Vandals have dealt a major blow to a historic railway project on Royal Deeside.
Police are investigating after thugs used bricks and stones to smash the windows of a 1950s-era carriage at Crathes.
Volunteers working on a restoration scheme have estimated the damage at about £10,000 – which amounts to a year’s funding for the group.
The vandals also destroyed a train engine and police have launched an investigation.
The carriage is owned by the Royal Deeside Railway Preservation Society, which is based at the Milton of Crathes station.
The group has reconstructed a section of the historic Deeside line between Crathes and Banchory and run steam passenger services along it at weekends.
The vandals targeted the coach, a Mark Two British Rail model nicknamed Barclay – on the line’s West Lodge yard, not far from the station.
James West, a spokesman for the group – which is made up of 50 volunteers – said the incident was a “major setback” as their busiest weekend of the year looms.
Mr West, 39, of Aberdeen, added: “This coming weekend is normally our busiest weekend of the year because of the Deeside Steam and Vintage Rally.
“It is just all mindless vandalism, nothing has been stolen. The guys who discovered it were very, very upset.
“As a volunteer organisation you don’t expect that to happen. They have literally just taken bricks and thrown them through the windows.”
The engineer added: “Ten thousand pounds is more money than we would raise in a year.
“We have got four carriages we use at the railway and this was the next one that was being brought into service.
“We bought it to carry more passengers and were getting it restored. The diesel engine that has been damaged was my own personal engine as well, it was a personal blow as well.”
David Pearson, an ex-British Rail employee and the group’s membership secretary, said the bill for replacing the windows was likely to derail plans for a mile-long extension of the track towards Banchory.
He said: “This is the worst damage we’ve ever suffered. But the problem is that it’s an old coach, where are we going to find replacement windows?
“The only alternative is that we get a specialist glazier in to redo them but that will probably quadruple the cost.”
Crathes councillor, Linda Clark said both she and her husband Graeme – a councillor for Stonehaven – were keen supporters of the railway project.
She added: “It is such a wonderful asset, it really is and the volunteers will be utterly heartbroken at this.
“People will say things like they’ll get insurance but that means nothing when you have got so much love and your whole heart goes into something.
“It is just horrible, I am utterly gutted. It is mindless, totally mindless.”
The society wants to reestablish a railway line between Ballater and Crathes along the former route – which was opened in 1853 and closed for good in 1966.
Inspector Martin Burgess, of the Marr community policing team, said: “We are investigating a vandalism at Milton of Crathes Royal Deeside Railway which is believed to have happened around 10pm on Monday, August 10.
“This was a mindless act and I am appealing to anyone who has information to contact us.
Antisocial behaviour is a priority for me and my officers in the Marr community policing team and we will continue to fully investigate these incidents.”
