Five Scottish Railways come together in celebration

Down in Stockton and Darlington, they may have been running a replica of the first steam-hauled passenger train to celebrate 200 years of a public railway, but on that same last weekend of September in Bo’ness we were making history in our modest way by bringing together the societies who represent the five great railways which revolutionised Scotland. Where else but in the Museum of Scottish Railways could the lovers of the Great North of Scotland, the Highland Railway, the North British Railway, the Glasgow & South Western Railway, and the Caledonian Railway gather harmoniously but in the friendly setting of our own exhibition halls where we celebrate each of these vigorously competitive lines equally?

The Five Scottish Line Societies do wonderful work in researching the old railways and, as visitors learned, each publishes a surprising array of books covering diverse aspects from people and personalities to private wagons and historic signalling practices. Indeed, two of our members were seen sloping off midway through the event to prove a point of signalling dispute on the actual Rogart signal box frame in SRE1. Also noted was a learned discussion on the two-pipe airbrake system and ETH connections as fitted to our Mark III sleeper. Where else but here?

The pair testing the interlocking on the Rogart frame, incidentally, were both wearing the traditional signalmen’s waistcoat, as they were actively employed as such across the weekend on the Cadhay Sidings model railway layout. Built in 4mm scale to P4 standards, the layout exuded the atmosphere and sounds of the Devonshire countryside as well as of the railway. Visitors shunted the goods yard and learned how to handle regulator and brake on this fully signalled railway. Over by the real Bo’ness and Kinneil Railway, on the somewhat larger scale of 7mm to the foot, the Gauge O Group ran trains in all the colours of Scotland’s pre-Grouping railways.

More on the Gauge O way of doing things was to be found back in the main show, along with Ken McKee talking of his railway childhood and signing his book, ‘Three Generations on Scotland’s Railway’. Ken had also brought locomotives from the famed Kennedy collection and other memorabilia of the five great railways, some which he has now kindly donated to the museum collection. 

Very popular were the guided tours of our C&W workshop, where more pre-grouping vehicles could be seen close up, as well as the fleet of teak LNER carriages. The desire of both visitors and volunteers to see our unique collection of heritage vehicles in service was palpable.

The Museum of Scottish Railways is a member of the Forum of Scottish Line Societies and will be playing a large part in the Scottish Railway History Conference in Perth on 3rd of October 2026. You read it here first!  Before this, the museum team will be focusing their efforts on redisplaying the newly cleared workshop and preparing the halls after November’s big shunt, which will set the stage for 2026’s exhibition on overnight travel.