I’m turning 66 and I feel like a good route !!

Now that I’ve grabbed your attention and the dry retching has hopefully abated, let me explain. I am, of course, referring to the 1946 Bobby Troup song Route 66. A rhythm and blues classic covered by everyone from Nat King Cole, Chuck Berry, The Rolling Stones to Glenn Frey, Asleep At The Wheel and even Depeche Mode.

Well if you ever plan to motor west
Travel my way, take the highway that’s the best
Get your kicks on Route 66

Well it winds from Chicago to L.A.
More than two thousand miles all the way
Get your kicks on Route 66.

This three chord hit is, of course, a road trip and travel guide of a song traversing two thirds of the great western American plain.

Well it goes to St. Louis, down to Missouri
Oklahoma City looks so, so pretty
You’ll see Amarillo, Gallup, New Mexico
Flagstaff, Arizona, don’t forget Wynonna
Kingman, Barstow, San Bernardino
You get hip to this kind of tip
And go take that California trip
Get your kicks on Route 66

It got me thinking. I remember as a youngster in the 60s and 70s seeing a Glasgow Corporation bus going to Auchenshuggle (the number 64 apparently). I always thought this was a made up name like Shangri-La, Xanadu or Brigadoon but it’s a real place albeit a now defunct row of cottages south of Tollcross that were knocked down in the 1960s and replaced with council houses. Auchenshuggle translates from Gaelic to ‘the rye fields’ although I don’t recall seeing too many of them in the east end of Glasgow unless they conflagrated under the smouldering car chassis !

My wife, Pauline even remembers the last tram from Dalmuir West to Auchenshuggle, tram line number 9, which finally closed in August 1962.

Imagine if Mr Troup was doing this 12 mile journey instead of his state side epic pilgrimage the refrain might sound a bit like this.

If you ever plan to motor west
Auchenshuggle to old Dalmuir west
Couldn’t ask for more than bus route 64.

or

It’ll be fine on tramway number 9:

Well it goes to the Tollcross, down to Dalmarnock
Merchant City looks so, so pretty
You’ll see Carmyle, Partick and Thornwood
Yoker, Scotstoun, don’t forget Finnieston !
Knightswood, Whiteinch, Clydebank, Dalmuir.

Just be thankful I went from east to west. Imagine trying to find a rhyme for Auchenshuggle !

(Post by John Allan of Bridgetown, Western Australia – April 2024)

**Mark Arbuckle also made reference to this particular Glasgow bus route in his article:
The Tale of Two Keiths and the No.64 Bus. **