Four stops and about five miles
Trains run from Bo’ness to Kinneil, Birkhill and Manuel (SRPS, read 23 October 2026). The society puts the Kinneil loop a mile from Bo’ness and Birkhill at 3½ miles, and the 1½ miles from Birkhill to Manuel were relaid in 1990 (SRPS about), so the line is about five miles long. Manuel sits beside the Edinburgh to Glasgow main line. At Manuel the train stops for just over ten minutes while the engine runs round (FAQs).
A railway built from a green field
The line began as part of the Slamannan and Borrowstounness Railway, opened in 1851, with passengers carried from 1856. Passenger trains stopped in 1956 and freight in 1975 (Birkhill Group history). The Scottish Railway Preservation Society, founded in 1961, kept its first collection at Murrayfield in Edinburgh, then at Falkirk.
“The Society started work at Bo’ness in 1979. At that time, there was no railway in the town, just a green field” (SRPS about). The station, the running shed and the first stretch were built through a Manpower Services Commission project, and historic buildings were brought in and put up again to make a traditional railway setting. Trains first shuttled from Bo’ness in 1981, reached Kinneil in 1987 and Birkhill in 1989.
The first train into Birkhill ran on 25 March 1989, hauled by Caledonian Railway No. 419, and the official opening followed on 5 May (Birkhill Group). Birkhill’s station building is the original one from Monifieth, which also stood at the Glasgow Garden Festival (about). The society’s About page says trains have run on to Manuel since 2010 and that the new station there has been in use since summer 2013; the Birkhill Group’s history gives 2013 for the reopening to Manuel, so the two dates may describe different steps.
Planning the day
Steam and heritage diesel trains run at weekends, on Tuesdays and on other days in the school holidays from April to October, with special events in December (FAQs). Fares were listed at £17.00 for an adult, £10.00 for a child and £48.00 for a family (plan your visit, read 23 October 2026). Bo’ness station is on Union Street, EH51 9AQ, with a large free car park. Linlithgow is the nearest main line station, with a bus from Linlithgow Cross. Entry to the Museum of Scottish Railways is currently free. For steam in the Highlands, the Strathspey Railway runs from Aviemore.
Photographing the line
Bo’ness station stands on reclaimed land on the south shore of the Forth, so the water is part of the setting at the start of the day. Birkhill, with its rebuilt Monifieth building, is quieter, and was a set for the BBC’s Murder is Easy in 2023 (Birkhill Group). Either makes a good starting point for one of our studio styles, such as the vintage poster look above.
Sources: Scottish Railway Preservation Society; Bo’ness and Kinneil Railway, plan your visit (both read 23 October 2026).
