Over the weekend of Friday, 1 to Sunday, 3 September the Bo’ness & Kinneil Railway is holding a Steam Gala in conjunction with the Scottish Railway Preservation Society (SRPS).

The star of this year’s gala will be 0-6-2 tank steam locomotive Lambton Colliery Railway No.29, which was built by Kitson and Company for the Lambton Colliery network in 1904 for working between Philadelphia and Sunderland. The locomotive is appearing at the Bo’ness & Kinneil Railway courtesy of Lambton Locomotives Trust and the North Yorkshire Moors Railway.

Because of the Covid pandemic, this will be the first time since 2019 that the railway has held a steam gala. Throughout the weekend trains will run to an intensive timetable, with the added attraction of goods trains.

The railway takes passengers on a scenic ten-mile return train journey along the Forth Estuary through woodlands, past waterfalls, and over the Avon Viaduct, to Manuel.

Refreshments will be available throughout the weekend, including a selection of locally brewed real ales.

Later this year the railway will be holding a special Steam N’ Scream! Event on the weekend before Halloween on Saturday, 28 and Sunday, 29 October. As it is a couple of nights before Halloween, nothing much is expected to happen, but visitors who dare to join a historic steam train for a departure after dark will be taken to Birkhill, where the Station Master has recently reported some ghostly goings-on. Assuming visitors make it back to Bo’ness safely, they can complete their visit by following a spooky trail in the Museum of Scottish Railways.

December at Bo’ness would not be complete without Santa Steam Trains to provide a magical start to the festive season. This year Santa Steam Trains will depart from Bo’ness Railway Station on 2, 3, 9, 10, 16, 17, 23 or 24 December.