Stirling and Dunfermline Railway

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The Stirling and Dunfermline Railway was a railway in Scotland connecting Stirling and Dunfermline. It was planned by the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway as to get access to the mineral deposits on the line of route, but also as a tactical measure to keep the rival Caledonian Railway out of Fife.

There were serious difficulties at the time of opening about a commitment to lease the railway, but it finally opened throughout in 1852. There was a branch to Tillicoultry, and the Devon Valley Railway built a line from there to Kinross..

A predecessor line, the Alloa Railway, had been developed as a horse-operated waggonway in the eighteenth century, bringing coal from the hinterland to Alloa and Clackmannan harbours; in its day the line was technologically advanced, but it was eclipsed by the modern Stirling and Dunfermline line.

The Alva Railway built a short branch line from Cambus, on the Stirling and Dunfermline line, opening in 1863.

Finally the Caledonian Railway built a viaduct over the Forth at Alloa, and the Caledonian and the North British Railway (which had taken over the Stirling and Dunfermline Railway) collaborated in operating the new short cut; much passenger and goods traffic ran over the bridge; the route was shared, with each company having running powers over the other's line.

All these lines closed in the period following 1945 when rail travel was waning, but the section between Stirling and Alloa has reopened in 2008, and carries a regular passenger service.

A specially chartered steam train passes Bogside signal box in 1959.

History

Before railways

Dunfermline and Stirling had long been centres of commerce, and of regional government, and of industry. Intermediately, the town of Alloa, also situated close to the Forth, was an important industrial centre, known for brewing, glass manufacture, woollen goods, and collieries.

On the north side of the tract of land following the Forth the Ochil Hills present a natural barrier to northwards travel, being closest at the Stirling end.

The Alloa Railway

Alloa railway system, 1766

The Earls of Mar owned extensive lands in the hinterland of Alloa, and for some centuries coal had been produced from pits on the estate. Edinburgh was the biggest market for coal in the area, and it could easily be carried across the Forth by boat, but getting the mineral to the shore of the Forth was the problem.

John, Earl of Mar was the owner of the colliery at Alloa, and in 1766 or 1768 a railway[note 1] was built from the colliery to the banks of the Forth. It was a close copy of the Tranent to Cockenzie Waggonway in gauge, wagon size and operating practices. At first it was a single line wooden waggonway; the track gauge was 3 ft 3in and the wagons were of 30 cwt capacity.

"To the west of the ferry stands a glass house, for making bottles, which is thought to be the most conveniently situated of any in Britain. It can have whatever quantity of coals it requires, at a very easy rate, and they are conveyed from the pits, to the very doors of the glass house, by the waggon way."[1][2]

"In 1768 a waggon way was made to the Alloa pits, which proved to be so great an advantage, that it induced the proprietor to extend it to the Collyland, in 1771. The sales were by these means increased, from 10,000 or 11,000 chalders to 15,000 or 16,000."

Notwithstanding the cost of laying the waggonway, at 10s per yard,

"The proprietor has been long ago reimbursed and is a considerable gainer."[3][4]

In the first years the Alloa pits sent out 56,000 tons annually, about the same as minerals from Charlestown and considerably more than Fife pits that were not connected to the Forth by waggonways. However the wooden rails were subject to heavy wear from the wheels of the wagons.

The next attempt at improvement was the adopting of cast iron, by plating the wooden rails with cast iron in pieces of four feet long, of an inch and a quarter square; each piece of rail having three projecting ears with holes, through which a pin was driven to fix the iron rail in its place. This plan proved quite abortive, for the instant the wood gave way or yielded, the cast iron was broken, and it was found so useless and expensive that it was thrown aside altogether.

