Council rejects open farm and locomotive visitor centre plan

Future of Union of South Africa and the Great Marquess in balance

Plans for an open farm in Fife which would showcase two of the country’s most famous locomotives have hit the buffers, The Courier has learned.

The future of Union of South Africa and the Great Marquess is unclear after Cameron Railway Trust’s blueprint for a new visitor centre at Balbuthie Farm near Kilconquhar was rejected by Fife Council.

Farm owner John Cameron hoped to put his locomotives on display in a visitor centre, while also allowing the public to visit his farm and experience first-hand how food is produced.

However, the local authority said the proposal would be “unacceptable” in the countryside and result in the loss of prime agricultural land.

The authority said the scheme is not “in keeping” with the surrounding area and would have a significant detrimental impact on visual amenity.

A supporting statement on behalf of Mr Cameron said the farm and locomotives, together with the proposed visitor centre, would have passed into trust for the benefit of the public.

“The visitor centre and open farm will make a significant contribution to tourism and education in the East Neuk and the country as a whole,” the statement added.

“A small number of employees would be necessary to manage the facilities and provide security, contributing to the local economy.”

Following the rejection, it is now not known what will become of the locomotives, which were designed by Sir Nigel Gresley and built in 1937.

The mainline operating certificates for both locomotives will have expired by next summer and, due to prohibitive costs, will not be renewed.

Nevertheless, both are of considerable historic interest.

Union of South Africa, also known as No 9, was used on the east coast mainline expresses between Aberdeen, Edinburgh and London and was kept and maintained at Haymarket.

In the autumn of 2015, No 9 hit the headlines when it was selected to haul the royal train carrying the Queen from Edinburgh to Tweedbank to mark the reopening of the Borders Railway.

The Great Marquess was a mixed passenger and freight locomotive first allocated to the Fort William shed on the West Highland line to haul rapidly growing fish traffic over the West Highland line from Mallaig to Glasgow.

In holiday periods it was often used for summer excursions from Edinburgh and Glasgow to Fort William.

It was finally transferred to the Thornton depot in Fife where it was used on Fife coal trains and also on summer excursions along the coast.

The visitor centre and open farm will make a significant contribution to tourism and education... STATEMENT ON BEHALF OF JOHN CAMERON

Left, John Cameron’s proposals for an open farm showcasing two famous locomotives in a visitor centre have been rejected by Fife Council.