The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Owner of railway is on move after talks derail on attraction’ s future
Arbroath’s miniature railway owner has taken over one of Scarborough’s biggest tourist draws after talks around the Angus attraction hit the buffers.
John Kerr has announced he has bought North Bay Heritage Railway, in the North Yorkshire town, a 90-year-old holiday magnet which pulls in around 120,000 passengers a year.
Kerr’s Miniature Railway in Arbroath shut last year.
Mr Kerr said the new “significant investment” by himself and business partner Peter Bryant was “Angus’s loss and Scarborough’s gain”.
The news comes amid a continuing row over plans to create a £200,000 crazy golf course at Arbroath’s West Links.
Mr Kerr said: “This opportunity came forward late last year and we are delighted to be taking it on.
“Of course we would have liked to have seen the railway in Arbroath survive because it has been in the town for 85 years.
“But the council is not showing any interest and I feel they have led me down the garden path. It’s a massive relief we have taken over the running of Scarborough because there are authorities who will support schemes like this.”
Mr Kerr and Mr Bryant have also operated the Cleethorpes Light Railway since 2015.
He added: “We are now running the major attraction in Cleethorpes and the fourth-largest attraction in Scarborough, so I don’t think that’s bad going by the age of 25.
“It’s just a shame it is Arbroath that is missing out because I would have loved to see the railway continue to thrive.
“Kerr’s miniature railway still exists, it’s just not running, but I am moving to Scarborough to devote my energies to making Heritage Bay an even greater success.”
Mr Kerr’s hopes of reviving the Arbroath railway and ploughing £75,000 into extending the track fell apart after the collapse of discussions with the council.
He was working with officials on a plan to have the railway return as part of a wider West Links redevelopment, including the crazy golf course which was branded by one councillor as belonging in the 1960s. But Mr Kerr received an email saying the council was going ahead with the golf plan but did not intend to take the railway idea forward.