Forth Bridge approach railways

The easy availability of money in the following years resulted in a considerable number of Scottish railway schemes being promoted, and many were authorised in the 1845 Parliamentary session.

[1] The Scottish Central Railway obtained authorisation to build from the Edinburgh and Glasgow line near Castlecary, to Perth by way of Stirling.

The North British sought to extend northwards, and to create its own route beyond Dundee to Aberdeen, but the two ferry crossings, of the Forth and the Tay, were a major limitation in addition to the competitive tactics of the rival Caledonian Railway.

This transformed the pattern of railway services in Fife, and new routes for passengers, especially residential and excursion journeys, and minerals, became heavily used.

The NBR had been acquiring minor railway lines, and running powers on others, to further its aim of reaching Aberdeen by an independent route, and the Tay Bridge integrated with them.

Both of these lines were built as local, slow-speed single-line branches; moreover they were close to sea level, while the track on the Forth Bridge was carried at 361 feet (110 m) above high water.

The Fife coalfield was producing huge quantities of coal, much of which was exported through the harbour of Burntisland, and a more direct connection was essential.

Emerging from this the valley of the River Almond is crossed and ... an embankment nearly a mile long and in some places 50 feet high was found necessary...

It then followed a shelf above the Inner Bay of Inverkeithing, then turning south-east, crossing the North Queensferry line on Jamestown Viaduct.

An extinct volcano was encountered in constructing the route; the exceptionally hard material making the formation of the cutting difficult.

[4]North from Inverkeithing, the route followed the Dunfermline and Queensferry Railway, but the track was doubled, and the inconveniently located Comely Park station was relocated closer to the town.

The line joined the eastward route of the old Dunfermline branch of the Edinburgh, Perth and Dundee Railway at Townhill Junction.

On the West side of the line are waiting-rooms and the ticket office, in front of which is a spacious platform covered over by a verandah supported on neat cast-iron pillars carrying girders.

When the abortive scheme of Sir Thomas Bouch for bridging the Firth of Forth was still in the realms of potential existence, the North British Railway Company acquired powers for constructing this line.

Passenger trains from Edinburgh to the Fife coast lines at Kirkcaldy and beyond would now have a through route, superseding the old Granton ferry passage.

At Inverkeithing too, a triangular junction was being formed, with a north spur enabling through running from the West Fife mineral lines to Burntisland.

Here the railway enters the beautiful valley of the river Farg, and declining at the rate of 1 in 74½, runs alongside the stream and the Great North Road as far as Bein Inn...

Although three specials had to be despatched in addition to the ordinary trains, the officials were able to overtake the extra work without the general traffic being interrupted.Seeing the bridge itself was the objective for many people: Considerable disappointment was expressed by the excursionists on crossing the Forth Bridge, as they could not from the carriage windows command a proper view of the structure, and consequently a large number proceeded by train, boat and brakes to South Queensferry during the day.

However the first days of operation were beset with serious organisational problems, centring on the inadequacy of Waverley station in handling the increased volume of traffic and remarshalling it.

The connections with the Forth Bridge having now been completed, the North British Railway Company ran the first of their new trains from Aberdeen to the south on Monday.

From Aberdeen to London there are no fewer than six trains on weekdays and a mail on Sundays, leaving at 3.30 p.m. and reaching King's Cross at 5.45 a.m. and St Pancras at 7.20 a.m...

Owing, however, to the new service upsetting so entirely the arrangements along the route, this train did not reach Aberdeen until 10.44 p.m., being about two hours and fifteen minutes late.

The North British train due at 10.20 p.m. arrived at 11.30, while the Caledonian train due at 10.50 did not make its appearance till 12.20...[8]Edinburgh Waverley was the focus of the congestion; the main departure platform was only four feet wide, and the station was approached by congested double track routes: The result of the new service at Edinburgh was a breakdown at the Waverley Station, and a total disorganisation for the day, both for the passenger and the goods traffic all over the system.

The block occurred by the removal of the Fife trains, always heavy, and on Monday heavier than usual, to the already very limited space at the west end of the station, where there is no room to marshal them.

While the west end of the station, from which the Forth Bridge traffic is conducted, was in such a congested condition, the east end presented a correspondingly great quietness and inactivity, consequent on the withdrawal of the through trains for the north by the way of the Burntisland ferry.The new train service from Aberdeen to London inaugurated by the North British Railway company on Monday was found to work more smoothly yesterday than it did on the opening day, and the management hope that, as time advances, and the new system has had a fair trial, no difficulty will be experienced in the running of the new trains.

On 17 August 1890 there was a partial collapse in Winchburgh tunnel, on the Edinburgh and Glasgow main line; although the work was quickly repaired it caused disruption for some time.

The station was architecturally magnificent, although the baroque stone and joinery work in the booking hall was somewhat oppressive, and the pedestrian access from the street was still narrow and bleak.

Smith and Anderson describe it: There was accommodation for 400, including spacious bachelor suites let by the year for "gentlemen residing in the city".

When the railways of Great Britain were nationalised in 1948, they were brought under unified management, and the loss of traffic to road-based alternatives caused an examination of what were then duplicate routes.

The principal traffic is stopping passenger trains, which continue on the old Edinburgh, Perth and Dundee Railway route as far as a new station named Glenrothes.