Cast iron is rigid and brittle so that deflection of the rails resulted in breakages. In 1785 a wearing surface of Swedish malleable iron, 1¾ inches broad, and ¾ of an inch thick, was tried with great success because of its ability to flex with the timber. The running resistance was also remarkably low.[5]

In 1785 the Alloa waggon way was worn out and required to be renewed. This was done on a new plan: and it is now acknowledged to be the most complete in Britain. The sleepers are very broad, and only 18 inches from centre to centre. A rail of foreign fir, 4 inches square, is pinned down to them, and another rail, of the same dimensions, is laid over it, and the whole well beat up in good clay; on the top of the upper rail is laid a bar of malleable iron, of 1¾ inches breadth, and nearly six-8ths thick. The waggons have cast iron wheels, 27½ inches diameter, and are supposed to weigh altogether about a ton. A waggon carries 30 cwt of coals and 3 waggons are linked together by chains; so that 1 horse draws 4½ tons of coal at once; and the declivity of the way is so gentle that the same horse draws with ease the 3 empty waggons back to the coal-hill... [1]

Dott adds that "the writer further remarks that the use of three small instead of one large waggon is not only easier on the horse, but also on the rails—a matter of prime importance when materials were so faulty. The first expense of making this type of waggon way is undoubtedly great, being at least 10s per running yard," but he comments that it had served six years without any repair worth mentioning.[6]

The coupling chains were 2 ft. long to reduce the inertia on starting.

Dow speaks admiringly of another technical development on the railway: the stock rails at turnouts were joggled to protect the switch tips from being struck by wheel flanges.

"If only Charles Wild [an engineer of another line] had known of the recessed stock rails used on the Elgin Railway from 1821 much of the complexity of his mechanism might have been avoided."[7]

A specially chartered steam train passing Bogside signal box in 1959.

By 1806 the system was extended to Tillicoultry, and an alternative route to the Forth at Clackmannan Pier from Sauchie was opened. The Alloa Railway was represented considerable technical progress, but the days of horse-drawn wagons on timber rails were coming to an end.[8][9]

A frenzy of railway authorisation

In 1842 the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway opened its main line, and intercity railway travel was possible in Scotland. The line was immediately profitable, and showed that an inter-city railway could be a commercial success. The English railway network was growing in density and thoughts now turned, not merely towards connecting to the English system, but to the formation of a Scottish network too.

The easy availability of money resulted in a very considerable number of Scottish lines being proposed in the following years, and in the 1845 Parliamentary session many were authorised. Among them were the Edinburgh, Perth and Dundee Railway, planned to cross Fife from a ferry pier at Burntisland to Perth, and to a ferry pier on the Tay opposite Broughty Ferry. Also authorised was the North British Railway (to build from Edinburgh to Berwick, and the Scottish Central Railway, to build from the Edinburgh and Glasgow line near Castlecary to Perth, and the Caledonian Railway, to build from Glasgow and Edinburgh to Carlisle.

The fragmented nature of these authorisations resulted in an immediate search for alliances, and even before much construction had taken place, some companies' boards thought it essential to seek to control as much territory as possible, by friendly alliance or by takeover. Many of these alliances were quickly agreed, and in many cases without much strategic thought.

Authorisation of the S&DR

The Stirling and Dunfermline Railway system in 1852

The Edinburgh, Perth and Dundee Railway (successor to the Edinburgh and Northern Railway) was authorised to make a branch from Thornton (near present-day Glenrothes) to Dunfermline. Dunfermline was an ancient seat of government and industry, but it was the minerals, especially coal, in the area which encouraged the building of a line. The Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway too saw that potential, and promoted a nominally independent company, the Stirling and Dunfermline Railway, which would capture the Alloa coalfield and develop other mineral locations at Dunfermline and elsewhere on the line of route

The Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway sought to expand northwards and formed an alliance with the Scottish Central Railway, and submitted a Parliamentary Bill for the 1846 session for a Stirling and Dunfermline Railway. As well as opening up a considerable area of agricultural land, the line would give the E&GR access to areas of mineral extraction along the line of route, and beyond Dunfermline as well. Coal was the dominant mineral, but some blackband ironstone was being extracted and limestone was being fired on the northern shore of the Forth. A Special Meeting of E&GR shareholders was held on 12 May 1846 to give approval to the merger and the promotion of the Stirling and Dunfermline line.[10] A 35-year lease contract had been agreed, paying 4% rent on the construction cost of the S&D after 35% of receipts for operating expenses.[11]

