Boness and Kinneil Railway
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The Bo'ness & Kinneil Railway (B&RK) is a heritage Railway, run by the Scottish Railway Preservation Society (SRPS).
The B&KR runs from Bo'ness, on the banks of the Forth near Linlithgow, west then south to Birkhill, and on to Manuel adjacent to the Edinburgh & Glasgow main line.
The railway runs a weekend (mainly steam operated) service from April to December, supplemented with a seven day service in July and August. There are regular Thomas dates, a Summer and Winter Diesel gala as well as other special operating dates.
At Bo'ness is the Museum of Scottish Railways (MOSR), opened in 1995 as the Scottish Railway Exhibition, where non-operational locomotives and rolling stock are on display.
The B&KR runs from Bo'ness, on the banks of the Forth near Linlithgow, west then south to Birkhill, and on to Manuel adjacent to the Edinburgh & Glasgow main line.
Boness station with BR 4MTT 80105. September 2010 Photo by VirginVoyager
The railway runs a weekend (mainly steam operated) service from April to December, supplemented with a seven day service in July and August. There are regular Thomas dates, a Summer and Winter Diesel gala as well as other special operating dates.
At Bo'ness is the Museum of Scottish Railways (MOSR), opened in 1995 as the Scottish Railway Exhibition, where non-operational locomotives and rolling stock are on display.
History of the Line
- The B&KR started as a brownfield site at Bo'ness in 1979.
- The heritage railway first opened to the public in 1981, with trains running a short distance out and back from the new Bo'ness station to Low's Crossing.
- From 1986 to 1988 the western terminus was at Kinneil Halt.
- In 1989 passenger trains were extended to a new station at Birkhill.
- A connection from the B&KR to the British Rail mainline at Manuel, via a reconfigured Bo'ness Junction between Polmont and Linlithgow, was made in 1990, giving access to visiting locomotives and the SRPS railtours train.
- On 24th August 1996, The Branch Line Society's 'Bo'ness Traveller' railtour to Ayrshire was the first passenger train to use the connection at Bo'ness Junction. <6BJ Link>
- From March 2010, regular B&KR passenger services were extended to Maunel. <BBC news>.
- In June 2013 a platform was brought into use at Manuel, allowing passengers to disembark whilst the locomotive runs-round the train.
Locomotives
| Steam Locomotives | |||||
| Class | Number | Name | Status (2024) | Owner | Photo |
| BR 4MT 2-6-4T | 80105 | - | Operational | LOG(S) |  |
| Caledonian Class 439 0-4-4T | No. 419 (55189) | In service. | SRPS |  | |
| NBR Class C 0-6-0 (LNER Class J36) | No. 673 (65243) | Maude | Out of service. | SRPS |  |
| LNER Class D49 4-4-0 | No. 246 (62712) | Morayshire | Out of service. | NMS |  |
| NBR Class K (LNER D34) 4-4-0 | No. 256 (62469) | Glen Douglas | On Display (MOSR). | - |  |
| NBR Class G 0-4-0ST (LNER Class Y9) | No. 42 (68095) | On Display (MOSR) | SRPS |  | |
| NCB 0-6-0ST | NCB No. 19 | (Fife Area) | Operational | SRPS |  |
| Coltness Iron Co 0-6-0T | No. 1 | Lord Roberts | Operational | SRPS |  |
| Diesel Locomotives | |||||
| Class | Number | Name | Status | Owner | Photo |
| NBL Diesel Shunters | D2767 | Out of service. |  | ||
| Class 08 | D3558 (08443) | Operational | SRPS |  | |
| Class 20 | 20020 (D8020) | Out of service. |  | ||
| Class 25 | 25235 | Out of service. | SRPS |  | |
| Class 26 | 26024 | Stored | 6LDA Group |  | |
| Class 26 | 26038 | Tom Clift | Operational | 6LDA Group |  |
| Class 27 | 27001 | Operational | private owner |  | |
| Class 27 | 27005 (D5351) | Out of service. | SRPS |  | |
| Class 37 | 37025 | Inverness TMD | Out of Service (was Mainline registered) | Scottish 37 Group |  |
| Class 37 | 37403 | Isle of Mull | Operational (Mainline registered) | SRPS |  |
| Class 47 | 47643 | Out of service. | SRPS |  | |
| Electric Locos | |||||
| Class | Number | Name | Status | Owner | Photo |
| Class 91 | 91131 | On Display (MOSR) |  | ||
| DMUs | |||||
| Class | Number | Name | Status | Owner | Photo |
| Class 117 | 51363, 59510, 51405 | - | Operational |  | |
| Class 126 | 51017, 59404, 51043, & 79443 | - | Out of service |  | |
| EMUs | |||||
| Class | Number | Name | Status | Owner | Photo |
| Class 303 | 303032 (75597, 61503, 75602) | Stored and on display |  | ||
Previous Resident Locomotives
- Steam locomotives
- Swedish State Railways 4-6-0 No 1313
- LMSR Class 5MT 4-6-0 44871 Sovereign
- LNER Class K4 61994 The Great Marquess (Museum exhibit)
- Diesel Locomotives
- Electric Locomotives
- Class 84 84001 (Museum exhibit)
See Also
Internal Links
External Links
- Bo'ness and Kinneil Railway
- Scottish Railway Preservation Society (SRPS)
- Museum of Scottish Railways
- SRPS collection catalogue (web archive from 2023)
- SRPS Diesel Group Facebook page
- SRPS Steam Group website
- Wikipedia - Bo'ness and Kinneil Railway
- Flickr - Bo'ness & Kinneil Railway Photo group
- Flickr - Photo at Bo'ness on Opening Day, 27/6/81
- NLS Overlay Maps, Bo'ness then and now