Glasgow Museum of Transport

The Glasgow Museum of Transport Technology is located in the Kelvin Hall in Glasgow, Scotland.

History

Situated inside the Kelvin Hall opposite the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum in the West End of Glasgow City, the Kelvin Hall was built in 1927, originally as an exhibition centre, but was converted in 1987 to House the Museum of Transport and the Kelvin Hall International Sports Arena. Formerly it had been located on Albert Drive in Pollokshields in the building that is now the Tramway Theatre.

Current Museum of Transport

The Museum of Transport in the Kelvin Hall is one of the most popular museums of transport in the United Kingdom, attracting half a million visitors a year. Founded in 1964, it moved into the renovated Kelvin Hall in 1987 and houses many exhibits of national and international importance.

Road vehicles

The museum houses the oldest surviving pedal cycle and the world's leading collection of Scottish-built cars, including such makes as Argyll, Arrol Johnson and Albion. More well known cars, namely the Hillman Imp, Chrysler Avenger and Chrysler Sunbeam are represented too.

All forms of transport are featured, from horse-drawn vehicles to fire engines, from motorcycles to caravans, even toy cars and prams.

Ship models

In the Clyde Room are some 250 ship models, representing the contribution of the River Clyde and its shipbuilders and engineers to maritime trade, including the Comet of 1812, the Hood, the Howe, the Queen Mary, and the Queen Elizabeth and the QE2.

Railway and tramway exhibits

Locomotive manufacture was also an important Glasgow industry and the museum celebrates the city's railway heritage, including locomotives such as:

• Caledonian Railway Caley No. 123 single driver
• Highland Railway No. 103, the Jones Goods
• Great North of Scotland Railway Gordon Highlander No. 49

Well-known exhibits include the famous Glasgow trams, the 'Subway' (underground railway) station and the reconstruction "Kelvin Street", which aims to recapture the atmosphere of 1930's Glasgow.

New Museum of Transport

In 2009, the Museum will be moving to a new purpose-built Riverside Museum in Glasgow Harbour on the Clyde, designed by Zaha Hadid Architects and engineers Buro Happold[1].

See also

• Culture in Glasgow
• Scottish Tramway and Transport Society
• Glasgow Corporation Tramways - history of trams in Glasgow

External links

• Glasgow Museums & Art Galleries
• Glasgow Museum of Transport

Glasgow Art Galleries and Museums (edit) Art Galleries: Gallery of Modern Art | Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum | Hunterian Museum and Art Gallery | Burrell Collection | McLellan Galleries | Pollok House Museums: Glasgow Museum of Transport | Glasgow Science Centre | St Mungo Museum of Religious Life and Art | People's Palace | Provand's Lordship | Scotland Street School Museum | Scottish Football Museum | The Lighthouse

cs:Muzeum dopravy (Glasgow)