Jon Tyler was a Senior Academic before embarking on a journey to achieve his boyhood ambition to be a steam train driver. His powerpoint talk will describe how over the last ten years, he helped to start the Royal Deeside Railway in Aberdeenshire and the Ferryhill Railway Heritage Trust in Aberdeen. Having raised (and spent) over £500,000, volunteers have fully restored the historic Railway Depot at Ferryhill, Aberdeen and transformed it into a Visitor Centre open to the public. The talk will give some historical context as well as describing the inter-relationships with Councils, Funding bodies and Network Rail. The Trust was fortunate in having Flying Scotsman visit on three occasions in 2023 and Jon was on the footplate, much to the envy of the other volunteers.

We normally ask for a donation, around £40, to the Trust for each talk. Travel expenses would also be expected for the speaker's travel away from home. The talk can be adapted to suit the expected audience.