Perth Museum and Art Gallery is kicking off the summer holidays in style with a brand new exhibition celebrating the railways of Perth and Kinross and the heyday of rail travel.
All Aboard! brings together railway-related items from the museum and private collections and photographs and videos that showcase days gone by. This exhibition will spotlight an extremely significant period in transportation history and how it impacted Perth and Kinross.
From the 26th of June, All Aboard invites visitors to journey from the very earliest horse-drawn wagons and carriages to the heyday of rail when travel and tourism boomed, and Perth became the gateway for onward travel to scenic Perthshire towns and the Scottish Highlands.
Since the industrial revolution of the nineteenth century, rail has played a fundamental role in the movement of people and goods. The arrival of railways in Perthshire brought significant change to people’s lives both in work and leisure. All Aboard will explore the key national and local events that gave rise to the great ‘Age of the Train’.
The museum team have worked closely with railway associations and several private collectors to bring together some rare and fascinating railway related material for display in Perth including an early ‘portable’ telephone used by Highland Railway engineers – it’s a two-man lift!
Also on display some detailed model locomotives of the pre1923 groupings, including Caledonian, Highland and North British Railway companies.
To complement the All Aboard! exhibition at Perth Museum and Art Gallery, the museum in Alyth, will be looking at the role of railways in Strathmore, from Stanley Junction to Craigo. This now ‘lost line’ was the Caledonian Railway Company’s mainline south linking Carlisle, Stirling, Perth and Aberdeen. Several branch lines served local communities, including Alyth and Coupar Angus and in the early 1960s, with some of the fastest steam trains on the Glasgow to Aberdeen service travelled along the Strathmore line.
Paul Adair, Collections Officer, said, “It has been a delight to bring these exhibitions together, working with so many true enthusiasts who have given so freely of their time and expertise. The era of steam travel saw the railway network spread into many communities, and some people may be surprised to find there was once a railway station near them.“
All Aboard! opens on 26th June at Perth Museum and Art Gallery. A programme of events for children, families and railway enthusiasts will run alongside the exhibition throughout the school holidays and details can be found on the Culture Perth and Kinross Website What’s On section. www.culturepk.org.uk/whatson
Railways of Perth & Kinross – The Strathmore Line opens on 25th June at Alyth Museum.
Admission is free to both venues.