Slamannan and Borrowstounness Railway

The Slamannan and Borrowstounness Railway was a railway built in Scotland in 1848 to extend the Slamannan Railway to the harbour at Borrowstounness (now called Bo'ness) on the Firth of Forth, and to connect with the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway. It was not commercially successful, but in recent years part of it was taken over by the Scottish Railway Preservation Society, which operates the Bo'ness and Kinneil Railway.

The Slamannan Railway had been opened in 1840 between Arbuckle (near Airdrie) and Causewayend (on the Union Canal, west of Linlithgow). It was built with the hope of opening up mineral extraction in the otherwise undeveloped land that it crossed. The mineral workings proved disappointing, and an early intercity passenger service between Edinburgh and Glasgow over the line and associated lines and the Union Canal was wiped out when the more technologically advanced Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway (E&GR) opened in 1842.

Looking for opportunities to revive the company's fortunes, the Slamannan company decided to extend from Causewayend to form a junction with the E&GR, and to extend to the harbour at Borrowstounness (Bo'ness). Connection to the E&GR would give onward transport opportunities for minerals from the Slamannan area and the Monkland coalfields and ironworks; the Bo'ness Harbour connection was to give export and import potential. The port was declining in importance, particularly due to nearby Grangemouth, which benefitted from the termination of the Forth and Clyde Canal and the authorities at Bo'ness welcomed the prospect of a railway connection. In 1845 a blast furnace was started at Kinneil, processing the ironstone that was already being mined in the vicinity.

The Slamannan proprietors arranged for friendly interests to promote a nominally independent company to get to Bo'ness, and the Slamannan and Borrowstounness Railway (S&BR) was authorised by Act of Parliament on 26 June 1846 to make the line. The main line from Causewayend to Bo'ness Harbour was to be 5½ miles long, with a spur from the E&GR line so arranged as to allow through running from the Polmont direction to Bo'ness. The Capital was to be £105,000 with borrowing powers of £35,000.

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