Stirling and Dunfermline Railway

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 1950 when rail travel was waning, but the section between Stirling and Alloa has reopened in 2008, and carries a regular passenger service.

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 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 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.

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