The Stirling and Dunfermline Railway was authorised on 16 July 1846. As well as the main line between the places in the name, branches were authorised to Tillicoultry and to Alloa Harbour. The authorised capital for over 24 miles of railway was £390,000. In 1847 and again in 1848 a number of diversions of the route, and of local tramways, were authorised.[12]

The planned merger of the E&GR and the Scottish Central Railway "on equal terms" would give the E&GR the necessary access to Stirling; however during 1847 the Scottish Central reconsidered its alliance, and it decided that the Caledonian Railway, with which it was to connect near Castlecary, would be a better partner, and it rejected the intended link with the E&GR. Suddenly the E&GR found that it had no railway link to the S&DR, and the S&DR found itself isolated.

Opening

Locomotives in the yard at Stirling in 1948

A line from Dunfermline to Charlestown Harbour was already in existence, and the S&D line was constructed from east to west, taking advantage of the facility. The first section, from Dunfermline to Oakley, opened on 13 December 1849. There were ironstone and coal deposits at Oakley, and in 1845 the Forth Iron Works started construction of its plant there. It began production the following year.[13][14][15]

The line was extended to Alloa on 28 August 1850. On 3 June 1851 a branch to Alloa Harbour, already connected to the Alloa Railway, was opened, together with the Tillicoultry branch. In addition a passenger station was opened at the harbour; it was named Alloa Ferry, opening the same day. There was a long established ferry service crossing the Forth at this point, and the Scottish Central Railway had opened a branch from its main line to South Alloa, meeting the ferry on the south side, on 12 September 1850.[2][16]

The Tillicoultry branch had been delayed because of difficulties in constructing a bridge over the River Devon at Glenfoot. Although the final section to Stirling was relatively short, the opening of that part of the line was much delayed by a dispute. The Stirling and Dunfermline company had never intended to operate the line itself, and had contracted with its sponsor, the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway, that the latter would lease the line and operate it on its completion. Since that time the E&GR had failed to acquire the Scottish Central Railway, which lay between the two lines, and the SCR had become hostile. The E&GR had other priorities and now saw that operating a remote section of line would be a considerable liability, and it declined to do so.

The Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway had undertaken to lease and work the line on the assumption of merging with the Scottish Central Railway, but this arrangement had fallen through. As the day of opening of the S&DR approached, it became obvious that the E&GR intended to evade its obligations to lease and work the line. On 6 April 1849 the Engineer Miller issued a certificate that the line was complete (to Oakley) but the E&GR declined to lease it as had been agreed.[17] Faced with legal action to force compliance, the E&GR used the letter of the contract it had made with the S&DR, insisting on completion of the S&DR as authorised, and declining to accept any deviation at Stirling to accommodate a connection with the SCR. (The SCR was prepared to accept the S&DR crossing the Forth at Stirling on its bridge there, and using their station, but the E&GR insisted on separate facilities being provided. Nonetheless "Dunfermline Line Junction" at Stirling was a recognised location south of Stirling station into the 1970s.)

The S&DR had not the resources to operate the line itself and applied for legal sanction to oblige the E&GR to comply with its obligation, and the E&GR used every device to avoid compliance. In particular in demanded that the S&DR build an independent line crossing the Forth at Stirling, and station facilities there (in accordance with the original Parliamentary authority), even though the SCR had indicated that it was prepared to allow the SCR to use its bridge and terminal. Eventually on 1 July 1852 the line was opened throughout to Stirling. The passenger service at Alloa Ferry was closed on the same day, having been little used.[16] A connection between the S&DR and the SCR lines was soon made south of the river at Stirling and the unnecessary S&DR terminal station fell into disuse.[18]

Even now the E&GR refused to operate the line, and the S&DR had to acquire three locomotives and the rolling stock to do so itself.[note 2][15][18]

Nonetheless the railway was open, and a normal train service was in operation.

