Gavin Johns, Chairman of the Swanage Railway Trust said: “It is with sadness that we learn of the death on the 4th March, of Sir William H McAlpine Bt, a Patron of the Swanage Railway. Sir William, well known to enthusiasts for his wide ranging interest in all matters railway, and also for repatriating the LNER locomotive ‘Flying Scotsman’ to the United Kingdom was a great supporter of the Swanage Railway and took a great interest in our line. He will be keenly missed. We send our condolences to his wife Lady Judy and his family".
Sir William McAlpine, part of the famous civil engineering family, was well known as a railway enthusiast and for his own standard gauge garden railway! An avid supporter of the heritage railway movement, he most recently offered his advice and guidance to the Swanage Railway Trust during the repatriation of the Churchill van and Car 14, the latter of which he recalled from the time of his rescue of ‘Flying Scotsman’ from the quayside in San Francisco in the early 1970’s.
Photographs by Andrew P.M. Wright, Swanage Railway official photographer and press officer.