© Baillieston Born 'n' Bred 2024
THE EDINBURGH ROAD (A8)
What seems to be an obvious name actually has a very brief but interesting history, and alternative “if only” history.
When constructed in the 1930s it was named New Edinburgh Road, as the Old Edinburgh Road was part of Baillieston Main Street and Coatbridge road. From Baillieston Lights heading east it was known as the Glasgow & Edinburgh Road.
The construction of these new "Boulevard" roads were very different due to the ballast only being the old shale from coal bings. The dual carriageway heading East from the lights could take trucks greater than 7.5 tons weight but the New Edinburgh Road heading west to Glasgow being only classed as a “Boulevard” had a 7.5 tons weight restriction. The ballast used for the road came from the massive shale spoil bings from the local coal mines at Springhill, Garrowhill and Barrachnie collieries. The road was basically for cars and light commercial vehicles.
To this day you will not see heavy trucks use that dual carriageway all the way right into Alexandra Parade. The heaviest traffic to use the road was the Edinburgh via Lightburn 1940’s and 50’s buses, single deck 4.5 tons and rear door double deck which weighed 7.5 tons. In the 70’s it was single deck buses only as the newer front entry double deck long chassis buses weighed around 13 tons.
The wide central reservation was always a bit of a mystery. Some people thought it was for a future tramway, however it was far more adventurous than that. The plan was to build what was known as the “Bennie Railplane” in the central reservation and was supposed to run from Glasgow to Edinburgh. It was a carriage suspended from overhead rails driven by an electrically powered propeller. A website covers the Bennie Railplane in more detail. The plan was actually going ahead and a trial trackway was constructed at Milngavie. However World war 2 happened and the Railplane was never built due to post war spending and material priorities.
TheGlasgowStory: Bennie Railplane