Bo'ness and Kinneil Railway

The Bo’ness and Kinneil Railway is a heritage railway in Bo'ness, Scotland.^[1] It is operated by the Scottish Railway Preservation Society (SRPS),^[2] a registered charity,^[3] and operates a total of over 5 miles (8 km) of track (between Bo'ness and Manuel Junction, via Kinneil and Birkhill), virtually the entire Slamannan and Borrowstounness Railway that became part of the former North British Railway on the Firth of Forth.

v t e Bo'ness & Kinneil Railway
Legend
Bo'ness Kinneil Birkhill Manuel Junction Glasgow–Edinburgh via Falkirk line

No.19 Awaiting Departure at Bo'ness

Stations

Bo'ness Station Sign

The Bo'ness and Kinneil Railway has four stations, those being: Bo'ness, Kinneil Halt, Birkhill and Manuel.^[4]

Museum of Scottish Railways

The Museum of Scottish Railways Exterior

The Bo'ness and Kinneil Railway is also the home of the Museum of Scottish Railways.^[5] The Museum is located across the on the opposite side of the line from Bo'ness station, and entry is paid separately.^[6]

Model Railway

Glenauchter Model Railway Station

Operated by the Bo'ness Gauge O Group, the Model Railway operates alongside the full-size Railway between Easter and December. It is free to enter for visitors but donations are accepted. It is housed inside two Norwegian Railway coaches with the 'viewing coach' open to the public and the 'fiddle yard' coach for staff only.^[7][8][9]

Rolling Stock

Steam locomotives

Most of the steam fleet have had major industrial careers in Scotland, but a few ex-mainline types are also in service.^[10][11]

Type	Number & name	Status	Livery	Notes	Photograph
Neilson Reid 1899 0-6-0T [12][13]	No. 1 "Lord Roberts" (Thomas The Tank Engine)	Operational	NWR Cerulean	Used for Days Out With Thomas. Returned to service 13 May 2017.
Hunslet Austerity 0-6-0ST[14]	No. 5	Out of Service	N/A	There are no plans to restore this locomotive to operational condition in the foreseeable future.[14]
Andrew Barclay 1942 0-4-0TC[15]	No. 6	Out of Service	NCB Green
Hunslet Austerity 0-6-0ST[16]	No. 7	Out of Service. Undergoing overhaul	Under Repaint	The intention was to return the locomotive to service with a new 10 year boiler ticket in 2022.[16]
Hunslet Austerity 0-6-0ST[17]	No. 19	Out of Service	NCB Blue & Yellow	Recently repainted into the striking NCB Blue & Yellow livery. Returned to service in March 2015 following overhaul. Boiler ticket expires in 2025.
Andrew Barclay 1939 0-6-0T	No. 20	Out of Service	N/A	Under overhaul, Restoration started in Spring 2019 with the stripping of components.
Caledonian Railway 439 Class 0-4-4T [18][19]	No. 55189 [20]	Out of Service Needing to be Retubed	Under Repaint	Returned to traffic in the middle of October 2018 after an absence of 9+1⁄2 years.
LNER Class D49 4-4-0 [21]	No. 62712 "Morayshire" [20]	Out of Service	Under Repaint	Under overhaul, The only LNER D49 Left in the World.
BR Standard Class 4 2-6-4T [22]	No. 80105 [23]	Operational	BR Lined Back	Came back into service in 2024. Owned by the Locomotive Owners Group (Scotland)
LMS Stanier Class 8F 2-8-0 [24][25]	No. 45170 "Sir William McAlpine" [20]	Out of Service	N/A	Repatriated from Sivas in November 2010. Arrived at Bo'ness in November 2014 and currently awaiting restoration to working order, tender now being overhauled in the running shed.

Diesels

Former main-line diesel locomotives are abundant at the Bo'ness & Kinneil Railway, and a Summer and Winter Diesel Gala are held each year.

Class	Number & Name	Status	Livery	Notes	Photograph
Ruston and Hornsby 1951 4w 0-4-0	P6687	Operational	Green
British Rail Class D2/10	D2767 [citation needed]	Operational	BR Green	Came back into service in 2025
British Rail Class 08	08443/D3558[citation needed]	Operational	BR Green	Came back into service in 2025
British Rail Class 20	20020	Out of Service	BR Blue
British Rail Class 25	25235[26]	Out of Service. Undergoing overhaul	BR Blue
British Rail Class 26	26038 "Tom Clift" [26]	Operational	BR Blue
British Rail Class 26	26024[26]	Out of Service	BR Blue
British Rail Class 27	27001[26]	Currently Out of Service	BR Blue
British Rail Class 27	27005/D5351[26]	Out of Service. Undergoing overhaul	Under Repaint
British Rail Class 37	37025 "Inverness TMD"[27]	Currently Out of Service. Undergoing overhaul	BR Large Logo	Owned by the Scottish 37 Group, Next in line for an Overhaul
British Rail Class 37	37214[28]	Spares Donor	BR Blue	Owned by the Scottish 37 Group. Repainted into BR Blue in late 2024.
British Rail Class 37	37261 "Caithness"[29]	Out of Service	Debranded DRS Compass	Owned by the Scottish 37 Group
British Rail Class 37	37403 "Isle of Mull"[30]	Operational and Mainline certified	BR Large Logo	Often goes out on the Mainline for SRPS Railtours.[31]
British Rail Class 47	47643	Currently Out of Service. Undergoing overhaul	Scotrail Executive Red-Stripe

Multiple units

Type	Power	Number & name	Current status	Livery	Notes	Photograph
British Rail Class 117	DMU Diesel	Set L425, (51363, 59510, 51405). And 51372 for spares.[32]	Operational	BR Green with speed whiskers (51372 in BR Blue)	Purchased from the Cotswold Diesel Railcar Group in 2024.[33]
British Rail Class 126[34]	DMU Diesel	(formed of 51017, 59404, 79443, 51043) [35]	Out of Service. Undergoing overhaul	BR Green with speed whiskers	79443 is undergoing a heavy body restoration.
British Rail Class 303	EMU Electric	303032 (formed of 75597, 61503, 75602)[34][36]	Out of Service	Strathclyde Orange and Black (61503 in Carmine/Cream)	61503 was taken from unit 023 after 032's MBSO was damaged during its stay at Immingham docks.[37]

See also

• Trains portal

• Scottish Railway Preservation Society
• Museum of Scottish Railways
• List of British heritage and private railways
• List of closed railway lines in Great Britain