Old A74 pictures

[RJDG14]

I was reading the thread on here about the A33 Winchester Bypass, and now want to know if there are any old A74 pictures from the 1960s/70s/80s/90s, either unreleased ones by members on this site, or images on the internet (other than the ones below):

*Old photos already on SABRE

*Some taken around the Harthope viaduct in the late 1960's (I found one or two on Geograph)

*What photos Railbrit has

These are the only easy to find photos that I've come across on the internet. Some old aerial imagery sites also have some old black & white images from above, but the only previewable bit was the Johnstonebridge area in about 1990ish, and the resolution was poor.

Are there any other images taken from the road when still in use/shortly afterwards? Since there were some old images of the A33 that I've never seen, it wouldn't suprise me if it was similar with the A74.

[DavidBrown]

I think the thing with the A33 is that the M3 was a very controversial scheme and as such received lots of media coverage - thus lots of photos etc. I would guess that there would be far fewer photos of the A74, but that doesn't mean there aren't any we haven't already seen. For me, I would love to see some of the old A1 (now (M)), particularly Dishforth to Walshford. But I suspect such things are quite are.

[ForestChav]

CBRD has a few but these are more of the current B7078 and B7076 than the old A74.

[RJDG14]

CBRD has a few but these are more of the current B7078 and B7076 than the old A74.

Those are from 2002, and so the works may look newer than now, but the old road is still gone.

[SB74]

I must admit , I look out for pictures of the A74 between 1960s to 1990s but they do seem to be rare. I have an " old Moffat " book which has a picture taken in 1997-1999 at Greenhillstairs of the A74 being converted into the A74(M). I know it's not the same thing, but I have a dvd called " The Royal Scot " where a class 87 locomotive goes from Euston to Glasgow - it was filmed in 1995 - 1996 and as the train goes over the Harthope viaduct , you can clearly see on your left where the A74 " splits up ".
In July I went to the Crawfordjohn Heritage Centre ( worth a visit - open weekends in the summer ) and found a book about transport in Lanarkshire - it had a picture of the " original " A74 at Duneaton , possibly late 1950s / early 1960s - I wish I had bought it now ! Maybe I'll get it in July 2017.

[Johnathan404]

Since there were some old images of the A33 that I've never seen, it wouldn't suprise me if it was similar with the A74.

There are a few here you may not have seen before.

[wrinkly]

Old A74 pictures have been linked in some previous threads:

http://www.sabre-roads.org.uk/forum/vie ... =1&t=24102

http://www.sabre-roads.org.uk/forum/vie ... =1&t=25712

http://www.sabre-roads.org.uk/forum/vie ... =1&t=32018

[nick_dunn]

I've got some video footage which I shot during a Land's End to John O' Groats drive in 1985. It shows northbound around Gretna including the old A75 junction. There are shots further north although I can't accurately identify where. The video is not great quality and my camera work was pretty bad, but it does give a decent impression of what it was like.

I put this on Youtube and linked to it from SABRE a few years ago, but unfortunately I got copped by the Youtube Police for using copyrighted music and they took the clip down! I've still got the clip and I can edit the music and upload it again, however I'm on flimsy hotel wifi this week so I'll have do that when I can.

[wrinkly]

Is that the one that made me carsick?

(Camera-sick would probbly be a more exact term.)

[nick_dunn]

Is that the one that made me carsick?

(Camera-sick would probbly be a more exact term.)

Ha ha, that'll be the one! I'll see what I can do with it, but keep a sick bag handy!

[SB74]

Don't know if anyone is interested , but go on to you tube , type in Scotland lowland archives , select the top one ( film 97312 ). It's early 1960s - at 0.51 ( I think ) shows the A74 dual carriageway possibly taken from the B719 Greenhillstairs Road . There looks like a sign on the northbound A74 in the centre of the film - could you turn right onto the B719 to Greenhillstairs in those days ? If so , is this a sign saying "The North A74 Glasgow and right turn Greenhillstairs B719 " ? Also of interest is a Class 50 " Hoover " heading south with a rake of mark 1 coaches - this was obviously before the line was electrified . At 1.07 the train approaches Beattock and you can see the line on your right which is the former line to Moffat .

[wrinkly]

could you turn right onto the B719 to Greenhillstairs in those days ?

Yes you could.

Edit now I've looked at the film:

If so , is this a sign saying "The North A74 Glasgow and right turn Greenhillstairs B719 " ?

Yes. Might also have said Edinburgh ahead. I forget, and the film isn't clear enough to decide.

[David D Miller]

Don't know if anyone is interested , but go on to you tube , type in Scotland lowland archives , select the top one ( film 97312 ). It's early 1960s - at 0.51 ( I think ) shows the A74 dual carriageway possibly taken from the B719 Greenhillstairs Road . There looks like a sign on the northbound A74 in the centre of the film - could you turn right onto the B719 to Greenhillstairs in those days ? If so , is this a sign saying "The North A74 Glasgow and right turn Greenhillstairs B719 " ?

Yes, you could turn right onto the B719. I can't recall what the sign would have said, but probably signed to Moffat.

It's quite hard to work out where this actually is, as so much of the scene has now changed: The pylons have moved above the railway; the field boundaries have almost completely disappeared; the new B7076 has been built just below the railway; the dual-carriageway, much widened, has become the motorway; and, not least, the new B719 bridge crosses right through the middle of this scene.

