1975: How to FIX A GLASGOW SUBWAY TRAIN | Blue Peter | Retro Transport | BBC Archive

"The only real change since 1896 is the price of a ticket."
Peter Purvis takes a wee hurl around the Glasgow Subway ahead of its first major modernisation.
Also shown is the ingenious method the Glasgow Underground maintenance depot had in place to repair trains.
Originally broadcast 3 February, 1975.
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[@scaredyfish]

Kids content in 1975 is more mature and informative than most content for adults in 2023.

[@OfflineSetup]

There is a lot of truth to this.

[@abrr2000]

Because they used to assumed you were a little adult, capable of logic and reason. You just needed time and practice, and it was amongst their jobs to give you that practice. Nowadays kids attention is filled with instant gratification media on their phones and tablets. The intelectual equivilent of dangling keys.

[@boltonpete6093]

@@abrr2000 absolutely correct. Society has been dumbed down to such a degree, that rational thought and critical thinking is at an all time low.

[@abrr2000]

@@boltonpete6093 And that logic and reason has been replaced with the belief that feelings are the same as facts.

[@ahminyahnan1150]

Definitely not for modern kids anyway

[@scottishwildcat]

That modernisation he mentioned at the end happened pretty quickly, too. They shut the service down in 1977, most of the original stations were demolished and rebuilt, and the rolling stock was replaced by distinctive orange carriages, giving rise to the nickname “the clockwork orange”. It reopened to passengers in 1980.

[@kaitlyn__L]

Not sure about no more lifting trains by crane though! I guess that part got dropped.

[@hoofie2002]

@@kaitlyn__L no there are turnouts in Govan that lead to a ramp which goes up to the maintenance sheds.

[@kaitlyn__L]

@@hoofie2002 my dad has been lying to me all these years! He insists they still use the crane at Ibrox

[@nkt1]

@@kaitlyn__L Take a trip and you’ll see ‘em, just outside Govan station.

[@kaitlyn__L]

@@nkt1 I shall have to do that! I had no reason to disbelieve him, especially since he used the modern name for the station, but now I definitely want a look.

[@robleary3353]

Blue Peter had a lot of naff content; but they came up with some really informative and genuinely scary segments!. Happy days.

[@SunNy-tw1ym]

I never managed to get past the name, what is the significance ?

[@nkt1]

@@SunNy-tw1ym Blue Peter was first aired on 16 October 1958. It had been commissioned to producer John Hunter Blair by Owen Reed, the head of children's programmes at the BBC, as there were no programmes for children aged between five and eight. Reed got his inspiration after watching Children's Television Club, the brainchild of former radio producer, Trevor Hill, who created the latter show as a successor to his programme Out of School, broadcast on BBC Radio's Children's Hour; Hill networked the programme from BBC Manchester and launched it aboard the MV Royal Iris ferry on the River Mersey, Liverpool with presenter Judith Chalmers welcoming everyone aboard at the bottom of the gangplank. It was subsequently televised about once a month.[11] Hill relates how Reed came to stay with him and his wife, Margaret Potter, in Cheshire, and was so taken with the "Blue Peter" flag on the side of the ship and the programme in general, that he asked to rename it and take it to London to be broadcast on a weekly basis (see Reed's obituary). The "Blue Peter" is used as a maritime signal, indicating that the vessel flying it is about to leave, and Reed chose the name to represent 'a voyage of adventure' on which the programme would set out. Hunter Blair also pointed out that blue was a popular colour with children, and Peter was a common name of a typical child's friend. Wikipedia.

[@christopherkem7144]

I grew up with Blue Peter. The Peter Purves, Noakes and Val Singleton were definitely the best. The guys were a great double act till they were told ny management you're having too much fun when filming. They lost a lot of adul viewers when they went to CBBC big mistake

[@johnmiller0000]

@@SunNy-tw1ym The "Blue Peter" is used as a maritime signal, indicating that the vessel flying it is about to leave, and the head of children's programmes at the BBC chose the name to represent 'a voyage of adventure' on which the programme would set out.

[@bojack40]

I over it and genuinely don’t think any content was ‘naff’. But then it had to cater for a wide age range…

[@marcdewolf7334]

The best children's programme ever, the show was able to keep both children and adults interested at different levels, John Noakes did some seriously dangerous challenges for the show, which to this day I can't believe he did, incredible guy.