Company takeovers

The Stirling and Dunfermline Company was vested in the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway (E&GR) by Act of 28 July 1858.[12] The E&GR was already a significant player: it opened its main line in 1842. Having started as an inter-city line the E&GR had been collaborating with the Monkland Railways and others in handling coal and iron in the west of Scotland, which became a dominant traffic. Now it had access to Dunfermline, and the west Fife coalfield. The E&GR itself was taken over by the North British Railway on 1 August 1865.

The Scottish Central Railway was absorbed by the Caledonian Railway in 1865.[19]

The Alva Railway

Alva was a significant manufacturing town, especially of woollens and textiles, located north of the Stirling and Dunfermline Railway, under the Ochil hills. The Alva Railway was incorporated by Act of Parliament on 22 July 1861; it was to be a 3½ mile branch to Alva from Cambus on the S&DR main line, with an intermediate station at Menstrie. It opened on 11 June 1863.[note 3][15][19] There was an important distillery at Glenochil, near Menstrie.[9][12][19]

The Alva Railway merged with the E&GR by Act of 23 June 1864, with effect from 31 July 1864. The line had a busy passenger service, nine daily departures in 1922 and 10 in 1949 with a late Saturdays-only service from Alloa to Alva and back.

The Alva branch closed to passenger trains on 1 November 1954, but a general goods service continued until 1964, with company trains to Menstrie continuing until January 1965.[16]

Alloa docks enlarged

In 1875 the NBR agreed to provide new sidings to the newly enlarged Alloa docks, but complications with the adaptation of the Alloa Coal Company's high level tramway delayed their connection for two years.[20]

The railway across the Forth

Piers of the dismantled Alloa Forth bridge

Since 1850 it had been possible for passengers to travel directly south from Alloa by crossing the Forth by means of the ferry and travelling on by the Scottish Central Railway from South Alloa. For years there had been discussion of a railway viaduct to bridge the Forth, and in 1867 the Caledonian Railway formulated definite plans to do so. Nothing concrete was done at the time, until on 11 August 1879 a proposal was approved by Parliament, in conjunction with improvement and extension of Alloa Docks. It was to be called the Alloa Railway, and it was to build from the former Scottish Central Railway South Alloa branch, and to cross the Forth by a long viaduct with a swing span, to a new terminal station in Alloa.

The North British Railway feared that the line was a launching point for a new line into eastern Fife, and for tactical reasons promoted a rival scheme, which would have included a duplicate bridge over the Forth costing £300,000.[20] This had the eventual effect of the two companies agreeing a joint way forward: the NBR was granted running powers over the Alloa Railway and the former Scottish Central Railway main line as far as the junction with its own line at Greenhill. Both companies were together to double the Alloa Railway line, and the North British Railway would construct a connecting line from its own Alloa station to link with the Alloa Railway, and also to improve and extend the station. The Caledonian Railway was to have running powers over that new connection. This was authorised by Act of 14 July 1884, which included the absorption of the Alloa Railway by the Caledonian Railway.[19]

The former Stirling and Dunfermline Railway system, with the Alva Railway and the Alloa bridge in 1885

On 1 October 1885 the Alloa Viaduct and the associated approach railways opened. The viaduct consisted of nineteen girder spans and a swing bridge section of 150 feet.[2][9][21] The Caledonian Railway passenger service from Larbert to South Alloa ceased on opening of the bridge route.[18]

The Edinburgh Evening News reported the first train:

To-day the new Alloa Railway and Bridge were opened for traffic by the Caledonian and North British Railway Companies. The first train which left Alloa N.B. station for the new bridge line was a Caledonian one, consisting of three new carriages having all the latest improvements and fitted with gas tanks, so that the gas light will be supplied in place of the old oil lamps. A large number of people witnessed the departure of the train, which had about a dozen passengers, most of whom intended going to Larbert junction and return with the following train... The N.B. Company have running powers over this new line which considerably shortens the distance to Glasgow, the time occupied in the run between Alloa and Glasgow being now one hour.[22]

The Caledonian line had an eastward branch to a terminal goods station in Alloa, called Alloa North.

