Karl AKA Stroget is an active curator at HobbyDB of many of the 1/43 model car brands. He has been adding model cars to the DB since 2014; some of his favorites are Alfa Romeo and obsolete Tekno from Denmark!
After reading John Roberts’ article on the Atwell-Wilson Motor Museum last month, I decided to review another UK museum recently visited. My wife and my cousins had a great visit to northern England and Scotland last month. After a walking holiday along Hadrian’s Wall, we rented a car and toured Scotland. We had extra time on the way from Aberdeen to Inverness, so my lovely wife found a good place for us (i.e., me) to stop. In the nice village of Alford, there is a museum that has been there since 1983 dedicated to all sorts of vehicles, from chariots to sports cars. The Grampian Transport Museum is a nice place for an hour or two stop off and has a nice cafe in the back. Grampian was a government region of Scotland, until 1996 when a new structure was established, and took its name from the Grampian Mountains.
I don’t think my traveling companions realized the impact of several of the vehicles had on me. These vehicles took me back to my youth collecting Matchbox Models of Yesteryears, Corgi Toys, and Teknos. It was so fun for me to see the real-life examples of the toy cars I used to play with.
One of the museum’s earlier vehicles is the 1904 horse-drawn Shand Mason Fire Pump. Most collectors will be familiar with the little Model of Yesteryear, Y-4, from the early 1960s. We used my copy for the Christmas village layout as a child so I still have mine. It was very cool to see the real version; I never expected that when we pulled into the museum parking.
Next up at the museum were two old steam traction engines. The one on the left is a 2″ scale (1/6 scale) model made by a craftsman in Aberdeen. The middle one is a full size Burrell Cock o’ the North traction engine, a very impressive unit from 1912. Finally, the small green one is another Yesteryear from my childhood, the Allchin Traction Engine, Y-1, from the late 1950s.
The next two steam vehicles are also represented by old Yesteryears! The black Fowler roller was built in 1941 and used for years around Aberdeen. The old 4-ton Sentinal steam wagon was very well preserved and built in Glasgow in 1914. It is the oldest known example still to exist. Of course, I had to find my old Y-11 Aveling Porter Steam Roller and Y-4 Sentinel Steam Wagon and and take a matching photo.
Moving on to spotting some full-size Corgi Toys, I had to photograph the Heinkel bubble car on the rack and get my red 1960’s Corgi Toy out too!
For my next model photo, I had to improvise a little. Sadly I have no 1:43 yellow TVR or Jaguar driver. I do have Preston though to take his place! The #335 Corgi Jaguar E Type 2+2 on the rack is behind a #249 Wicker Mini, both from the late 1960s..
To finish out my model comparisons, I found my Tekno (Denmark) Morris 1100, in red but not black. Both cars are shown “up on the track”.
Back in the cafe, a large selection of model cars are displayed in nice cabinets. Most of them seem to be Yesteryears, Corgis, Vanguards, and LLedos. The poster next to them states they were donated by A B S Richardson in 2010. So, seeing all these cases of model cars was a fitting way to end our visit.
If you are ever traveling around the north-east of Scotland, please visit the Grampian Transport Museum. It will be well worth your time. My wife recommends the cafe for nice tea and cakes; she seems to have spent half her time there…
Enter your email address if you like to receive notifications of new posts by email.
Email Address
Subscribe
hobbyDB is a participant in Amazon, eBay, Entertainment Earth, LEGO, and other affiliate advertising programs designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to other websites.
We also occasionally accept consideration from Brands, Service Providers, or Retailers (which is then clearly marked as Sponsored Content) all editorial opinions are our own.