Scott McGregor (television presenter)

Scott McGregor was born in Orange, New South Wales where his parents Douglas and Joyce McGregor owned a farm and managed The Central Western Daily newspaper. In 1969 the family moved to Mudgee when his parents purchased the Mudgee Guardian.{{Cite web|title = About Scott McGregor, TV Presenter, author and Collector|url = http://www.otr.com.au/about_scott|website = www.otr.com.au|access-date = 2016-01-22|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160517221803/https://www.otr.com.au/about_scott |archive-date=May 17, 2016}}

Scott was educated at Mudgee High School and The Scots College in Sydney. He commenced studying communications at the then Mitchell College of Advanced Education in Bathurst. Now part of Charles Sturt University, before being accepted into the National Institute of Dramatic Art where he graduated in 1979.

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In the 1980s McGregor had leading stage acting roles in productions of the Perth Playhouse, Queensland Theatre Company, Marian Street Theatre and Nimrod Theatre Company.

From 1980 to early 2000s McGregor had acting roles in many Australian television series including The Young Doctors, Skyways, The Sullivans, Cop Shop, A Country Practice, Sons and Daughters, Police Rescue, Home and Away, Water Rats and All Saints.{{citation needed|date=December 2011}}

During the 1980s he had lead roles in the epic ABC mini-series 1915, the Coral Island and Chase Through the Night and was nominated for the best actor award in the 1983 Logies for his role as Walter Gilchrist in 1915. He had numerous film and radio appearances and was one of the Bouncers in the highly successful national tour of the play of the same name in 1985/86. {{citation needed|date=December 2011}}

From the 1997 McGregor turned to presenting lifestyle television as a travel and collectables presenter on The Lifestyle Channel programs Out and About, Australian Living and Australian Collections. From 2000 to 2003 he was a DIY presenter on Better Homes and Gardens and from 2002 to 2004 hosted the home renovation series Room for Improvement on the Seven Network.{{citation needed|date=December 2011}}

In 1999 he combined television presenting with his interest in railways by hosting the travel series Railway Adventures Across Australia for Channel 10.{{cite web|url=http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/9599594|title=Railway adventures across Australia / directed by Rodney Long; produced by Michael Neil Smith|publisher=National Library of Australia|accessdate=2011-06-17}} In 2004 he followed up with the series Down The Line with Scott McGregor covering railway journeys in Australia, New Zealand and Vietnam. Both series have sold extensively in markets around the world and have had enormously successful video and DVD releases.{{Peacock inline|date=June 2020}}{{citation needed|date=December 2011}}

In 2005 McGregor presented [http://www.australianicons.com.au/ Australian Icon Towns] made for The History Channel. A second series was broadcast from January 2007.

McGregor is also a published author, having written two books: 'Fix It: How to Do All Those Little Repair Jobs Around Your Home' (2007)

And 'Big Boys' Toys: Blokes and their Magnificent Obsessions' (2008).https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw/grafton/mcgregor-on-the-way/news-story/81cc6313a763153498385ee4d465a7b1https://www.allenandunwin.com/browse/book/Scott-McGregor-Fix-It-9781741753264

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McGregor had a keen interest in railways since childhood. From the 1980s he started collecting railway memorabilia, including several vintage railway carriages which he restored on his property, 'Ruwenzori', near Mudgee NSW. By 1989 he had collected so much he decided to sell some and opened a stall called 'Off The Rails' at the now closed 'Chelsea House' antiques emporium in Camperdown, New South Wales. Branches were later opened at Sydney's Central Railway Station and in Balmain. In 1992 a new 'Off The Rails' shop was opened in Newtown. It moved again to a larger shop and restoration workshop at Camperdown.{{citation needed|date=March 2022}}

In 2005 McGregor opened his country property as tourist accommodation. 'Ruwenzori Retreat' is perched on the Great Dividing Range, north of Mudgee and is made up of a collection of 9 vintage carriages (a number of which date back to the 1890s), with the 3 main carriages restored as the luxury guest accommodation. The 50 acre property also has station buildings, track, signals, a plethora of memorabilia and a network of bush tracks.

Ruwenzori Retreat has featured on TV programs such Getaway, Today, World's Most Extreme Homes, Bricks and Mortar and many others. McGregor and his Ruwenzori railway collection have also appeared on the ABC TV program Collectors.{{cite web|title = About Scott, Railway Adventures|url = http://www.railwayadventures.com/?page_id=2496|accessdate = 20 January 2016}}

McGregor now runs a railway tour company, 'Railway Adventures' which he founded in 2012.https://railwayadventures.travel/about-us/

https://ausstage.edu.au/pages/contributor/3779

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Category:1957 births

Category:Australian television presenters

Category:Australian male television actors

Category:Australian male stage actors

Category:Living people

Category:People educated at Scots College (Sydney)

Category:Charles Sturt University alumni

Category:People from Mudgee