An octogenarian’s film about the defunct Dundee to Newtyle railway line is picking up a head of steam online.
Ron Watt (82) began working on the 17-minute documentary three years ago.
Now the finished product has been posted online and has been watched over 1,000 times so far.
Mr Watt, a former audio-visual technician at Duncan of Jordanstone Art College, said: “I was given a camera for Christmas in 2004 and thought this is too high-tech a piece of equipment to put away in a cupboard.
“I’ve always been interested in the railway line and thought it could be an ideal subject for a documentary.
@C_JPrice Hope you can pass this on to Ron Watt. Newtyle Station C.1843 pic.twitter.com/bSqFUICYqz
— Laird of all Lairds (@Lairy_Book) November 25, 2014
“My first version was made in 2007 but I thought it could be made better so about three years ago I started making a new version, which has better graphics and more information.”
Mr Watt’s son Graeme, who had shot aerial footage of the railway line used in the documentary, posted the video online and it has already received a positive response.
“Graeme posted the video and it has really taken off from there,” he said.
@C_JPrice Here's another Ron Watt may like. Same rough dateline. pic.twitter.com/CyMCUtLZeJ
— Laird of all Lairds (@Lairy_Book) November 25, 2014
The film includes details of the railway tunnel that passed through The Law.
Campaigners now want to reopen the tunnel as a tourist attraction but Mr Watt said he does not know how feasible that will be.
“I would like to see the tunnel re-opened but I don’t know if it would be possible – it could be quite dangerous,” he said.
“I used to play there as a kid – we would climb into the tunnel, or as far into as we could before we got scared.”
The 300 metre long tunnel was used as an air raid shelter during the Second World War.
Its main entrances at Kinghorne Road and Keats Place were sealed off for good in the 1980s but artist Deirdre Robertson is now campaigning to have the tunnel re-opened as a tourist attraction.