Hargreaves Land has pledged £15,000 to assist a voluntary railway organisation in East Ayrshire complete essential repair works on the Chalmerston railway line.

Doon Valley Railway (DVR) require a total of £25,000 in order to replace a culvert running under a railway line near Dalmellington, after the existing one was condemned. Extensive civil engineering works are needed as ballast at the site has been washed away, threatening a total collapse of the culvert.

Hargreaves Land has commissioned MHB Consultants to engineer a design for the repairs and offered £15,000 to the cause, with the DVR to raise the remaining £10,000 for the works. The Doon Valley Railway is located at the former Dunaskin Ironworks in Waterside, near Patna in Ayrshire, and Hargreaves Land has been working with them over the previous 12 months to extend their operations along the rail lines to Minnivey Station, near Dalmellington.

Ross MacDonald, Development Surveyor at Hargreaves Land, said: “As owner of the rail lines, Hargreaves Land is pleased to continue supporting the Ayrshire Railway Preservation Group with their operations in the Doon Valley.

Repairing the culvert is the last part of a larger package of improvement works that will allow steam trains to once again run along the Doon Valley to Minnivey Station, near Dalmellington and significantly enhance an existing excellent and successful tourist destination.

Hargreaves Land has offered to contribute £15,000 towards the cost of bringing the line up to standard so that in 2023 we can once again see these wonderful steam trains, which are an integral part of Scotland’s industrial heritage, travelling up and down the Doon valley.”

To make a donation to help support the Railway please click here.