Forth and Clyde Junction Railway

[ ] Forth and Clyde Junction Railway

Caledonian and Dunbartonshire Junction Railway Balloch Central Forth and Clyde Junction Caledonian and Dunbartonshire Junction Railway Dalmonach (Croftengea) Siding Jamestown Caldarvan Drymen Gartness Strathendrick and Aberfoyle Railway Gartness Junction Balfron Buchlyvie Buchlyvie Junction Strathendrick and Aberfoyle Railway Port of Menteith Kippen Gargunnock Scottish Central Railway Balloch Line (Stirling North) Junction Stirling Scottish Central Railway

The Forth and Clyde Junction Railway was a railway line in Scotland which ran from Stirling to Balloch.

It was built with the expectation of conveying coal from the Fife coalfields to a quay at Bowling on the Clyde for onward transport, but that traffic did not materialise. The line opened in 1856; it was a simple rural line running through sparsely populated terrain, and traffic was thin.

In 1882 the Strathendrick and Aberfoyle Railway made a connection with the line, using a few miles of it as part of its own route to Aberfoyle.

The Forth and Clyde Junction route lost its passenger train service in 1934, but the Aberfoyle trains continued until they too were discontinued in 1951. Goods train continued on parts of the line, but in 1965 the line was completely closed, and none of it remains in railway use.

In 1845 there was a frenzy of railway promotion in Scotland; the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway had been opened in 1842 and shown that railways of more than purely local relevance could be successful, and many schemes were put forward. Considerable volumes of coal were being extracted in Fife. While coastwise and export shipping from east coast ports was carried on, there was a commercial need to get access to the west coast ports. A railway to make the transit to the lower Clyde was proposed, but after 1845 the money market collapsed, and nothing further was heard of the idea for some years.

By 1850 the railway network was developing, and Stirling was becoming a focal point for railways. The Stirling and Dunfermline Railway opened in 1850, connecting the Fife coalfields. However, when traffic was consigned from Fife to the west coast, the S&DR, the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway and its associated companies were obliged to hand over the traffic to rival companies - the Scottish Central Railway and the Caledonian Railway - to complete the transit.

In 1851 a Forth and Clyde Junction Railway was promoted by commercial interests in Stirling to build a line north of the Campsie Fells to reach the harbour at Bowling, on the River Clyde. The line would connect with the Caledonian and Dumbartonshire Junction Railway (C&DJR; the spelling Dumbartonshire was used by the company). The C&DJR opened in 1850 and although it had intended to reach Glasgow, its finances only permitted construction from Balloch to Bowling; the F&CJR would join it near Alexandria, in the Leven Valley.

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