The NBR made full use of the running powers, which gave it a viable route from Perth to Glasgow avoiding the Caledonian, except where it had running powers (between Perth and Hilton Junction and over the Alloa bridge section). Express passenger and goods services were brought over the line.[23] Use of the route by NBR goods trains was especially heavy between the opening of the (Second) Tay Bridge and the opening of the Forth bridge, for services from Dundee southwards.[9]

On 27 October 1959 a derailment at Polmaise had closed the Larbert to Stirling main line, and a Glasgow to Oban and a Glasgow to Aberdeen passenger express trains were diverted over the Alloa viaduct, reversing at Alloa and Stirling. The passenger service over the bridge, between Larbert and Alloa, was discontinued from 29 January 1968, and the heavy freight service was closed from May 1968. A very infrequent goods service ran across the bridge to Throsk until May 1970. The viaduct has since been demolished.

The Devon Valley Railway

Proposals to link Stirling and Kinross through Tillicoultry had been formulated early in the history of railways in the region, and when the Tillicoultry branch of the Stirling and Dunfermline Railway was authorised, promoters planned a railway from Tillicoultry to Kinross. As such it would complete a line from the Clyde to the Tay. This became the Devon Valley Railway which was authorised by Parliament on 23 July 1858, but although parts of the line were quickly completed, difficult conditions in the central section meant that it was not until 1 May 1879 that it opened throughout. It was absorbed by the North British Railway on 29 June 1875.[12][19][24]

The Kincardine line

The Caledonian Railway was constantly trying to penetrate the Fife area to get access to east coast harbours and the coalfields. In an attempt to forestall one such scheme, the North British Railway itself obtained authorisation for a coastal line from Alloa through Clackmannan to Kincardine. It opened on 18 December 1893, and was extended to Dunfermline on 30 June 1906.[25]

Passenger services, 1895

In an 1895 edition of Bradshaw, there were 12 westbound and 11 eastbound trains between Stirling and Dunfermline, as well as some short working between Alloa and Stirling. Some trains omitted all or most stops between Dunfermline and Alloa. Nine trains left Alloa for Tillicoultry and beyond, and six left Alloa for Larbert. The Alva branch had 12 round trips, most of them continuing from Cambus to Alloa.

Five trains, six on Saturdays, left Alloa for Kincardine. None of these services operated on Sundays.[26]

Closure

In the period following 1945 the increased use of road transport for passenger and goods led to a steep decline in the use of the lines, and passenger trains on the Alva branch ceased to run from 1 November 1954. A limited service to Menstrie continued until complete closure on 2 March 1964.

The S&DR Tillicoultry branch, by then regarded as part of the Devon Valley line, closed to passengers on 15 June 1964 and to goods traffic on 25 June 1973.

NBR route passenger trains over the Alloa Viaduct were withdrawn from 29 January 1968,[note 4] and through goods train operation ceased in May 1968. A limited goods service to supply coal to the stationary steam engine that operated the Forth Swing Bridge from Alloa continued until May 1970.[16]

Passenger services on the Stirling to Dunfermline main line were closed on 7 October 1968; goods services were closed on 10 October 1979.[27]

Railway viaduct in Dunfermline

Re-opening

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Under Scottish Executive funding and to relieve congestion on the Forth Railway Bridge the line between Stirling and Alloa was reopened in 2008.[28]

There is now (2015) an hourly passenger service on the Alloa to Stirling section.[29]

Topography

Stirling and Dunfermline Railway
Locale Scotland
Dates of operation 16 July 1846 – 28 June 1858
Successor Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway
Track gauge 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 12 in)
Scottish Central Railway (north)
Stirling(SCR)
Scottish Central Railway (south)
Causewayhead
Alva Railway
Cambus
Alloa Railway
Longcarse Junction
Alloa West Junction
Alloa(AR)
Alloa Harbour
Alloa
Alloa East Junction
Sauchie
Glenfoot
Tillicoultry
Devon Valley Railway
Kincardine Junction
Kincardine Line
Clackmannan Road
Forest Mill
Bogside
Eastgrange
Oakley Colliery
Oakley
Townhill Tramway
Dunfermline Upper
Edinburgh and Northern Railway

Main line:

Stirling to Dunfermline, opened Dunfermline to Oakley to mineral trains 13 December 1849; opened Dunfermline to Alloa 28 August 1850; closed to passengers 7 October 1968.

