Located at Bo'ness in Falkirk District Council Area, the Bo'ness & Kinneil Railway represents a 5-mile (8-km) section of railway which connects Bo'ness with the Glasgow-Edinburgh mainline at Manuel Junction. The railway is owned by the Scottish Railway Preservation Society, which operates a regular public timetable between April and mid October linking Bo'ness with Birkhill, where underground tours of the former Birkhill Fireclay Mine are available.
The railway has been developed since 1979 initially on railway sidings which once formed part of Bo'ness docks. The line was extended to Kinneil in 1987, to Birkhill two years later and completed in 1990. Several historic buildings have been restored and installed in conjunction with the railway; Bo'ness station, which opened in 1981, came from Wormit at the southern end of the Tay Bridge, while Birkhill station came from Monifieth (Angus).
The Scottish Railway Preservation Society was formed in 1961 and initially operated a small museum in Murrayfield (Edinburgh). As the collection grew they moved to Falkirk and finally Bo'ness.
Co-located at Bo'ness Station is an O-gauge model railway housed in an old railway carriage and the Museum of Scottish Railways. The society has restored a number of engines, together with rolling stock, which are displayed in the exhibition. A number of ongoing projects lie in the yards between the exhibition and station.
The railway has featured as a location in films such as The 39 Steps (2008) and The Railway Man (2013).
