Re: QE2 launch site (then and now)

[Matt]

So is this were the QE2 Was built on the Clyde?

Matt

[Fairfield]

Yes indeed- vastly changed now. The crane is still there open as a tourist attraction and the surrounding land has been redeveloped as a college campus.

[highlander0108]

The area to the left of the crane is a vast wasteland, as the picture depicts.  There are piles of rubble from demolished buildings.  It is a very sad site, whcich could be transformed by the arrival of a very special ship! 
Ken

[Rob Lightbody]

So is this were the QE2 Was built on the Clyde?

Matt

Almost!  To get a precise location, put G81 1BF into maps.google.com, this pointer will pretty much show you where QE2's bow was ... however if you switch to satellite view, you'll see the slipway as marked by the college architects, and also the remains of the slipway in the water.  The River Cart is directly opposite, which was an essential reason why John Browns was exactly where it was.

[Isabelle Prondzynski]

In other words, as you said elsewhere, here     :

To be precise

Here

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=G81+1BF&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=31.564064,81.5625&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Clydebank,+Dunbartonshire+G81+1BF,+United+Kingdom&ll=55.868497,-4.352345&spn=0.010908,0.039825&t=h&z=15

The other basin, complete with the remaining Titan Crane, was her fitting-out basin, just a few metres away.

[Bob C.]

however if you switch to satellite view, you'll see the slipway as marked by the college architects, and also the remains of the slipway in the water. 

Rob, I'm going to disagree with you on the location of QE2's ways by a few meters.  The ones preserved as shown in Google maps is a bit to the West of where QE2 was actually laid down.  The key to locating the position of her ways is finding the small raised platform near the river.  I'm not sure what the purpose of this platform is but it has survived the recent renovations of the area and was also present when QE2 was built and launched. You can barely make out a small ramp by the platform where QE2's ways once were.

You can see the platform in the two photos below.  I blacked out a scale QE2 hull shape on the Goggle Earth screen capture that shows the platform as it is today and also added an arrow pointing to the platform the photo plus the one from the QE2 archive photo from this site (http://www.gla.ac.uk/services/archives/exhibitions/qe2/qe2photogallery4/aerialviewofshipno7362/).

[Stowaway2k]

Hi Bob

I thought at one time that the platform may have been a foundation for a crane.  Maybe, maybe not... perhaps just sort of "left overs" from the many changes to have been made throughout the yard's history.

In this photo, you can see the entire launch ways and Fitting Out Basin area as it was on 26 Sept, 1934; the day Queen Mary was launched

Note:  links not working

http://tinyurl.com/yhlj2vn

The same area a couple years later as Queen Mary was nearing completion
http://tinyurl.com/Queen-Mary-Fittied-Out

A 1942 RAF aerial view
http://tinyurl.com/yh4azxx

Here is a present-day (Sept. 2009) view of the platform
http://tinyurl.com/yfqvzh6

And a present-day view as seen from the viewing platform atop the Titan Crane
http://tinyurl.com/yzy34nw

[Rob Lightbody]

Bob,

Delighted to be corrected so precisely and with such great illustrations!  I look forward to printing this topic out and heading along there on my bike sometime soon!  

Next question - QE1/QM1/Aquitania (other great liners) - were they built where i had originally indicated, and where the landscaping indicates now?  Was there 2 launchways next to each other here that could be used simultaneously?  i.e. the QE2 one, and the one thats still marked out?

[Rob Lightbody]

Thanks Kyle, great stuff!

Does it look to you like the front of the college is deliberately designed to lie along QE2's launchway?  The landscaping in front of it also appears to follow the line that Bob's photos indicate...?

[Bob C.]

I cut out the applicable portion of the QE2 under construction and superimposed it on the satellite photo.  A bit off on the bow but the platform in the old photo is pasted exactly on top of the one in the satelite photo.

   

[Stowaway2k]

Thanks Kyle, great stuff!

Does it look to you like the front of the college is deliberately designed to lie along QE2's launchway?  The landscaping in front of it also appears to follow the line that Bob's photos indicate...?

Hi Rob

They (whoever "they" are...) have designed a greenbelt that does lie exactly along the lines of the launchway, as far as it can.  The buildings don't line up, but the greenbelt is a wonderful application of a nod to history and modern development needs.
Google Earth shows this beautifully.
http://tinyurl.com/ykole6s

For a ground view, photo #16 shows the foot of the greenbelt at the river's edge over the foot of the launchway, and photo 17 is at the top of the greenbelt/launchway looking towards the river http://tinyurl.com/yztdsoy
(the third row down of photos)

[Bob C.]

One more time but this time the overlay of the 1967 photo is as exact as the photo angle gets.  Rob, take this photo with you next time you head up to John Brown's. 


And no, I don't have too much time on my hands, just needed a distraction - moving to Pensacola, FL tomorrow - high stress!

[cunardqueen]

Im sure all of us who were on the tour as part of the TQS gathering weekend last year and visited the former site couldnt help but be amazed at how much it has changed or how little is actually left. It was quite an eye opener.
Correct me if lm wrong,But this photo should show the lines of the QE2s hull showing where she was during the building.
It was interesting to hear your own personal comments Rob.

<inactive link removed>
 

[highlander0108]

You are correct Myles.  The black box on the elevation of Clydebank College directly in the center is a nod to the original viewing box used for the launching ceremony.  Nice that the architects made an attempt to liink new to old.  It's an obscure reference, that hopefully gets pointed out to those completely oblivious to what momentous events took place at this site.

[Peter Mugridge]

Is there no plaque or something on the site to explain that to visitors?  If not, perhaps it is somehing that should be put to them...