[@CricketEngland]

Yea I remember he claimed to the top of Nelson’s column in London and helped clean it

[@robhavock9434]

Peter is legendary for people of my age group and he is as popular today as back in the 70,s , I hope he is well and in great health.

[@kjamison5951]

84 years young…

[@cerneuffington2656]

YT: Railways Robbie 1979 🙂

[@Cool2BCeltic]

I met him at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2018. He signed my Blue Peter Tenth Book for me.

[@CricketEngland]

Hosted Kickstart I believe as well as being in Dr Who with the second Dr

[@CricketEngland]

PP and John Nokes were always my BP favourite presenters

[@leeosborne3793]

I'm really glad a lot of films were made about the Subway just before the modernisation. Interestingly enough the same driver features in quite a long and detailed documentary made by the Universities of Glasgow and Strathclyde - he was quite media friendly! It's all fascinating stuff. Sadly the excellent recreated station at the Glasgow Museum of Transport is long gone, but one of the carriages as shown in this film is now in the Museum of Scottish Railways in Bo'ness, and you can go inside it. Well worth seeing.

[@Thatspuremental]

Yea one in the red livery shown here and two in a 1890s glasgow corporation livery at the glasgow transport museum or riverside museum

[@Priority76]

That is some fascinating footage.

[@leeosborne3793]

It is! I'm really glad some effort was made to record the Subway before it was very radically altered.

[@ktsmells]

A children's TV show does more to educate the audience than any TV show on the BBC now.

[@DeltaV3]

The whole system is in the process of being upgraded again with new driverless trains. How time flies! Great vid.

[@ajs41]

The slightly amazing thing is that the number of stations has never been changed since it opened in 1896.

[@brianmorrison9168]

Great video. I'm sure I saw this in 1975 ..was always a fan of Blue Peter .. every kid was I think .. was never so sure about Magpie, but I did watch it though

[@jonathanwaters3980]

Was a postgraduate student at Glasgow University ‘78-‘81. We knew the underground train system as: ‘the shuggle’ (sic) alluding to the significant vibration you felt on the trains themselves as well in at least one lecture theatre off Byres Road when the ‘shuggle’ passed by underneath - happy days.

[@nigelsouthworth5577]

Perfect timing on the final words!

[@petergivenbless900]

Yes, almost as impressive as the famous James Burke rocket launch from 'Connections'! kzbin.info/www/bejne/aIjSdYR4na92jLM

[@ryanharrison6224]

I love how he has a cigarette in his mouth hahah 4:39

[@wrpanther]

(0:31) Anyone see the poster…..Only £4.75 to London!!

[@ollie_d4789]

I noticed that. Can't imagine how expensive that journey would be today

[@wrpanther]

@@ollie_d4789 probably £475 😅😂

[@ollie_d4789]

@@wrpanther I just checked the cost of a single from Glasgow to london for a laugh. Quite a lot of tickets for around £112 even for travelling tomorrow morning Genuinely surprised!

[@erik_griswold]

It was a significant amount of money then.

[@stepheng8779]

Still too expensive, London innit 😂

[@jasonayres]

(2:26) Silly I know, but all of a sudden, I heard the Doctor Who theme in my head.

[@cedarcam]

I had never heard of the subway until I saw it featured on Nationwide It fascinated me and I made a few trips before it was modernised, to say the ride was rough is an understatement some cars had marks where they had hit the side of the tunnels. I have been on the new clockwork orange which is a vast improvement but sadly lacks the Victorian splendour of the old system which was like stepping back in time hardly anything had changed from the day it was electrified. The trains will be replaced with driverless ones.

[@andrewpreston4127]

I was a student at university in Glasgow in the early 70's, and travelled regularly on the 'Underground' as it was offically known during that period. I particularly recall the peculier smell of the stations, the ride was quite thrilling what with the rattles, shakes, noise and the sidewalls of the carriages seemed to flex.

[@cedarcam]

@@andrewpreston4127 I remember the smell waiting for a train to come and peering down the tunnel for the light which at one station you could easily see then it went lower and lower out of sight suddenly to emerge again. One train I rode on was flexing so much it was rather scary. I was looking at the joint between the floor and board that was under the front of the seats and seeing it constantly flexing, I thought no wonder this car has marks on the roof edge. it must of been flexing so much it hits the tunnel, the lights going out as it came away from the wall and the red bullseye light between the cars shone down the middle of the car at one place. I can only describe it as being like the sleeve of a matchbox. They had a name for cars like that a shoogler. No video back then, how I wish I had some way of recording it. I only had a cheap camera and no photos I took in the gloom showed anything but the station lights.

