Forth and Clyde Junction Railway

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.

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.

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.

[1][4] The line had been authorised to make a south-facing connection with the Caledonian and Dumbartonshire Junction Railway near Alexandria, reflecting the intended trunk haulage to the Clyde.

This seems to have been done without proper authority, and the reason for the change is unclear; it may have been simply an acceptance that the through goods traffic would lay over at Balloch.

Locomotive power was hired in from the Scottish North Eastern Railway until four 2-4-0 tender engines were delivered by from the Canada Works, Birkenhead, early in 1861.

The company decided to remain independent, but it agreed to lease the line to the North British Railway from 1866.

On 1 August 1875 the term was extended to 50 years, paying 6% on the F&CJR's capital of £106,000, rising with the potential dividend on NBR ordinary stock..[6] The company itself continued, receiving the lease charge but not operating any railway, until the grouping of railways in Great Britain in 1923.

[1] Part of the lease agreement was that the remaining timber bridges on the line should be rebuilt in durable materials at the expense of the F&CJR.

The Endrick timber trestle viaduct was now in a very poor state, having been repeatedly damaged by ice in the river during the 1860s, and it was rebuilt with iron truss girders on stone piers.

[7] Furthermore, the July 1922 Bradshaw guide shows a short working between Stirling and Buchlyvie and services continuing on to Edinburgh Waverley and Glasgow Queen Street Low Level.

[8] The North British Railway sponsored a nominally independent line to reach Aberfoyle, an important town in the expanding tourist trade, and the Gateway to the Trossachs.

The LNER tried to reduce costs of the loss-making passenger service by introducing a steam railcar, Quicksilver, manufactured by the Sentinel Waggon Works in Shrewsbury.

Successive closures to goods traffic followed: Buchlyvie Junction to Mye Siding also closed completely on 1 November 1950.