The Bo’ness and Kinneil Railway will be giving children (and adults) the opportunity to have a Day out with Thomas on 9th and 10th September.
Engines with friendly faces, children’s entertainment, competitions, face painting, fairground attractions – a popular event with young fans of the Railway Stories by Rev W Awdry and his son Christopher, as seen on TV – will all feature in the event. The Scottish Railway Preservation Society operates the Bo’ness & Kinneil Railway, which has been developed since 1979 on a green-field site by the south shore of the Firth of Forth. Several historic buildings have been obtained and re-erected to provide a traditional railway setting. Bo’ness station opened in 1981. The line was extended to Kinneil in 1987 and to Birkhill in 1989, where the fireclay mine was open to the public until 2010. Since 2010 the passenger service has continued to Manuel, where it is intended that a new station will be constructed.
The final section of the line between Birkhill and Manuel was relaid early in 1990 to provide a connection with the BR Edinburgh to Glasgow main line at Manuel. This line was until 2010 only used for the movement of locomotives and carriages, allowing the SRPS Railtours train to be based at Bo’ness since 1991. It also enables locomotives from other preservation groups to visit the Bo’ness & Kinneil Railway, as in the case of former LMS ‘Black Fives’ 44871 Sovereign, 5407 & 44767 George Stephenson, 8F 48151, LNER K1 2005, K4 3442 The Great Marquess, A2 60532 Blue Peter & A4s 60009 Union of South Africa & 60007 Sir Nigel Gresley, and BR Standard Four 75014.
Falkirk Council has been working with the SRPS to set up the Museum of Scottish Railways. The first part of the museum was opened in 1995 as the Scottish Railway Exhibition and a large extension was opened in 2002. The large new station building at Bo’ness, opened in 1998, includes the refreshment room and gift shop. This provides improved facilities for coach parties. The passenger service was extended to Manuel in 2010. A proposal to extend the line to an interchange with the Union Canal is being investigated. About seven miles along the canal is The Falkirk Wheel, the World’s first and only rotating boat lift. For more information on train times and prices visit the SRPS website at https://www.srps.org.uk/railway/info.htm. A visit to the Bo’ness and Kinneil Railway would provide a great family day out while staying here in central Scotland in one of our self-catering holiday cottages.
