Railway Blogs

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 !

Thank you to Strathaven Echoes for committing a page to cover our short running season in 2020. With all the restrictions in place regarding Covid 19 and with all that the volunteers had to do to make it possible to run it really was a tough but rewarding year. Congratulations also to Strathaven Park who shared the double page feature with us and for winning a GREEN FLAG for the eighth consecutive yea.
Well done to all.
We have now started the many maintenance tasks required to ensure all our rolling stock and locomotives are ready for next year. This will be a more difficult task than normal with many of our colleagues having to isolate at this time so they cannot assist in sharing the workload as they would usually do. We hope everyone keeps safe and well.
From all at the Wee Train
Looking forward to seeing you all at EASTER next year.

On Friday 23rd October the BBC online news site shared many pictures and there amingst them all was a treasure – one of our railway from Saturday 17th of October.
It was a picture published of our loco Margaret steaming up the back straight with a young boy waiting patiently at the fence in the queue for his turn on the wee train

Photo Credit- Lisa McKerley Douglas
Captioned – Four-year-old George is on track for a nice day out as he waves at the approaching train driver and passengers on the miniature railway as Strathaven Model Society staged the final rides of 2020.

Thank you Lisa for sharing this stunning pic

LAST CHANCE to have a ride on the Strathaven Miniature Railway for 2020.
Saturday the 17th of October will be our last operating day for this year and we are planning on running from 11.30 to 16.30 weather permitting
We would like to thank our loyal passengers and also our new friends who have just found us over the last few months. Your support has been greatly appreciated over the last few months, and you have made a big difference to our funds in that we have been able to cover most of our costs for operating the railway.
All the volunteers at the railway wish to thank everyone who has supported us through these difficult times
We are looking forward to seeing you on Saturday for one last run before we start the winter maintenance and servicing of all our rolling stock.
please remember to wear a mask and keep the 2m distance while queuing

Having fun on Wednesday

After a really successful outing on Saturday 10th Oct we felt that we really should be open for train rides on Wednesday the 14th of October !
And so, weather permitting, we will operate the railway on Wednesday from Noon till 16.30
We hope this extra running day will be of interest for parents looking for somewhere to go during these challenging times especially with many places already closed for the winter.
We would ask all customers to please observe the 2 metre rule and to wear face coverings while waiting in the queue at the fence
So come along for a ride around our track and THANK YOU for supporting the Wee Train

Look what fun we had on Saturday

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Some GOOD NEWS in these rather gloomy times with Covid19 and all of the related restrictions we are all complying with.
Our miniature railway normally finishes its running season at the end of September each year.
Not this year..!
We will run, dependent on volunteers, on the next two Saturdays of the school holidays – that’s the 10th and 17th of 0ctober.
We can confirm we already have the volunteers for this Saturday the 10th of October and will commence running from 11.30 am to 16.30 as long as the weather remains favourable.
We would ask all customers to please observe the 2 metre rule and to wear face coverings while waiting in the queueing at the fence.
It is hoped to run during the day three different locomotives :- Strathaven Castle, Abberton and Margaret.
So come along for a ride around our track and THANK YOU for supporting the Wee Train.

This September weekend we plan to operate the railway on Today (26^th) and Monday (28^th) weather permitting.
Thank you to ALL the volunteers that have come forward to operate the railway over the last few weeks.

We would ask all visitors to the railway to please observe the social distancing rules set out by the Scot. Gov. Especially when queueing at the fence please by giving all our visitors the correct amount of space to be safe.

In addition we would ask all visitors to the railway to wear a face covering while queueing,under 5s are exempt. 

Looking forward to seeing you at the park tomorrow please follow the above request and keep everyone safe.

From all the volunteers at the “Wee Train”. 

It is with great regret that we have to announce that our miniature railway will not operate this Saturday, 19th of September.  Due to the ongoing Covid 19 rise in cases and the new local restrictions within South Lanarkshire, we have decided for the safety of everyone that this is the best decision to make.

Please keep safe and well and we hope that there will be an easing of restrictions soon, and that we can welcome back all our loyal supporters to the railway.

Thank you for your understanding from all at the Wee Train.

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