Over the years, we have had to go looking for finances to pay for our tracklaying, transportation and maintenance of our collection.
Detailed here are two of the fundraising methods we have used.
In order to get one of our recent acquistions, a Ruston Hornsby locomotive which was until a few years ago working at Methil Power Station, back to running order, we devised a clever way to raise £800.
“Largo Law”, the engine we are restoring
We had two £100 notes taken from our bank account and put straight into two sealed envelopes by the banker without us looking at them. We then offered the chance for £1 a try to allow people to guess the last three digits of these banknotes. Whoever picked the correct number after all 1000 different options were sold, was to win that £100 note.
We never sold all 1000 numbers but with the addition of donations, we exceeded our our original target.
The last three digits of two £100 notes were: 015 and 060. Both of these numbers had been allocated and the winners were, Jim Laidlaw from Aberdour and John Fletcher from Larbert.
We were gifted 1200 ft of track from Railtrack half of which has been lifted from Methil Docks. Members of the Society spent some time preparing the track and lifting it in 60 ft panels.
Preparing track for future use
To pay for the cost of transport, we held a novel fund raising plan
There are 250 sleepers involved with this track and the estimated cost of the lifting and transporting is approximately £1000. This equates to £4 per sleeper - a very fair price indeed!
The very first track panels to be laid at our own site at Kirkland Sidings in Levenmouth were paid for with a sponsorship from local people and Society members alike. Only one sleeper carried the label "The Golden Sleeper" - this brought it's sponsor £100 prize. The project was started in summer 2001. It was closed in December 2001. The movement of the track was in March 2003.
The Golden Sleeper was chosen by our President - The Hon. Mrs Shand Kydd. The number chosen was 97. It was sponsored by Ernie Watt from Glenrothes, Fife. Ernie recieved his cheque at a presentation in Glenrothes. He was taken to the venue by a chaffuer driven limo. The cheque was presented by Vice President Dr Bill Carr.
This fund raising was a complete success and brought our Society much needed funding. It also gave us a lot of good publicity to help our cause
Our thanks go to all the sponsors who helped.
Last updated: - 20th March 2010
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