In the light of rapidly changing climate and loss of biodiversity the importance of minimising carbon footprint and environmental impact is widely recognised. Network Rail is leading a drive to value nature and the environment throughout the national railway infrastructure. It recognises that the importance of environment and biodiversity must be embedded alongside safety and performance. Where the national railway leads, heritage railways are likely to be obliged to follow.

Commitment to a greener operation

Although the national environmental impact of coal burning by heritage railways is small, the fact that we burn coal in such an obvious way makes us a target for ill-informed criticism. In fact, the B&KR already has a good track record in helping develop fuel with lower carbon footprint than coal, having hosted trials of hydrogen powered railcars and renewable coal substitute. The museum roof with its large solar panel array is another, very obvious, sign of our commitment to a greener operation.

Effective action based on knowledge

Over the past 200 years, railways have had massive impacts on the environment – not all of them deleterious and not all well documented or understood. Effective action to enhance the environment can only be done on the basis of knowledge. As far as biodiversity is concerned the fundamental knowledge required is a species inventory – that is, in essence, a list of all species – fungus, plant and animal – which are found on the railway.

We have begun species recording and are in discussion with other local bodies so that we can integrate our records with those of regional and national data sets. Records so far include some species of railway interest and some dangerous invasive aliens.

The natural history of Scotland’s railways

The Museum of Scottish Railways presents visitors with the history of railways – the infrastructure, workings, people, locomotives and rolling stock. However, (in common with other similar museums), it does not present the natural history of the railways. Appreciation of that is a prerequisite for understanding environmental issues related to the railways. This gives our next phase of the project – engaging visitors with railway natural history.

Future aims

We aim to make a natural history trail with activities for children and, in time, plan to incorporate relevant natural history material in museum displays. Engagement with adults should include bioblitz type recording events drawing in local naturalists and the general public.

A long term commitment

All of this will not happen this Climate Week – it is a long term operation. We suffer the usual problems of voluntary organisations – lack of funding, time and hand.  Nonetheless, we are committed to preserving the natural history of Scotland’s railways, and the site we call home, for the benefit of future generations. Our expectation and hope is that, by promoting these activities, we will engage with a wider cross section of the general public and increase awareness of the importance of our environment.

Volunteer Stories for Change.

Look out for stories about how our volunteers are taking climate action.  We will be sharing personal Stories for Change across the week via our social media channels using #ScotClimateWeek.