Springburn Virtual Museum

Railway industry

Straw locomotive, by George Wyllie, 1987

The straw locomotive was built in 1987 by George Wyllie, as a symbolic tribute to Springburn's railway heritage. Prior to 1976, Wyllie made what he called 'conventional' sculpture, but thereafter restyled himself a 'scul?tor', to signify his break with tradition.

The locomotive was hauled in a procession from the site of the old Hyde Park Works in Springburn, then a derelict site, along the route which the real engines would have taken to the docks at Finnieston. It was then hoisted up on the Stobcross Crane, where many visitors saw it during the Glasgow Garden Festival the following year.

It was transported back to Springburn and burnt in a Viking-style funeral - after checking to see there were no birds' nests inside. The straw vanished in the flames to reveal Wyllie's trademark question mark within the metal framework - asking the question, 'What happened to Springburn?'

Source: Glasgow City Archives