North Queensferry Heritage Trust

This Grade B listed building within the NQ conservation area and an important part of the World Heritage site application for the Forth Rail Bridge, would make an excellent venue for the relocation of the Forth Bridges Visitor Centre. The Rail Bridge is without doubt one of Scotland’s best known icons, a memorial in itself to one of the greatest feats of engineering and an everlasting tribute to all who designed and built it. This legacy could be preserved and continued by using the original station building, built in 1890, as an introductory resource centre for everything that is best in engineering practice.

The Forth Bridges Visitor Centre exhibition and other engineering artefacts, when displayed and relaunched in this building, would become
an important ‘working’ visitor attraction in this area. It is envisaged that school children would be amongst the first beneficiaries, perhaps approaching the station building by train to experience the ‘Bridge crossing’ before participating in any information gathering in the Centre. Apart from the exhibition, the trustees have plans for a regularly updated audio visual presentation on an engineering theme.

Network rail, First Scotrail and the Railway Heritage Trust have indicated their willingness to support the project, and the building itself has been offered, rent free, to the NQ Station Trust, a recently formed organisation now seeking charitable status.

The Railway Heritage Trust and Fife Council have agreed to provide the initial funding for a feasibility study. Initial architectural plans have already been drawn up and work is expected to start in the near future.