  • Stirling; Scottish Central Railway station;
  • Causewayhead; opened 1 July 1852; closed 1 January 1917; reopened 2 June 1919; closed 4 July 1955;
  • Sauchie; opened October 1873; closed 1 January 1917; reopened 2 June 1919; closed 22 September 1930;
  • Cambus; opened 1 July 1852; closed 7 October 1968; trailing junction of Alva branch;
  • Alloa West Junction; trailing junction of line from Alloa Bridge;[note 5]
  • Alloa; opened 28 August 1850; closed 7 October 1968; reopened 19 May 2008; facing junction to Tillicoultry;
  • Kincardine Junction; facing junction to Kincardine;
  • Clackmannan; opened 28 August 1850; renamed Clackmannan Road 1893; closed 1 January 1917; reopened 2 June 1919; closed 1 December 1921;
  • Kincardine; opened 28 August 1850; renamed Forest Mill 1893 when new line through Kincardine opened; closed 22 September 1930;
  • Bogside; opened 28 August 1850; closed 15 September 1958;
  • East Grange; opened 28 August 1850; closed 15 September 1958;
  • Oakley; opened to passengers 28 August 1850; closed 7 October 1968
  • Whitemyre Junction; trailing junction of West of Fife Mineral Railway;
  • Dunfermline; opened 13 December 1849 (by E&NR); renamed Dunfermline Upper 1890; closed 7 October 1968; end-on junction with the Edinburgh and Northern Railway branch.[16][30]

Tillicoultry branch:

Opened 3 June 1851; closed to passengers 15 June 1964 and to goods 25 June 1973

  • Alloa; above;
  • Tillicoultry; Glenfoot temporary terminus opened 2 or 3 June 1851; replaced by Tillicoultry January or February 1852; closed 15 June 1964.

Alloa Harbour branch and to Alloa Ferry

Opened 3 June 1851; closed May 1970.

  • Alloa; above;
  • Alloa Ferry; opened 3 June 1851; closed to passengers 1 October 1885.

Alloa Bridge Branch

Opened 1 October 1885; closed to passengers 29 January 1968.

  • Alloa; above;
  • Longcarse Junction; convergence of Caledonian Railway line from Alloa North (Caledonian station);
  • Alloa Bridge; closed 17 August 1920; reopened 1 March 1921;[31]
  • Dunmore Junction; convergence with former South Alloa branch.

Alva Railway

Opened 11 June 1863.

  • Cambus; above;
  • Menstrie; opened 3 June 1863; renamed Mensrie and Glenochil 1954; closed 1 November 1954;
  • Alva; opened 3 June 1863; closed 1 November 1954.[16][32][33]

Notes

  1. The railway is generally known as The Alloa Railway. There was also a proposed line a century later connected with crossing the Forth at Alloa, called The Alloa Railway, although it was absorbed by the Caledonian Railway before its line was opened.
  2. Marshall states that the E&NR and the SCR together worked the line; it is likely that this is correct, but that they made their willingness conditional on the S&DR actually procuring the locomotives.
  3. Carter, page 330, and Awdry, page 116; Thomas and Turnock say 3 June.
  4. Thomas and Turnock page 312; 16 March according to Paterson, pages 85 and 86.
  5. On page 34 of Fife's Lost Railways but not in Stirling and Clackmannanshire's Lost Railways, Stansfield gives an Alloa Junction station, closed in November 1865; this may be confusion with the Scottish Central Railway Alloa Junction station on its main line between Larbert and Stirling.

