The Scottish Industrial Railway Centre is an

industrial heritage Industrial heritage refers to the physical remains of the history of technology and industry, such as manufacturing and mining sites, as well as power and transportation infrastructure. Another definition expands this scope so that the term a ...

museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make these ...

operated by the Ayrshire Railway Preservation Group. The centre owns a number of

standard gauge A standard-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge of . The standard gauge is also called Stephenson gauge (after George Stephenson), International gauge, UIC gauge, uniform gauge, normal gauge and European gauge in Europe, and SGR in Ea ...

steam locomotive A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, oil or, rarely, wood) to heat water in the locomot ...

s and

diesel locomotive A diesel locomotive is a type of railway locomotive in which the prime mover is a diesel engine. Several types of diesel locomotives have been developed, differing mainly in the means by which mechanical power is conveyed to the driving whee ...

s as well as some

narrow gauge A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge narrower than standard . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter curves, smaller structu ...

items and an extensive collection of photographs.

History

The centre was based at the former Minnivey Colliery (),

Dalmellington Dalmellington ( sco, Dawmellinton, gd, Dail M'Fhaolain) is a market town and civil parish in East Ayrshire, Scotland. In 2001 the village had a population of 1,407. The town owes its origins to the fault line separating the Southern Uplands of ...

East Ayrshire East Ayrshire ( sco, Aest Ayrshire; gd, Siorrachd Àir an Ear) is one of thirty-two council areas of Scotland. It shares borders with Dumfries and Galloway, East Renfrewshire, North Ayrshire, South Ayrshire and South Lanarkshire. The headquart ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

, from 1980; but, following problems with the

lease A lease is a contractual arrangement calling for the user (referred to as the ''lessee'') to pay the owner (referred to as the ''lessor'') for the use of an asset. Property, buildings and vehicles are common assets that are leased. Industrial ...

, the Group decided in 2002 to move the centre to the nearby Dunaskin

Heritage Heritage may refer to: History and society * A heritage asset is a preexisting thing of value today ** Cultural heritage is created by humans ** Natural heritage is not * Heritage language Biology * Heredity, biological inheritance of physical c ...

Centre (). During 2005 council funding was withdrawn from the Heritage Centre causing it to close, but the railway was still able to start running steam-hauled rides at the Dunaskin site, using a borrowed locomotive. A lack of locomotive availability curtailed operations during 2006 and 2007 but, following the completion of the boiler swap and overhaul of Andrew Barclay 0-4-0ST N.C.B. No. 10, a series of successful steam days have been held since 2008.

Steam locomotives

The museum has a collection of Andrew Barclay Sons & Co. steam locomotives. *Andrew Barclay N.C.B. No. 16. built in 1910. On display at Dunaskin and will be restored after No. 277644 Tees Storage. *Andrew Barclay N.C.B. No. 19. built in 1918. Stored out of use, partially cosmetically restored. *Andrew Barclay No. 8. built in 1928. Operational after its overhaul was completed in July 2015. Steam to operate the locomotive is provided by No. 10. The only operational Fireless locomotive in the UK and operates alongside No.10 on steam days. *Andrew Barclay N.C.B. No. 10. built in 1947. Operational after swapping boilers with No. 19 and is now running after a boiler frailer in 2021. *Andrew Barclay N.C.B. No. 23. built in 1949.Stored in a line of locos and rolling stock. *Andrew Barclay N.C.B. No. 25. built in 1954.Awaiting restoration. *Andrew Barclay N.C.B. No. 1. built in 1955.It will be a of the last steam locomotives to be restored. And some will go into a new loco shed in 2024

Diesel Locomotives

Reference * Andrew Barclay Sons & Co. "Powfoot" No. 1. Operational and regularly performs shunting duties. *Andrew Barclay No. 399. Undergoing overhaul and will be up and running for 2023. *

Hunslet Engine Company The Hunslet Engine Company is a locomotive-building company, founded in 1864 in Hunslet, England. It manufactured steam locomotives for over 100 years and currently manufactures diesel shunting locomotives. The company is part of Ed Murray & S ...

No. 107. Stored out of use. * North British No. 277644 "Tees Storage". I will restored after No.399. *

Ruston and Hornsby Ruston & Hornsby was an industrial equipment manufacturer in Lincoln, England founded in 1918. The company is best known as a manufacturer of narrow and standard gauge diesel locomotives and also of steam shovels. Other products included cars ...

No. BE116. Stored out of use. *Ruston and Hornsby No. 324 "Blinkin Bess". Stored out of use. *Ruston and Hornsby No. 417890 "Johnnie Walker". Awaiting restoration. *Ruston and Hornsby No. 421697. Stored out of use. *

Sentinel Sentinel may refer to: Places Mountains * Mount Sentinel, a mountain next to the University of Montana in Missoula, Montana * Sentinel Buttress, a volcanic crag on James Ross Island, Antarctica * Sentinel Dome, a naturally occurring grani ...

No. 10012. Operational and regularly performs shunting duties. And some will go into a new loco shed in 2024

Rolling Stock

The centre is home to a wide variety of goods wagons including

British Railways British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most of the overground rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the Big Four British rai ...

16 ton mineral wagons and

pallet A pallet (also called a skid) is a flat transport structure, which supports goods in a stable fashion while being lifted by a forklift, a pallet jack, a front loader, a jacking device, or an erect crane. A pallet is the structural foundat ...

vans, the latter having been formerly owned and operated by

Scotch Whisky Scotch whisky (; sco, Scots whisky/whiskie, whusk(e)y; often simply called whisky or Scotch) is malt whisky or grain whisky (or a blend of the two), made in Scotland. All Scotch whisky was originally made from malted barley. Commercial distil ...

manufacturer

Johnnie Walker Johnnie Walker is a brand of Scotch whisky now owned by Diageo that originated in the Scottish burgh of Kilmarnock in East Ayrshire. The brand was first established by grocer John Walker. It is the most widely distributed brand of blended ...

. The railway has a

London, Midland and Scottish Railway The London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMSIt has been argued that the initials LMSR should be used to be consistent with LNER, GWR and SR. The London, Midland and Scottish Railway's corporate image used LMS, and this is what is generally u ...

Inspection Saloon which has currently been repaired. And some will go into a new loco shed in 2024.

External links

Official website

Ayrshire Railway Preservation Group

Industrial Locomotive Society

Video footage of The Scottish Industrial Railway Centre

Andrew Barclay 0-4-0 fireless locomotive at Dunaskin, East Ayrshire

References

{{authority control Heritage railways in Scotland Transport in East Ayrshire Railway museums in Scotland Museums in East Ayrshire