2026 Exhibition Launch
“Scotland’s Railway at Night” opens with a day of celebrations
The Museum of Scottish Railways launched its 2026 exhibition, Scotland’s Railway at Night, on 2 May 2026. The opening generated strong local and national interest, and was supported by prominent media coverage in The Scotsman (print and digital).
Master of Ceremonies Jim practises his speech in the executive berth of the Mk3 sleeper while guests mingle
Access to historic vehicles and a new co-curated learning space
The exhibition offers new public access to historic sleeping-car vehicles and a family-friendly interactive learning space, Railway Creatures of the Night, designed in collaboration with local schools and community wildlife partners to reveal the things that use the railway while we are sleeping.
Explore the 2026 exhibition here.
Guests explore the new exhibits (left) and Professor Dugald Cameron chats to other friends of MoSR after formally opening the 2026 season
Special guests and friends old and new
The season was opened formally by Professor Dugald Cameron, whose commissioned artwork, ‘Dawn from the Sleeper’, is used as a dramatic backdrop to the new displays. It also included a renaming ceremony of diesel shunter 10016 as “Ann” to mark the 90th birthday of notable railway historian and longstanding member of the SRPS, Dr Ann Glen.
Other attendees included Aiden Wilson, Lee Osbourne, and Tom Whyte of the 225 Group), along with LNER driver Ross Clark. The 225 Group team were on hand to introduce visitors to the cab of Class 91 locomotive 91131 “Sir Henry Royce”. The Class 91 was designed with the intention of hauling sleeper services, although it never did so in operational service. The museum will be working in partnership with the 225 Group across the year to reveal the story of the Class 91 and give visitors the chance to experience the cab with the professionals who knew the engines best.
Ann Glen meets the 'Ann' for the first time while Driver Ross Clark revisits an old friend
Delivery
The exhibition is the museum’s largest project to date. Delivery involved significant cross-department effort—particularly from the Carriage & Wagon team and museum staff—alongside contributions from local community supporters who brought rich, personal experience and invaluable expertise to the interpretation.
The ‘People of the Sleeper’ display was generously funded by the ICON and Tru Vue Conservation and Exhibition grant scheme. We are grateful to everyone who has shared their time, skills, and insight to help bring this project to life.
SRPS staff and volunteers raise a glass to celebrate the day
Media coverage
The exhibition launch attracted positive publicity, including a full page in the printed edition of The Scotsman on the day of opening and more comprehensive coverage in its digital edition. The article highlighted the uniqueness of the displays, and paid close attention to Jim Summers’ specially designed model of the pioneering NBR sleeping carriage, which is now on display in the main entrance.
Read the full article here.