Club Meeting

The speaker at the virtual meeting of the Rotary Club of South Queensferry on 11th March was James Verth from the Scottish Railway Preservation Society (SRPS). While James was an engineer at Ferranti in Edinburgh, a chance conversation twenty-five years ago led him to become involved with the society. His theme was the history and influence of the railways in Scotland. Based at Kinneil, Bo'ness, the SRPS runs trains from Bo'ness along the south bank of the Firth of Forth to Whitecross. The society's museum  has the largest collection of locomotives, rolling stock, equipment and artefacts outside the National Railway Museum. Almost every town in Scotland will have a Station Road, Station Bar or Station Hotel, signifying that there was once a railway line. In James's words, the railway pulled Scotland into a nation as coal travelled from Fife, Midlothian and Lanarkshire around the country and around the world. Glasgow flourished and soon became the second city of the Empire. Locomotive builders Sharp and Stewart and Dubs & Co amalgamated to form the famous North British Locomotive Company. Examples of the products of these companies can be seen in the National Museum of Scotland in Chambers Street.

SRPS was founded in 1961 and established a Museum of Scottish Railways in the Falkirk Sheds. 1963 saw the Beeching Report and in 1965 an even bigger report came out which vastly affected the railways in Scotland, closing countless stations and lines and leaving many parts of the country entirely dependent on road transport. In 1979 SRPS moved to a brown-field site in Bo'ness, the work being done entirely by volunteers. Currently the society has 1,400 members, some 400 of whom regularly attend the steam shed. The others volunteer for particular projects. A few members had railway backgrounds, some were Merchant Navy engineers and others did metalwork at school. They offer a wide range of skills for engineering and cosmetic restorations. The museum is housed at the back of the yard and it is proposed to make it into the National Railway Museum of Scotland. SRPS does not receive any government money but was awarded a grant by the National Lottery with which they bought an overhead crane. It will be used for lifting engines and locomotive parts and will be important in building the new museum. At present, SRPS has a Four-Star Award from Visit Scotland and this year, in conjunction with a Grangemouth company and Grangemouth College, they are starting a scheme for four apprentices.

James Verth's informative talk was warmly received. The meeting was chaired by President Irene Borwnless. Several members visited the virtual meeting of the Rotary Club of Kelso which was being addressed by the President Elect of Rotary International.