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 The Statistical Account of Scotland, Sir John Sinclair, vol xiii, 1793, quoted in C F Dendy Marshall, A History of British Railway Down to the Year 1830, Oxford University Press, London, 1938
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 John Thomas revised J S Paterson, A Regional History of the Railways of Great Britain: Volume 6, Scotland, the Lowlands and the Borders, David and Charles, Newton Abbot, 1984, ISBN 0 946537 12 7
  3. From The Statistical Account, quoted in Robertson; Robertson says that John Francis Erskine of Mar was co-author of the section of the Statistical Account.
  4. C J A Robertson, The Origins of the Scottish Railway System, 1722 - 1844, John Donald Publishers, Edinburgh, 1983, ISBN 978 085976088 1
  5. M J T Lewis, Early Wooden Railway, Routledge and Keegan Paul Ltd, London, 1970, ISBN 0 7100 781 8 8
  6. George Dott, Early Scottish Wagonways, St Margaret's Technical Press Limited, London, 1947
  7. Andrew Dow, The Railway: British Track Since 1804, Pen and Sword Transport, 2014, ISBN 978 1 47382 257 3
  8. John Thomas and David Turnock, A Regional History of the Railways of Great Britain: Volume 15: North of Scotland, David & Charles, Newton Abbot, 1980, ISBN 0-946537-03-8, pages 24 and 25
  9. 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 William Scott Bruce, The Railways of Fife, The Melven Press, Edinburgh, 1980, ISBN 0-906664-03-9
  10. Falkirk Herald and Stirlingshire Monthly Advertiser, 14 May 1846
  11. Dundee, Perth, and Cupar Advertiser: Friday 12 September 1845
  12. 12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 E F Carter, An Historical Geography of the Railways of the British Isles, Cassell, London, 1959
  13. Extract from Mining District Report, 1847, on Scottish Mining Website http://www.scottishmining.co.uk/107.html
  14. Description of Carnock Parish in 1862; edited extract from Westwood's Directory for the Counties of Fife & Kinross, published 1862, on Genuki website at http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/sct/FIF/parishes/Carnock/
  15. 15.0 15.1 15.2 Thomas and Turnock, pages 30 to 32 and 311, 312
  16. 16.0 16.1 16.2 16.3 16.4 16.5 Gordon Stansfield, Stirlingshire and Clackmannanshire's Lost Railways, Stenlake Publishing, Catrine 2002, ISBN 1 84033 184 4
  17. Caledonian Mercury, 1 October 1849
  18. 18.0 18.1 18.2 Peter Marshall, The Scottish Central Railway: Perth to Stirling, Oakwood Press, Usk, 1998, ISBN 0-8536-1522-5
  19. 19.0 19.1 19.2 19.3 19.4 Christopher Awdry, Encyclopaedia of British Railway Companies, Patrick Stephens Limited, Wellingborough, 1990, ISBN 1 85260 049 7
  20. 20.0 20.1 David Ross, The North British Railway: A History, Stenlake Publishing Limited, Catrine, 2014, ISBN 978 1 84033 647 4
  21. John Thomas, The North British Railway, volume 2, David & Charles, Newton Abbot, 1975, ISBN 0 7153 6699 8, pages 133 and 134
  22. Edinburgh Evening News: Thursday 1 October 1885
  23. Thomas and Turnock, pages 37 and 38
  24. Thomas and Turnock, page 36
  25. Thomas and Turnock, page 38
  26. Bradshaw's General Steam Navigation and Railway Guide, 12th mo, (December) 1895, reprinted by Middleton Press, Midhurst, 2011, ISBN 978 1 908174 11 6
  27. Thomas and Turnock
  28. Stirling-Alloa-Kincardine re-opening Web Site
  29. Scotrail timetable: Central Scotland https://www.scotrail.co.uk/sites/default/files/assets/download_ct/sr1505_dl_central_scotland_compiled_0.pdf
  30. Gordon Stansfield, Fife's Lost Railways, Stenlake Publishing, Catrine, 1998, ISBN 1 84033 055 4
  31. Michael Quick, Railway Passenger Stations in Great Britain: Third Supplement, Railway and Canal Historical Society, 2013
  32. M E Quick, Railway Passenger Stations in England Scotland and Wales—A Chronology, The Railway and Canal Historical Society, 2002
  33. Col M H Cobb, The Railways of Great Britain -- A Historical Atlas, Ian Allan Publishing Limited, Shepperton, 2003, ISBN 07110 3003 0

External links