

It is so sad that the Scottish Collection have no chance of ever running again, how good would it have been to have them on the Jacobite double headed with each other or with the regular locos.

 

Free the Riverside Four!!!!!

 

Jim

Or at least give us some models , although I'd rather have a Caley Dunalastair than the 123 !