[@DavidThomas-fz1qi]

What a treat that was. I travelled on these just once in the weeks running up to the closure. A colleague was aghast that I'd never been aboard. So very glad I did it. Same colleague walked me through the original foot traffic only Clyde tunnel in the week or so before they closed it off permanently infilling with sand. That can still be experienced down in London as nearby to the Cutty Sark museum they have a version that could also carry horses with carts lowered/lifted by a lift table at either end. The buildings on the surface are identical in form and construction to those that still survive in Glasgow in red engineering bricks albeit Glasgow's are repurposed as offices/galleries and restaurants.

[@martinmcchesney315]

I actually used the Glasgow underground yesterday, first time in about 10year, it cost me £3:30 for a return,, It was really good to experience it again

[@phillipecook3227]

Purves looking young and physically fit in 1975 sporting the long hair and flared trousers we all wore then (!) Happily he's still very much with us today. I used the old Glasgow Underground often from the early 1970s onwards. Watching this reminds me of just how rundown and threadbare it was - it was a miracle of engineering, maintenance and willpower that it somehow managed to last 81 years without collapsing. I remember a few things about the old Underground in 2023: if you got on a carriage with a trellis type door to the platform the noise levels inside the carriage could be deafening as the train trundled through the tunnels; the other thing was the distinctive tunnel odour which you would smell on every platform (along with the drip-drip noise of water just out of sight). I didn't know until today that the staff uniform design never changed since it opened in 1896 and carried black braid marking the death of Queen Victoria right up to 1977! My biggest disappointment was and is that the original line has never been extended in 126 years.

[@anaccount8474]

There's a joke that an old woman was complaining that they charge the same amount no matter how many stops you go. She said "I was only going one stop, but I got my money's worth, I went round the long way"

[@CricketEngland]

That’s what happens in TFL buses today I believe, if you swipe on with contactless card it charges you the same price for a journey to the next bus stop as it would it you go to the end of the route.

[@kevanhubbard9673]

I think that it's the third oldest metro 🚇 on Earth after London and Budapest.

[@mats7492]

James May is truly a time traveler

[@garryleeks4848]

0:44 is that spud Murphy blowing the whistle, legend

[@kendodd8734]

When u was a kid this show really did open up the world to u it was religious viewing brings back great memories from the 70s

[@ZenoWatson]

That was fantastic, thank you!

[@creativejamieplays7185]

The way he puts his head next to the 260v wires.

[@strafrag1]

Wow! Fantastic vid. Thanks.

[@chemistmanuk]

Copeland Road station is now called Ibrox

[@norbertholstein2604]

Copland Road

[@danbreen6946]

It is now called mordor station

[@norbertholstein2604]

I preter shitebrox.

[@Neil-Aspinall]

One thing you will notice about Glasgow is the comedy writes itself.

[@PlanetImo]

I enjoyed this! It was my birth year.

[@buffplums]

Nice one Peter

[@Dolemaster124]

that was the best video i have ever watched

[@OlafProt]

5:15 just like the Waterloo & City line. I remember going on the subway in 2002, the rolling stock was orange then, pretty rattly still!!!

[@norbertholstein2604]

Rattly, or shoogle as it's known in Glasgow

[@Smog104]

Cracking Underground system in Glasgow

[@peteterry2877]

Best kids' TV show ever.

[@ferrylad]

Peter Purves was once the hardest bloke in TV land , seemingly he knocked out a Shetland pony with one punch .

[@reecedillon5140]

I didn’t know Scotland had an underground

[@davidlittle7182]

4th oldest in the world...should've been extended ages ago though

[@reecedillon5140]

@@davidlittle7182 wow amazing such a shame that the UK was the first to do everything but these days we are now the last in innovation

[@hexagon7895]

@@davidlittle7182 3rd oldest in the world. Only London and Budapest came before Glasgow.

