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Manuel on a Mission

On the southern shore of the Firth of Forth, practically  in the shadow of the Forth Bridge, is the town of Borrowstounness, better known perhaps as Bo’ness.

Since 1979, Bo’ness has also been the principal terminus of the Bo’ness & Kinneil Railway, which has become, effectively, the heritage railway operation of the Scottish Railway Preservation Society, which was founded in 1961.

Throughout the lifetime of the SRPS and the B&KR, a good working relationship with the local and district councils as well as the Scottish Museum of Transport has been an important part of the funding and planning process for the society.

The Manpower Service Commission, Scottish Tourism, the ubiquitous National Lottery, the Territorial Army and even those on ‘Community Service’ have all helped to keep the wheels turning and the fires burning.

The South of Scotland Electricity Board chipped in with the odd mile or two of track – which came in very handy when the line was being extended. However, none of this would mean anything were it not for the band of knowledgeable and enthusiastic volunteers who have made it all possible.

Built from scratch
The whole length between Bo’ness  and Kinneil had to be built from scratch by SRPS volunteers, with a little help from, among others, the Manpower Services Commission and the Territorials. The Bo’ness station site opened for visitors in 1981 and offered a train journey over about a half mile of track. Following the success at Bo’ness, between 1981 and 1986, the line was extended to Kinneil Halt, which became the western terminus until 1988 when the line was extended again, this time, to Birkhill.

In the very early days of operations at Bo’ness, a variety of ex-industrial locomotives saw active service, including the diminutive Hawthorn Leslie 0-4-0ST Sir John King and the somewhat larger Barclay 0-6-0T No 20.

No 20 came from the famous Wemyss Coal Co, which had its own private railway in Fife, which was never nationalised and continued in operation until 1970. Another of the society’s ex-industrials, Neilson Reid 0-6-0T No 1 Lord Roberts, is now the B&KRs  ‘Thomas’ as well as being used in regular traffic.

When the extension to Birkhill was opened, there was, at times, a shortage of suitable, operational motive power. This situation led to the hiring of engines from other railways and both the NER P3 0-6-0 No 2392 and the LNER J72 0-6-0T No 69023 Joem, (No 69023 was not actually built under the LNER but by British Railways, in 1949) had spells on loan in the early 1990s. With the impending withdrawal, for overhaul, of BR 2-6-4MTT No 80105, the race is on to have a suitable replacement engine available from the society’s own fleet, with Austerities Bagnall 0-6-0ST No 7 and Hunslet 0-6-0ST No 19 being closest to returning to steam.

The 10-year overhaul on the Caledonian 0-4-4T  No 419 is also well under way and it is expected to return to traffic for the 2011 season.

Returning to 2010, another of the SRPS’s long-term goals will be achieved when the  Birkhill to Manuel Junction section of the original North British Railway, Bo’ness branch, re-opens for passenger traffic with the start of the new operating season.

Main line connection
The line between Birkhill and Manuel Junction has been open for the passage of stock and locomotives to and from Bo’ness and the national network since 1990, but was not, until now, open for the carriage of fare-paying passengers.

It is this main line connection which has made it possible for the B&KR to enjoy visits from locomotives such as Gresley Pacific No 60009 Union of South Africa, A2 No 60532 Blue Peter, Stanier 8F No 48151 and Jubilee 4-6-0 No 5690 Leander, to name just a few of the visiting stars which have used the line in recent years. It has also allowed the B&KR to earn revenue from providing track access for the conduct of braking trials on rolling stock and locomotives used on the national network.

The new terminus at Manuel is situated alongside the Edinburgh to Glasgow via Falkirk main line, though there’s no longer a main line station at this point. Initially passengers will be unable to alight at Manuel Junction as there are, as yet, no platforms on the B&KR either. In the past there were two stations at Manuel, Upper and Lower, and the present terminus is nearest to what was Manuel Lower.

Currently the society is investigating the possibility of a further westward extension to link up the B&KR with the Union Canal at Lathallan and a connection to the ‘Falkirk Wheel’, which is a canal boat lift, not a Scottish version of the London Eye. The Falkirk Wheel was built to reconnect the Forth/Clyde Canal with the Union Canal – it replaces a set of 11 locks which were dismantled back in the 1930s.

Since its opening, the Falkirk Wheel has become a tourist attraction in its own right and a tie-up with the railway could create a great rail/canal ‘round-trip’ day out.
One can only hope that something will come of what is, at the moment, more of an ambition than an actuality.

B&KR locomotives
The B&KR has some very rare and interesting locomotives of its own, real survivors, as Scotland had no equivalent of Woodham’s from which to rescue the condemned.
The current mainstays of passenger duties are the sole surviving LNER D49 4-4-0 No 246 Morayshire and the slightly less rare BR Class 4MTT No 80105, which is owned by the Locomotive Owners Group (Scotland).

No 80105 will bow out later this year for its 10-year overhaul and there will be a special weekend of operations at the beginning of September to celebrate – if that’s the right way to describe being withdrawn for overhaul.

Other unique locomotives which have seen active duties over the previous 10 years have included the previously referred to Caledonian Railway McIntosh 439 class 0-4-4T  No 419, (BR No 55189), and the former North British Railway C class (LNER J36) 0-6-0  No 673, (BR No 65243) Maude.

The engine was named in commemoration of the World War One General, Sir Frederick Stanley Maude. (There is here a surprisingly topical and railway link – General Maude was, in part, responsible for  building a military railway from the Persian Gulf coast to the town of Basra and along the Tigris river in preparation for his march upon Baghdad in 1916, in what was then known as Mesopotamia – later to become Iraq.)

This diminutive 0-6-0, former goods engine, even without the ‘illustrious’ name, is a genuine star. No 673 was one of 25 engines of the class to be shipped to France for duties on the Western front during World War One. No 673 survived the carnage of World War One and of British Railways’ modernisation plan, to become one of the last two operational locomotives on the Scottish system in 1967 – having been built in 1891, by Neilson of Glasgow, for the North British Railway.

Maude was, originally, restored to NBR livery and carrying its original NBR number, No 673, made the epic journey from Falkirk to the Rocket 1980 Rainhill celebrations under its own steam. It also saw service on mainline specials, before being retired to the B&KR where, sadly, it is is now ‘back in the queue’ for a major overhaul.

Another unique survivor, though now only as a static exhibit within the museum, is the North British Railway Reid K class (LNER D34) 4-4-0 No 256 Glen Douglas.
The Glens were regular performers on the West Highland line and worked the Edinburgh-Dundee via Thornton and Edinburgh-Glasgow via Polmont services. Many of the class were allocated to either Glasgow Eastfield, (65A), or Thornton Junction, (62A), though some went to Edinburgh St Margaret’s, (64A), and worked the Waverley route to Galashiels and Hawick – but all were withdrawn by 1961.

Having been ‘earmarked’ for preservation, No 62469 Glen Douglas was repainted in NBR livery and, until 1965, worked ‘enthusiast’ and special trains before becoming a static exhibit. (No 256 Glen Douglas was ‘officially’ withdrawn in 1962.)

When funds and resources are available, it is the society’s aim to restore Glen Douglas to working order. When so much money seems to be available to build or re-create locomotive types which did not survive the ending of steam, it seems a pity that this fine example of pre-Grouping era Scottish motive power remains a static exhibit – partly through the lack of sufficient funding.