IN 2020, the Scottish Railway Preservation Society should have notched up not only 50 years of charter train operation under the ‘SRPS Railtours’ banner, but also the same number of years of operating its own rake of coaching stock for use on these trips. However, the Covid-19 pandemic meant that it was unable to run any tours during that year, so its 50th anniversary took place when its 2021 programme got underway in July. While none of the coaches which made up the original set are still in main line service, some of the current fleet have been in use with the SRPS for around 30 years.
The first SRPS charter, which ran on May 23, 1970, was formed of four vehicles of pre-nationalisation design. The oldest, Brake Composite