[@jasongb5666]

@hexagon 789 I thought 2nd but 3rd seems right ✅️

[@hexagon7895]

@@jasongb5666 London - January 1863 Budapest - May 1896 Glasgow - December 1896 Those 7 months sting! ;)

[@hielehielehiele]

that was exciting

[@bizling]

4:43 a tab will pull you through the day!

[@Thatspuremental]

So 1890s to the 1970s was the first stock Second stock was 1970s to 2020s Third stock ( not in service at the time of writing) 2020s onward

[@nigelsouthworth5577]

The good old Clockwork Orange

[@ChrisBrown-px1oy]

I think this might be how I knew there was a Glasgow underground. But I'd forgotten how long Peter Purvis grew his hair; I took him for Pat Jennings in the thumbnail.

[@heli-crewhgs5285]

In 1981, I saw Pat Jennings standing at a bus stop in Malta.

[@kjamison5951]

I’ve been on the modernised version and it’s so drab in comparison to this red liveried symbol of yesteryear. I’ve been on the London Underground, the Paris Metro, the New York Subway and the Washington DC Metro. They all have interesting characteristics.

[@michaelcolin9887]

@TheTimTraveller This should be right up your alley

[@davidmckirdy4063]

I've been in the Glasgow underground so many times I've lost count . It s ells really funny down there quite stinky actually.

[@johnathandaviddunster38]

Rangers fans ?????...

[@AlabamaShrimp]

Don't be blue Peter!

[@Hercules_the_Great]

Peter Purvis at the height of his Blue Peter career! 😂

[@AlabamaShrimp]

@@Hercules_the_Great it was the 70s, buckaroo

[@Hercules_the_Great]

@@AlabamaShrimp 😂

[@danielthompson4463]

Needless to say I had the last laugh

[@rrbh]

That was textbook.

[@johncopeland3826]

I always had the feeling that Blue Peter was produced for a specific English audience ! Northern Ireland , Wales and Scotland were an afterthought and always regarded as lesser to the English .... Sure you would get the occasional item like the Glasgow Subway train ,but overall it was always England first !

[@SteveM-ly7oy]

I should be embarrassed, I didn't know there was an Underground in Glasgow. But an interesting upload.

[@SteamboatWilley]

And now in 2023, the Subway is once more being modernised, with new trains entering service which will eventually be fully automated.

[@glasgowdmon]

Does anyone happen to know what happened to the carriage which was on the wall of Buchanan st station? Seems like quite a large item to have just either been scrapped, or to have "disappeared".

[@noyoureafuckintube]

6:00 - What is John Peel doing there? 😄

[@READYTEDDYBEAR]

He's repairing an electrical unit! Looks a bit angry because he was told his pal Jim'll Fix It! 👍

[@mollyfilms]

Was expecting to see Joey!

[@LVPAcharn]

What a noise when you were in them, l remember them well ,,

[@OfflineSetup]

I can help but feel a "now and then" footage will suit the BBC remit.

[@temirlanomuraliev8106]

I'm homeless and hungry, help me.......

[@ctcurry1777]

I love the old underground...its dirty grimy and full of character. The modern underground is a soulless place.

[@johnmc3862]

Why is Pat Jennings in the profile pic? 😅

[@erik_griswold]

I spotted some Health and Safety violations in this video.

[@vinniesuperstar8923]

I am so disappointed that when he got on the train there wasn't a rush for the last empty seat...

[@neiloflongbeck5705]

Some of the cars ended up at Beamish.

[@DaChaGee]

It's weird seeing it called Underground

[@robertnussberger6449]

Are these cars still around

[@Cody-zd2ye]

Am I right wasn't Peter in the first series of Dr who

[@stangiles2001]

Clockwork orange

[@IvorMutch]

Pity they didn't show more of the St Enoch station at the beginning.

[@duncancurtis5971]

Purves with all that hair!

[@29brendus]

There is just no excuse, this system should have been expanded deacades ago.

[@gary0768]

I don't even think they have drivers now lol

[@chrissymcmillan5364]

They do. However the new stock cabs rolling out this year (2023) won't I believe

[@StephenFiorentini]

4:18 Let the man speak......

[@gjef9971]

tHE Glasgow Subway is the world's third oldest metro system, opening in December 1896.

[@OfflineSetup]

I accept Mr Pervis as being an honourable man, but I suspect that he was not there when the car was moved (old footage). BBC faker 1970s style ? :-) Great video please keep them coming

[@svenlakemeier]

Why should that be older footage and not from when they were visiting? Does anything point to that?

