£741,500 LOTTERY GRANT FOR NEW BO’NESS WORKSHOP
Engineering facilities are to be upgraded at the Bo’ness & Kinneil Railway, thanks to a £741,500 grant from the National Lottery Heritage Fund.
As part of the Scottish Railway Preservation Society’s £3.2 million ‘Steaming Ahead’ project, a new engineering facility will be used to train volunteers and apprentices, while an interpretative trail to a new steam shed and entrance to the Museum of Scottish Railways will be created for visitors. The new facilities are expected to be complete by the spring of 2021.
The shed will provide improved workshop facilities, including a crane, which the railway does not currently have in its running shed.
Three new members of staff will be recruited for five years as part of the project, to oversee training schemes for six new apprentices (through the Modern Apprenticeship scheme, delivered in association with Falkirk Council) and many of the society’s 400 volunteers.
SRPS Business Development Director Amanda Kilburn said: “The total project cost is estimated at £2.2m; £741,500 from the NLHF, a contribution of £1.1m from the SRPS, and the remainder from Trusts and other donors including Museums Galleries Scotland, the Robertson Trust, Garfield Weston, BP, and the partnership with Falkirk Council to deliver the apprenticeship scheme.”