Get the Glasgow stories that matter to you sent straight to your inbox with our daily newsletter Sign me up Thank you for subscribing See our privacy notice Invalid Email

It was once described as the future of travel in Glasgow.

The streamlined carriages would have zoomed along, dangling from high-level gantries, at up to 120mph when standard trains hit just 80mph.

In theory, you could have use a railplane to travel from Glasgow to Edinburgh in just 20 minutes.

In 1930 a prototype monorail, intended to be rolled out across the city, was installed at Milngavie.

George Bennie, who funded and headed up the project, called it a railplane and the design drew a lot on aeroplane design. There was excitement at the 1930 launch when the first passengers tried it out.

Bennie boasted about the safety of his idea, but modern health and safety chiefs would have a field day with the unshielded propeller on the font of the train which could have easily gotten into difficulty with passing birds.

The railplane was electrically powered and propeller driven.

Bennie even paid for a Pathe documentary all about his new invention.

Video Loading Video Unavailable Click to play Tap to play The video will start in 8 Cancel Play now

The building of the monorail was a huge operation with parts being put together by William Beardmore & Co Ltd in Dalmuir.

It also had a luxurious interior fitted out by Waring and Gillow of London.

However, despite initial excitement, Bennie was unable to get financial backing to develop his idea further.

In 1936 Bennie was ousted from the board of the Railplane company, Inter-Counties Ltd. He was then declared bankrupt in 1937.

Bennie attempted to take forward his monorail idea in other parts of the world and established two new companies.

His proposals included lines between city centres and airports, and a monorail line between the River Nile and the Dead Sea which would both transport passengers and provide desert irrigation. However, none of his ideas came to fruition.

Glasgow's railplane fell into disrepair and sat rusting in Milngavie before being sold for scrap in 1956.

The dream had died and within 12 months the bankrupt Bennie, who later ran a herbalist shop, passed away.