Author: strathavenminiaturerailway

The weather report indicates that the best day this weekend for the miniature railway to run will be Saturday the 22nd of May from 12 noon to 16.30 🙂 

Sunday’s weather forecast indicates clearly that it will not be a good day to operate the railway 😦 

Please be patient when you queue as we go through our cleaning regime with all trains to keep everyone safe.

A donation bucket will be available at the gate instead of tickets being sold,
This assists us keep safe distancing for all.
Wherever possible please wear a mask in the queue as customers bunch up at this time.
Hopefully we will all have a good day on Saturday. 

HERE WE COME in 2021
Our first running day will be Saturday the 1st May and then again on Monday 3rd of May from 1pm until 4.30pm (weather permitting)
Our volunteers are looking forward to welcoming you back to the track and our trains at the weekend.
As with the few days that we ran last year, Social distancing will be implemented in the queue and on all of the trains .
Please be patient as this will increase waiting times slightly as we clean down each carriage after each run. Track and Trace details will also be taken as per the Scot.Gov. guidelines.
We are all looking forward to Saturday and to seeing all our regular and new customers enjoying a ride on Scotland’s Oldest Miniature Railway .
We will also have a souvenir badge on sale celebrating this milestone in the club’s history.
Tickets and badges are £1 each with CASH ONLY please.

 Scotland’s oldest miniature railway, is now in Strathaven Park!

We are now the oldest continuously operated track with our first running day on the 14th of May 1949 (72 years). We replace Kerr’s Railway in Arbroath, who closed last year after 82 years, as the oldest track in Scotland. We also still have the original locomotive built by David Scott and Gavin Hamilton. This Loco being our 2-6-0 Mogul (Margaret), which has been rebuilt twice in her lifetime by members of the Strathaven Model Society Ltd who operate the railway in the park. She is mainly on display but can be seen in steam on special occasions throughout the year.

Looking forward to seeing all our old friends at the park from the 1st of May which should be our first running day for 2021.

Social distancing rules will still apply as previously used last year.

As always, thank you for your continued support

The Narrow Gauge railway magazine for the month of January 2020 devoted 12 pages out of the 40 to the Strathaven Miniature Railway. The article covered our history of 70 years in Strathaven Park and our locomotive Margaret who was also 70 at that time. Thank you to the NGR magazine for devoting all this space to our railway.
Keep Safe and we hope to see you at the park later in the year.

The information below is from the article in The Narrow Guage

NEW ARRIVAL.

This week we received the new boiler for Eva with all the new fittings. Included in the new fittings is a new whistle for the locomotive, a THREE CHIME type , which will sound very different from the whistle on the loco today (single note).
We just now need to wait till we can get back in the workshop to remove the old boiler and replace it with this new one, and all the fittings.
Once back in the workshop it will take several weeks to have Eva ready for the track, but hopefully by the summer of this year all will be well.
Keep safe and well and we are looking forward to seeing everyone back in the park later this year

Before Christmas we started to work on Eva’s boiler hoping to start work on repairs. Unfortunately we discovered more was needed than we had originally thought  and it was decided that a new boiler was required.  This has now been purchased from John Rex Model Engineers in Pontefract (http://www.miniaturesteam.com/index.html).

At the same time we decided that the new boiler would require several new fittings costing over £500 !   On approaching our local community council for a grant towards the purchase of these items we were given confirmation that this would be possible which let us go ahead with purchasing the needed items.

Thank you to Strathaven and Glassford Community Council for this assistance .

We just now need the Covid restrictions to ease  and we can get back into the workshop to remove the old boiler and fit the new one plus all the new parts.

Below are pictures of Eva  undergoing rebuilding in the workshop and of many of the new boilers from the supplier, one of these is on its way to us now.

We will also repaint Eva’s cab and saddle tank which have been removed from the locomotive.

We will also repaint Eva’s cab and saddle tank which have been removed from the locomotive.

So, with any luck, Eva’s recuperation will be over by the time the Wee Train is out and about running again.

Keep safe and well till we can see you all again

One of out team came across an old film of the railway, we think it’s from the early 90’s. There are many changes to the railway since then but it’s good to keep the history of the railway current.
https://youtu.be/RIRBmziYY4k

2021 should see our new raised track completed so the improvements keep coming

LOOKING FORWARD TO SEEING YOU IN 2021

Thank you to all who supported the Wee Train in 2020.
This was a very difficult year for all our crews trying to operate the railway safely and still give everyone a bit of fun during the running season.
Thank you for coming out and supporting us on the days that we managed to run and putting up with the queues as we cleaned the carriages every time for each run and hopefully keeping everyone safe.
We are busy in the workshop trying to get all the locomotives serviced ready for the 27th of March 2021 when we are planning to start running again.
A SAFE and HEALTHY CHRISTMAS to EVERYONE and looking forward to seeing you all next year.

Strathaven Miniature Railway welcomed a new arrival this week – a Class 67 5″ gauge model locomotive. We purchased this fine 2nd hand battery powered, environmentally friendly, locomotive in the colours used for the Royal Train. ‘Royal Sovereign’ and ‘Queen’s Messenger’ are the two locomotives used nationally for hauling the Royal train and we have purchased a model of ‘Royal Sovereign’.
We are sure that this new engine will encourage new and existing junior members (aged 9-16 years accompanied by an adult) to come and learn about the railway and learn how to drive, initially, this engine before progressing onto others within our stable
We are all looking forward to next year and seeing our junior members using this engine on both ground and raised track .
We will be making an announcement in the spring for new members to come and join us driving this and other locomotives in the park.
Take care everyone and we’ll be seeing you soon

Some close-ups of the new loco – what a beaut !