The Summerlee Heritage Trust opened to the public, as a museum of social and industrial history. in March 1988.
 In 1990 it achieved the honour of being voted 'Scottish Museum of the Year' and by 1991 was receiving almost 150,000 visitors each year.
The site covers an area of some twenty-five acres and includes an extensive, glass fronted exhibition hall, rebuilt from the derelict premises where Hydrocon cranes were manufactured. Visitors can look down on the site of an archaeological excavation which exposed the foundations of furnaces, stoves and other buildings of the Summerlee Ironworks previously buried under six metres of slag.

The ironworks worked from 1832 to 1930. one of the many which gave Coatbridge the title of 'The Iron Burgh'.

The Gartsherrie Branch of the Monklands Canal, opened in 1790, flows into the site.  Since the museum opened development of the site continues, with the creation on the east side of the canal branch of a colliery and two miners' rows. The colliery incorporates the historic Farme Colliery atmospheric winding engine which worked in Rutherglen from 1810 to 1915. Recognised at the time as an item of great historical importance it was retained in Glasgow. The underground exhibition is reached by means of an adit leading to displays covering 'stoop and room' workings of the nineteenth century and longwall working of a later period.

Within the Exhibition Hall are displays of machine tools and other machinery of West of Scotland manufacture, as well as reconstructed workshops of tinsmiths, moulders, brass finishers and a shovel forge. The operation of all these leads to the title of "Scotland's Noisiest Museum".

Prominent among outdoor exhibits is the North British Locomotion Company (NBL) built Garratt locomotive, which was repatriated from South Africa in 1984. A massive machine. 100 feet long and weighing around 200 tons. she was from the penultimate order for steam locomotives placed with NBL in Springburn 1956. 0wned by Springburn Museum. she was brought to Summerlee in 1990 and stands on a length of 3 ft 6 ins gauge track.  Another notable exhibit is the 0-4-0 'pug' built by  local firm of Gibb & Hogg: this is the only known surviving Airdrie-built locomotive.

Since it opened in l988 (becoming Scotland's first new tramway since 1949 and predating Glasgow Garden Festival Tramway by six weeks), the tramway at Summerlee  has operated two continental cars, Brussels 9062 and Graz 225. However it was always the hope to use traditional British cars, preferably with local connections and this is now becoming possible.

A tramway was chosen as the preferred mode of site transport rather than a railway for a variety of reasons. In telling the story of Industrial Scotland, Summerlee wanted to recognise the role of tramways as the major means of urban public transport in the first half of the twentieth century. Whilst preserved railways abound, there are no other electric tramways in Scotland. Also the layout of the site is more appropriate to a street tramway, with its tighter curves. In contrast to the Glasgow Garden Festival tramway, all track work was acquired brand new, the rails to modern continental section coming from Germany and the turnouts serving the car shed from Edgar Alien in Sheffield. The tramway when opened in 1988 was only about 300 metres long. It has since been extended across the new Gartsherrie Branch canal bridge and now describes an elongated C shape. With the opening of the 'underground experience' of the mine and the two rows of miners' cottages, the tramway now provides a useful means of site trans- port as well as being an attraction in itself.

Extension of the tramway is envisaged from the present terminus at the entrance along the side of Heritage Way to West Canal Street, where the former Ironworks gatehouse has been purchased - for use ultimately as part of an expanded entrance facility. The two track depot, a new steel portal frame structure, is on the eastern side of the canal and provides generous accommodation for up to four cars. It has pits on each road to give access for maintenance.

Power for the tramway is from a transformer/ rectifier set. The original small unit, which was really only adequate for operating one car, was replaced by a 100kw unit from the Glasgow Subway Works where it had served as a standby supply for the crane used to lift cars from the tunnels before the Subway was rebuilt.

First of the operable cars to arrive on site was Brussels 9062. This was originally obtained with a view to dismantling for parts, but since it was complete and in good order it was put into use quite quickly. It was a rebuild of car 4062 carried out by STIB in their own workshops in 1959 as a prototype for rebuilding similar four wheel cars. As then rebuilt it was single ended (fitted with a back up controller for use in depots); in 1975 further alterations (including replacement of the trolley pole with a single arm pantograph) were carried out to make it suitable for one man operation and for use on pre-metro (tram subway) lines.  During a major overhaul in 1992 at Summerlee, car 9062 was fitted with a complete  set of controls at each end and was repainted.  It was a useful car for  winter operation as it was fitted with electric heating panels in the roof. Following a severe vandalism attack, repairs were thought to be uneconomic and the car was scrapped in 2004.  

