Wemyss Private Railway 0-6-0T No 17 simmers peacefully outside the the engine shed at Scotts Road, East Wemyss in October 1968. The pleasant rolling countryside gives no indication of the massive coal reserves which lie below and on which the existence of the railway depended. In the later years of the WPR, no 17 was arguably the most attractive of the large Barclay side tanks with its fully lined out chocolate livery but it came close to withdrawal and cannibalisation just a few months before this photograph was taken. Ongoing operating problems with the ‘Austerities’ won No 17 a reprieve and mechanical attention in the workshop sufficient to see it last out the final two years of the railway. The workshops at Scotts Road were not equipped to perform major overhauls, for which engines were sent (sometimes in pieces) to the Barclay Works in Kilmarnock. Ultimately, this engine was purchased for use on the Strathspey Railway, Boat of Garten, where it continues to work at the venerable age of 85 years.

Photo by and copyright of David P Williams