Railway Blogs

We will be running on both days this weekend 26th and 27th of June.
The Sunday will have a restricted service with only one train operating as we have a limited amount of volunteers available for both days.
On Saturday both locomotives will be in service.
On both days we will be providing a socially distanced ride around the park.
All carriages will be sanitised after each journey and a donation bucket is in use instead of ticket sales

Looking forward to seeing new and regular customers over the weekend

The Wee Train will operate on Saturday the 19th and Sunday the 20th of June (Fathers Day) from 12 until 4.30pm.

This will be the first weekend this year that we have enough volunteers to run the railway on both days.

We continue to comply with Covid 19 rules and ask customers to keep their 2 meter 2m distance in the queue, while we sanitise the carriages after each journey. Donation bucket in use rather than selling tickets

Bring the dads and grandads along and treat them to a ride on the wee train

We’ll see you on the platform

Strathaven Miniature Railway will operate over the next two Saturdays – 5th and 12th of June – good weather dependant – with running commencing at Noon till 16.30 on both days.

Usual Covid rules will apply, cleaning of carriages and keeping your distance in the queue.
Our donation bucket is being used instead of ticket sales.

Thank you to all who have supported us during the six running days we had in May, much appreciated by all at the Wee Train.

Strathaven miniature railway will operate over the following two days of the Bank holiday –
Saturday the 29th from 12 noon till 16.30 hrs. and
Monday the 31st from 12.30 to 16.30 hrs.
Please be aware that social distancing is still required when queuing and that we are cleaning the carriages after each run which might add a little bit of time to your wait.
Please use our donation box as no tickets are being sold at present.
From the wee train.

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