Museum of Scottish Railways

Scottish Branch Meeting Report – Saturday 10th February 2024

The Branch welcomed Dr Becky Peacock, SRPS Museum Director, with the presentation “Museum of Scottish Railways, past, present and future”.

The scope of the Museum collections was outlined, comprising a large vehicle collection, a very large small object and document collection and an extensive research library.  Originally, items were acquired to protect and preserve them.  Contemporaneous objects are sourced from ScotRail, Network Rail and other related organisations while future collecting may include Covid material and the reopening of stations, e.g., Reston.

Due to space restraints fewer vehicles may be acquired than previously.  Acquisition of models representing items the Museum is unable to acquire, due to space limitations for instance, is being considered.  Recent acquisitions include Beckton No.1, a Neilson 0-4-0 Well Tank of 1870 and Cl.91 91131 County of Northumberland ‘ Sir Henry Royce.

The Railway Heritage Designation Advisory Board have allocated a number of heritage items to the Museum over the years.  Future aspirations include an electrification display provided by Network Rail, a research centre containing the existing research library stock and national accreditation similar to the National Museum of Scotland.

This was a most interesting and illuminating presentation by an enthusiastic and accomplished speaker.  It was much appreciated by the increased number of attendees for this meeting.