'Replacement' train offer as road shuts Published duration 4 July 2016

image copyright Leadhills and Wanlockhead Railway

A "replacement" train service is being offered by a narrow gauge railway between two remote villages in southern Scotland during a road closure.

The B797 between Leadhills in South Lanarkshire and Wanlockhead in Dumfries and Galloway is shut for resurfacing.

The rail service is being run to help people from Wanlockhead to get to the doctor's surgery in Leadhills.

It is also being offered as a "commuter service" for some workers at the Museum of Lead Mining in Wanlockhead.

image copyright Leadhills and Wanlockhead Railway

"This service will be unique in that it is usually the other way round, with bus replacements for trains," said David Winpenny of the Leadhills and Wanlockhead Railway.

The trains are usually run at weekends during the summer months on what bills itself as "Britain's highest narrow gauge adhesion railway" reaching 1,498ft (456m) above sea level.

They link Leadhills to a terminus at Glengonnar which is less than a mile from Wanlockhead.

The road is shut for resurfacing for up to a fortnight with a diversion in place via the A76, B740, B7078 and A702.