The Press and Journal (Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire)
World War II engine steams in to end year
Visitor: Transport museum success
A historic machine which contributed to the war effort on the Queen’s Aberdeenshire estate brought a local motoring museum’s most successful season in more than a decade to a close yesterday.
Vol u n t e e r s at the Grampian Transport Museum (GTM) fired up the Birkhall steam engine at its new-look visitor entrance to herald the final day of the centre’s 2016 season.
The machine was used to power a sawmill on the Birkhall Estate during World War II after being built to a Victorian-era design in 1942.
For years it lay unused at the royal grounds, which is the summer home of Prince Charles, before he donated it to the museum in the 1980s.
Last night curator of the GTM, Mike Ward, said it was a fitting way to bring the venue’s most successful season for “over a decade”.
Last week he had hoped their final run of events, which included a “Halloween special” and a display of engineering miniatures, would bring annual visitor numbers up past 30,000. This would have rivalled a record-breaking year in 1992.
However Mr Ward said early indications brought the figures to about 29,000 for the year. Speaking yes- terday he added: “It has been a busy day and the season has been full of variety. Numbers are well up on last year.
“We were hoping to get 30,000, we’ll maybe have 29,000 – we haven’t done the sums yet.”
He said the GTM team would be “back to it hammer and tongs” within weeks, adding preparing for the season ahead during winter was often their busiest time of the year.
Earlier this year the museum’s new £320,000 revamped visitor centre opened to the public after a huge fundraising effort.
Not long afterwards, staff and volunteers were stunned after top UK mo- torcyclist and TV personality Guy Martin asked them to display a number of his most treasured vehicles.
He gave a historic aircraft engine and three of his favourite motors as well as his “prized possession” custom-build motorcycle – recently used to break a Wall of Death speed record to the centre.