[@72boog]

Yet another lizard people illuminati plot exposed!

[@johnregan326]

It takes me back 🚉.

[@cerneuffington2656]

It should've been preserved as it was. It would now be a huge tourist attraction and would have saved Glasgow 🙂

[@BunnyKins1970]

Nonsense. The old ones were noisy, dark, smelled worse than the current ones and the trackbed was so uneven that on more than one occasion, I was thrown from the shiny seats by the motion. There were metal panels in the carriages for striking a match and stubbing out cigarettes. Rose tinted spectacles seem like a good idea, but the Subway is a functional transportation system - not a theme park ride. 💚🐇🐴💚

[@spikeychris]

Saved Glasgow from what exactly? As for being a tourist attraction it's a vital transport link within the city not a tourist attraction ffs.

[@cerneuffington2656]

@@spikeychris I do find it extremely sad that after almost 80 years, an original piece of Victorian engineering was modernized 😢 Just imagine, all those Japanese tourists with their cameras... 🙂

[@spikeychris]

@@cerneuffington2656 I mean it's being modernised again right now with driverless trains coming soon. Great for the 1/2 journeys the Japanese tourists might take but not so great for the tens of thousands of us locals that have to ride the bloody thing every work day lol

[@cerneuffington2656]

@@spikeychrisRailway enthusiasts across the globe would be fascinated by it and turning up in droves to ride the wonderful Victorian railway... 🙂

[@simonhaste2864]

There was no talking down to the audience then.

[@begbieyabass]

Didn't he have a cat

[@stefancornell]

i cant belive he put his head so close to those wires good thing his hair wasent wet !!!

[@fatwalletboy2]

Good god id have hated that driving job. In the dark 6 miles round and round everyday......mind numbing..presumably they turned rach carriage around every now and again to even out the tyre and flange wear

[@SeanLBurns]

We used to be a proper country. Stations look minging though

[@chriswaring5565]

SAY WHAT? CAN'T UNDERSTAND WHAT THAT DRIVERS SAYING GOVEN IS WERE RAB C NESBITT LIVES

[@GhastlyCretin85]

And also where Alex Ferguson is from.

[@norbertholstein2604]

Govan

[@ltipst2962]

This looks really cool. Let me guess. Its nothing like this video anymore. Its been updated to an even worse one and no longer is it even 3 minutes. People should understand we've absolutely lost the culture of the UK

[@memediatek]

It's now running electric trains like most metro systems and is every 4 minutes

[@tonyserafim7985]

It's all been updated modern trains suggest you look at Geoff Marshall glasgow metro video!

[@nkt1]

The 1977 modernisation resulted in a system that was superior to the old one in virtually every way. The new trains were a big improvement, and their ‘cute’ appearance was well-received.

[@gcooper642]

Why write a comment assuming the worst about something you've never seen in person? It's no bad. Been on it a few times.

[@danielthompson4463]

What a ridiculous comment. It’s still running regularly, just with newer rolling stock. Why would you say something like that about something you haven’t used?

[@whiteonggoy7009]

Now the lazy so and so strike

[@davidlittle7182]

not since last year as it appears

[@chriswood1661]

I bet they were paid better then, you flag waving oaf.

[@kaitlyn__L]

We all know there were no strikes in the 70s…!

[@booboo1178]

#FlagShagger

[@kamandi1362]

@@booboo1178 How do you shag a flag?

[@dieseldragon6756]

Dialogue at 03:30 „The trains carry their own conductors...“ 💂 Well...How _else_ do you expect an electric train to collect traction current in an era long before Li-Ion batteries and the practical possibility of rechargeable electric vehicles? 🚇⚡🙃 That said, this was an education - I'd always thought the ramps at Govan were part of the original system, not a later addition! I'll have to keep my eyes better peeled for the old coach shaft around Ibrox next time I'm up there! 😁 Mind you; I'm surprised this clip didn't mention that the electrification was a retrofit, and the Subway was originally a grip-car (Cable hauled) railway, similar to the San-Francisco system... 😇

[@Cous1nJack]

Haha I’m current-ly trying to find a spark of humour as funny as yours.

[@moonstar21868]

I have a rare 1970s Hornby not out of the box unused railway children set, so eff off and up thuking yours