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4th February 2026     A fully illustrated two-part talk by Michael V. E. Dunn

Kidderminster Railway Museum and the Caledonian Railway

For the second of our meetings this year we were treated to a thoroughly entertaining evening by Michael Dunn, who commenced his presentation by giving us an insight into his early life. In a relaxed and very informative talk Michael explained how he became interested in railways as a whole, fostered from a very early age by his father. At that time the family lived close to Tyseley yard on the Great Western Railway and it was possible to view the coming and goings of trains from a higher vantage point in the families back garden. Several photographs taken when Michael was quite young showed the family home in relation to the railway line.

Reminiscing about his first train set, a black Triang ‘Princess’ no less, brought many happy memories back to your reviewer as I also had one of these, complete with brass plunger pick-ups! Like many of us, Michael’s first tentative steps in recording what he saw involved an inexpensive camera – all we could afford at the time - and like so many of us in those days we treasured those first images, even if the results were out of focus and a bit on the grey side.

One of the many images that Michael showed sticks in my mind – that of Birmingham, Moor Street station on 12 April 1960 with Caledonian locomotive No 123 Great Western locomotive ‘Cty of Truro’ parked together in the station. Michael was to visit the station on the following day and perhaps this image engendered the first stirrings of interest in a railway company ‘north of the border’ that would come to mean so much to him. As time went on Michael was lucky enough to meet many individuals, some of whom would go on to become household names. They included Pat Garland and Pat Whitehouse.           

Having set the scene we then looked at Kidderminster Railway Museum with Michael, who was for many years one of the museums earliest directors of the company and a trustee when it became a registered charity, holding both posts for many years before stepping down, allowing him to devote more time to acquiring artifacts of his favourite railway company.

He explained that the main structure at Kidderminster was built by the Great Western railway as a warehouse in 1878. Disused by the early 1980’s it soon became derelict and was acquired from the British Railways Property Board in the late 1980’s, initially on a peppercorn lease with the freehold being subsequently purchased outright. Considerable work has been needed over a number of years to restore the fabric of the building to a habitable state, undertaken almost entirely by the self-taught volunteers. This was brought to life by a number of images taken during the first stages of renovation. At close on £300,000 getting the purchase mortgage underway was no mean feat for those involved. The result is a credit to all involved and today the museum is a valued and active part of the British heritage scene, housing a vast array of railway artifacts from railway companies across the UK. Photograph, magazine, book and archive collections are readily available for research, a very useful resource for railway modeller’s.

Michael confirmed that the museum’s upper floor regularly plays host to railway art exhibitions and is great demand as lecture room for many different railway orientated groups. The museum also holds one of the largest collections of signalling equipment in the country, including working block instruments and a lever frame with many items restored to full working order. Admission to the exhibits is entirely free and there is a tea room on the ground floor with full disabled access. Outside, in the museum’s own sidings work is steadily continuing on the restoration of several items of rolling stock, including a 6-wheel S&T van and a brake van that once lived with the locomotive King George V when she resided in Bulmer’s Cider yard at Hereford.

The second half of the evening’s talk centred on the Caledonian Railway, with Michael’s passion for this company being quite evident and contributing enormously both to his presentation and the resulting enjoyment of those members present.

Michael took us through the history of the company, starting with its birth on 31 July 1845 and infancy in 1848 when it opened its main line between Glasgow, Edinburgh and Carlisle, in the process forming an alliance with the English, London and North Western Railway, which connected Carlisle to the English Midlands and London. He explained how the Caledonian progressively extended its coverage with a dense network of branch lines in the area surrounding Glasgow. It’s spread was to eventually include joint lines such as the ‘Port Road’ from Dumfries to Stranraer which it shared with the Glasgow and South Western Railway.

Further north, Perth Station was shared with both the North British and the Highland Railway. Callander, Oban, Crianlarich, Killin and Wemyss Bay were all part of this empire. The railway company was absorbed into the London, Midland and Scottish Railway during the 1923 grouping. It was the most charismatic of railways with superb attention to graceful detail on its buildings, making much use of both wrought iron and cast iron in its structures. This was well illustrated with the many superb photographic images projected onto the screen.

Also of great interest were the pictures of the main works at St Rollox on the Springburn Road in Glasgow. Several high quality and nostalgic full-plate images of rural wayside stations and employees seemed to bring the railway and its history right into the room and brought the thoroughly enjoyable and entertaining talk towards an end.

To bring the history right up to date - many of the Caledonian’s principal routes are still in use today with the original main line between Carlisle and Glasgow now forming part of the west coast main line. Not for nothing did this company proudly carry and use upon its crest the Latin inscription “Nemo me impune lacessit” which translates to “No one provokes me with impunity”. Interestingly, this also Scotland’s national motto, closely associated with her history and emblem.  

Michael finished his talk and brought the meeting to a close by showing us a few images of part of his superb and ever expanding collection of Caledonian Railway memorabilia, several items of which he has painstakingly restored over the years to museum quality.

For those who may now wish to know more about the Caledonian Railway, Michael’s excellent hardback book ‘Caledonian Miscellany’ is published by Kidderminster Railway Museum and available from them, as are many other titles – another good reason to visit!

Eric Challoner