This is the first time
that the independent transport videos cameras have visited this
exceptional bus and coach museum situated in the former Glasgow Corporation bus
garage at Bridgeton in Glasgow, Scotland which houses a tremendous collection
of buses and coaches, mostly from Scotland and offers the perfect surroundings
to enjoy this wonderful selection of vehicles. The Open Weekend in October is
the main event of the year that sees the museum open to the public with many
buses from the collection and visiting buses operating in service on two main
routes. One to the excellent Riverside
Museum situated alongside the River Clyde, the other to Killermont Street
adjacent to the large Buchanan Bus Station.
Further ‘tours’ were also available on both days. Our cameras have recorded the action for you
to enjoy over the weekend of the 8th / 9th October
2022.
We begin early on Saturday morning
with a look at some of the collection of vehicles situated in the main shed and
in the outside parking areas. We then
take a ‘tour’ to the site of the former Alexander (Midland) bus garage at
Stepps at Buchanan Gate, Glasgow. Three
former Alexander (Midland) vehicles are in service, MRF120 (SMS 120P), a
Daimler Fleetline, MRM805 (B105 PKS) an Alexander-bodied MCW Metrobus and
MRB161 (DWG 917), a Leyland Titan PD2.
Our cameras travel onboard the upper deck of MRF120 and return on the
lower deck of MRB161 watching the driver skilfully drive this seventy-year-old
bus through the modern day traffic. Back
at Bridgeton Bus Garage we see the action as the buses come and go moving the
crowds of people just like they did back in the day. We then take a number of journeys to and from
Killermont Street to experience the various types of buses that were in service
during the day. Firstly we join MRF120
again and return on MRB161 again back to Bridgeton Bus Garage. The next ride is out on former Glasgow
Corporation D217 (FYS 999), a ‘one-off’ Daimler CVD650-30 with Alexander H73F
bodywork from 1958. We return on 17524
(LX51 FOF), a former Stagecoach London Dennis Trident of 2001. Our next return journey is onboard LA697 (HGD
903L), a 1973 Leyland Atlantean AN68 with a dual-door Alexander body in the
livery of Greater Glasgow PTE to round off our first day at the event.
On Sunday morning our cameras are in action
bright and early as we see the superbly restored Bristol Lodekka LD, AA620B
(OWS 620), in the light green and cream livery of SMT from the mid-1950s arrive
at the museum. We then ride to
Killermont Street onboard RM835 (WLT 835), an AEC Routemaster in the livery of
Clydeside Scottish and return onboard preserved 69296 (SF04 HXX), a 2004 Wright-bodied
Volvo B7RLE in First Glasgow livery.
This bus was new to Hutchinson of Overton and joined First when the
company was taken over. We then ride on
PD177 (WSK 509) originally OMS 253, a Leyland Tiger Cub in the livery of
Alexander Midland (Bluebird) for a ride to the Riverside Museum. We take a brief look at the museum with it’s
lovely collection of preserved Glasgow trams, trolleybus and buses. We return back to Bridgeton Bus Garage
onboard LA1204 (XUS 575S), a Leyland Atlantean AN68 with an Alexander H78F body
in the livery of Strathclyde’s Buses, a fitting end to a superb weekend. This might have been our first visit, it
certainly will not be our last!