Glasgow and Ibrox Tramway
Owner Glasgow and Ibrox Tramway Company
Opened 18th July 1879 (horse)
Operator Glasgow and Ibrox Tramway Company
Closed 25th May 1891 (bankruptcy)
Purchased 10th July 1893 (Govan Commissioners of Police - the local authority)
Operator (lessee) Glasgow Tramways and Omnibus Company Limited
Taken over (operation) 10th November 1896 - (Glasgow Corporation Tramways)
Taken over (ownership) 1912 (Glasgow Corporation Tramways - following expansion of the city's boundaries to encompass Govan)
Length 1.55 miles
Gauge 4ft 7¾ins
Button description (Pattern 1) Monogram of intertwined initials 'GO&TCL' with 'G' inverted about its vertical axis
Materials known Silver plate; nickel
Button Line reference [None]
Button description (Pattern 2) Title ('Glasgow Corporation Tramways') in circlet, surrounding arms (shield with fish, tree and bell, surmounted by a bishop with crozier), with fish supporters, all above motto: 'Let Glasgow Flourish'
Materials known Brass; gilt; nickel
Button Line reference [113/31]
Comments Evidence that the Pattern 1 button is indeed an issue of the GT&OCL can be found in Glasgow Transport Museum, which has a horse brass from this company with the identical monogram (thanks to David Hughes and Kenny Delman for this information).
I've included two variants of the Pattern 2 button, the most notable difference being the dots between the title words - Variant 1 is the standard 3-piece construction whereas Variant 2 is a 2-piece blazer-style button. These buttons were issued to staff up until the re-naming of November 1929 (to 'Glasgow Corporation Transport'), and apparently persisted for quite some time after this. Curiously, 'Glasgow Corporation Tramways' uniforms were also issued to Glasgow Subway staff after takeover of that company in 1923. Many thanks to Kenny Delman for this information.
The unusual gauge was to allow for the running of railway wagons.