After 9062 was put into use another car was required to make allowance for repairs, etc.  The Austrian city of Graz (capital of Steirmark) had various four wheel cars still in use and after a short visit car 225 was purchased. Again it was in working order, but although it was used as a single ended car it retained complete controls at both ends and could be used more readily on the line at Summerlee.  Built by the Graz firm SGP in 1949 it had been used to haul up to two trailer cars.  

Over the years two lower deck saloons from Lanarkshire Tramways Co (LTC) cars of the 47-53 series, (built 1908). were acquired. One came from Beith. the other from near Irvine was identified as car 53 which had been severely damaged in a collision with car 36 about 1917. The remains of 53 were taken to the Scottish Railway Preservation Society depot at Bo’ ness to form the basis of a major restoration project. Once completed the lower saloon was taken back to Summerlee for further work. Certain metal components are incorporated, in what is as much a total rebuild as the LTC undertook themselves of most of their cars in the early 1920s.

Summerlee's own staff  have completed reconstruction of the car. New platforms, dashes and stairs have been bin It (this last not as easy a job as you might think!), lifeguards and sanders made and installed. Provision of the running gear did present a problem but Summerlee were fortunately able to benefit from the help of the Black Country Museum bulk purchase of equipment from Oporto. Portugal. Although the truck and controllers were the principal items required. Oporto car 150 arrived on site complete, but in a very dilapidated state. Its body still exists and has been used as a source for parts and patterns. Lazy- long trellis gates, circuit breakers, truck, controllers, sanders and brake gear have all been reused. Its 21E truck was refurbished in Summerlee's conservation workshop, with wheel tyre re-profiling, motor re- insulation and testing carried out by specialists.

Meanwhile new stanchions had been cast for the top deck handrails and once these were jig drilled the railings around the top deck were added, using photographs to get the correct arrangement. Steel modesty panels and mesh infills for the upper parts have been made and fitted. To complete the body a large number of non ferrous cast components were required. Some are still available from coach building suppliers, others had to be made using surviving components as patterns. The trolley standard fitted to the car is a BTH one which has a slip ring arrangement to allow full 360 degree rotation. It is from the 1908 Dundee Carolina Port power station electric locomotive. New castings were required for the 'slip ring' which had disintegrated completely!

Oporto 150's resistances were cast iron units incapable of further use. A new resistance of 'un- breakable' elements in a box suitable for mounting under one of the stairs was purchased from EMB and has proved very satisfactory. A trolley pole has been manufactured using three diameters of steel pipe welded together. When covered with insulation it resembles the tapered steel tube of the original.

Glasgow 1017 (ex Paisley 17 of 1904) is in an advanced state of restoration  and has been run in service at Summerlee.  Its sister car 1016, has now been  removed by its owners, S.I.T.A., from the site and is undergoing restoration elsewhere.  Dusseldorf car 392, built in 1951 and used since 1972  as a “works car” numbered 5232,  was obtained by STG in 1999. It was returned to its original livery & fleet number and fitted with a wheelchair lift the following year. It has not run in service at Summerlee held back by various alterations required under  the terms of a Parliamentary Order. Unfortunately this car also sustained severe damage  in the  same vandal attack as Brussels 9062. No.392 is now in an advanced state of restoration.  Glasgow “Coronation” 1245 arrived in poor condition during 2003 and will  be a long-term restoration project probably requiring Lottery Funding.  There is on site, an ex Leamington, ex Glasgow horse-car but it is several years since any work was carried out on it. Since it requires real horses to run it, it is not seen as a priority.     

The immediate future: Despite the Museum’s closure for about 18 months, there is  plenty opportunity for the enthusiast to become involved in Restoration or Maintenance of the cars.  As work on the main museum gets nearer completion, it is hoped the motor-school can accept candidates for crew training as and when power is returned to the overhead.