Angus fundraisers are on the right track to restoring a “beloved” piece of railway heritage after it was destroyed in a wilful fire-raising attack.
Brechin’s Caledonian Railway is almost half way towards realising a £5,000 total to be used to restore the 1940s LMS brake van ruined by vandals last week.
This would represent a start to repairing the damage caused by Wednesday’s fire, with an original estimate of £20,000 to £25,000 to fully restore the van.
As well as the online fundraiser set up ahead of the weekend, the railway partly opened between 11am and 3pm on Saturday to collect donations from well-wishers.
Events manager Andrew Pegg said the railway has had “countless messages of support” and offers of donation following the attack.
He said: “All of the volunteers would like to express how amazed and truly thankful they are for all the support received during this difficult time.
“There really are a lot of good people out there.”
Caledonian Railway runs steam engines and diesel locomotives between Brechin and Bridge of Dun.
The vandalism happened on Wednesday between 10.45 and 11pm with fire almost completely destroying the van’s body, which was largely made out of wood.
The brake van was restored less than 18 months ago, with a group of five volunteers spending every weekend working on it for four months.
Dundee Museum of Transport said the incident was “stomach-churning” and offered support “in any way we can”.
Within 12 hours, more than 70 people had donated a total of £1,200 and the total was at more than £2,300 last night.
Police are continuing to appeal for information about the attack, which occurred at Caledonian Railway’s premises on Park Road.
The alarm was raised shortly after 11pm and firefighters from the Brechin station fought for an hour to extinguish the blaze from both platforms at the railway station.
Donations can be made at Justgiving page.