The junction with the B719 was slightly further north, where there's now a works access from the southbound motorway. The old B719 continues right down to the gate onto the motorway. The junction would have been on the flat, most likely with a short and narrow-looking right-turn lane set into the narrow central reservation. Yes, it was far below the standard we'd expect for a 70-mph dual carriageway, but it was built to the standards of the 1960s - and it was considerably better than the single-carriageway road which it replaced. (Remember, there were bus stops at the roadside on the dual carriageway, with the yellow bus-stop box marked out into lane 1, and big signs warning the 70-mph traffic that "Buses stop in carriageway"! Things were different then.)

The B719 bridge was built slightly south of the old junction, taking advantage of the height gained by the road to avoid additional earthworks. On the film, the bridge would cross the middle of the field to the left of that road sign, landing on the mound immediately right of the electricity pylon on the far bank. The wooded stream coming down from beyond the railway is completely unchanged in the modern view.

[wrinkly]

Yes, you could turn right onto the B719. I can't recall what the sign would have said, but probably signed to Moffat.

From at least one direction - either north or south or both - it said Greenhillstairs.

[RJDG14]

Since there were some old images of the A33 that I've never seen, it wouldn't suprise me if it was similar with the A74.

There are a few here you may not have seen before.

It's quite like how I imagine the A74 would have been at Lesmahagow. As I mentioned the other day, Google Earth now has NASA imagery dating from the 1980s, and given NASA imagery is public domain, here's a Landsat view of the A74 alongside the A74(M) under construction/new from around 1987. From what I can make out, this stretch would have been almost as bad then as it is now.

It would be really interesting if there are ground-level photos of this section from the 1980s. The oldest I can find would be from about 2002 on CBRD (the B7076/B7078 article), when it was in much the same condition to what it was when I visited Scotland in 2014.

[RJDG14]

I've got some video footage which I shot during a Land's End to John O' Groats drive in 1985. It shows northbound around Gretna including the old A75 junction. There are shots further north although I can't accurately identify where. The video is not great quality and my camera work was pretty bad, but it does give a decent impression of what it was like.

I put this on Youtube and linked to it from SABRE a few years ago, but unfortunately I got copped by the Youtube Police for using copyrighted music and they took the clip down! I've still got the clip and I can edit the music and upload it again, however I'm on flimsy hotel wifi this week so I'll have do that when I can.

Did the original soundtrack have music playing from the car stereo? If not, you could use the original audio, or perhaps make the clip silent or use music from the YouTube Audio Library. They have done deals with a lot of the major labels to allow much of their library to be used in people's videos, provided they can place ads on them. YouTube have a music policies page to tell you what restrictions apply to each song - if a song says "Viewable worldwide" ("Viewable in all but <20 regions" should be fine too, since these are most likely not the UK) you should be fine using it, but ads will appear in the video.

[Andy33gmail]

I've got some video footage which I shot during a Land's End to John O' Groats drive in 1985. It shows northbound around Gretna including the old A75 junction. There are shots further north although I can't accurately identify where. The video is not great quality and my camera work was pretty bad, but it does give a decent impression of what it was like.

I put this on Youtube and linked to it from SABRE a few years ago, but unfortunately I got copped by the Youtube Police for using copyrighted music and they took the clip down! I've still got the clip and I can edit the music and upload it again, however I'm on flimsy hotel wifi this week so I'll have do that when I can.

Realise this is an old post, but did the clips ever make it back to Youtube?

[nick_dunn]

I've got some video footage which I shot during a Land's End to John O' Groats drive in 1985. It shows northbound around Gretna including the old A75 junction. There are shots further north although I can't accurately identify where. The video is not great quality and my camera work was pretty bad, but it does give a decent impression of what it was like.

I put this on Youtube and linked to it from SABRE a few years ago, but unfortunately I got copped by the Youtube Police for using copyrighted music and they took the clip down! I've still got the clip and I can edit the music and upload it again, however I'm on flimsy hotel wifi this week so I'll have do that when I can.

Realise this is an old post, but did the clips ever make it back to Youtube?

I'm afraid not as a technical issue came up. Basically the clip was in DVD format (VOB). The software I use at the moment does not support VOB file edits so I need to find a reliable (and preferably free) VOB file editor so I can convert to something more friendly. Even then there will probably be an issue because the soundtrack will still be present on the file even if I silence it.

All this means I would probably have to go back to the original video tape, re-import it into my ancient editing software on my ancient Windows XP laptop and create a new file for YouTube. I haven't got a video player any more and the XP laptop was on its last legs last time I used it!
I might try sending the original video to a third party for conversion.

It's so annoying, because it is only the fact that I used a Supertramp track that got the clip banned in the first place! I later found out that their management team are well known for having the band's music removed from public sites.

[Chris Bertram]

It's so annoying, because it is only the fact that I used a Supertramp track that got the clip banned in the first place! I later found out that their management team are well known for having the band's music removed from public sites.

'Tis true. You can find cover versions, including Roger Hodgson singing his own songs from his time with the band, but actual Supertramp-performed material on YouTube is exceedingly hard to find.

[djw1981]

on some software, rename file extension from vob to mp4 and it will import fine.....