ON October 26, 1960, a party of journalists enjoyed the “delights and mysteries” of the blue electric trains that would, from November 7, serve suburban commuters from Glasgow’s north side.

At Cathcart, they inspected the electrical control station, where, said our correspondent, technology approached science fiction. “Two controlling magicians, one suitably bearded, sit at a central and space-age desk. The wall in front of them is covered with a diagram of the complete Airdrie-Helensburgh electrified line .... [E]ven the telephones have a Martian ring. The susceptible found themselves looking over their shoulders for little green men.”

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Then it was onto Bridgeton’s carriage washing plant (above), “where visitors were warned: ‘Ladies and gentlemen, treat everything inside here as alive’, and trod warily. Here, the carriages are soaped, scrubbed and rinsed by remote control, and advertise oxalic acid as the detergent which washes shining blue, to top-storied housewives in Bridgeton. The plant, wielding huge scrubbing brushes with compressed air, can clean a six-unit car in six minutes. When the southern suburbs are electrified next year, it will have 91 three-car units to clean.”

A train left Hyndland and took the guests to a lochside lunch at Balloch within 20 minutes. From now on, 300 blue electric trains would zip through Hyndland each day instead of the 36 steam trains that currently meandered through.