STEAM POWERED ENGINES THIS is the real draw for steam buffs and engineering fans. There are machines which have been built from local iron and steel, and rather than keeping them as museum pieces, many are powered up and work. A big attraction is the Fowler road roller.
IN JUST 10 days Scotland's noisiest museum will be firing back into life.
For two years Summerlee Heritage Park in Coatbridge has been closed as it undergoes a £10million refurbishment.
But on Friday September 26 its famous iron gates will be unlocked and the public will again get the chance to see our industrial heritage brought back to life.
Across the 22-acre park there's everything from trams to trains and even trails of molten iron to explore - and it's all free.
The Evening Times is media partner with the opening, and we got a sneak preview of some of the must-see exhibits.
Step back in time as we tour top attractions at revamped heritage park
SCOTLAND'S ONLY WORKING ELECTRIC TRAMWAY
The tramway circles the new-look site and an Evening Times tram - the No 53 - which will take visitors on a journey from the main entrance to the coal mine exhibits.
A REAL LITTLE IMP
THIS was the posh version of Scotland's last production car - the Hillman Imp. Made from local steel, the Imp was co-engineered by Ferrari Formula One driver Mike Parkes and was built at the Linwood plant in Renfrew.
This bottle green Chamois was seen as the upper-class version, with double headlamps and wooden dash, and now takes pride of place in
Summerlee's exhibition hall.
IRON BLAST FURNACE
STEPPING into Summerlee in the 1800s was compared to walking into hell or stepping onto the lip of a volcano.
This new exhibit in the main hall brings the all the noise and heat of an blast furnace back to life.
There's even a virtual reality blast furnace which you can switch on and pour molten iron ore across the exhibition floor into pig iron beds.
COAL MINE
Keep a torch handy! Ever wanted to know what life was really like as a miner at the turn of the last century? Well this gives a clue.
Not for the claustrophobic, this tour takes you down into the ground, and by candlelight you can see a real seam of coal and just how difficult the working conditions were for Scotland's miners.
MINERS' COTTAGES
WALKING along this terrace is like walking back through the years - with each house offering a snapshot of how local people lived across the decades from the 1840s to the 1960s. Staff dressed in period costumes add to the interest and the fun.
THE CARDOWAN WHEEL
COMPLETELY refurbished and operational, this massive pit head winding wheel, salvaged from the Cardowan Colliery, takes pride of place in the main exhibition hall.
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