East Fife Central Railway

The first railways in East Fife were built primarily to open up fishing harbours and agricultural districts.

For many years coal had been extracted on a small scale from areas near the coast between Dysart and Leven, but transport was always a limiting factor for the mineral.

The area of land inland from the coast at Methil and Leven, known as the Riggin o Fife, had also been the scene of coal extraction in the past, but its remoteness from the harbours and the poor roads made the work unprofitable.

The Parliamentary Bill for the line, to be known as the East Fife Central Railway, was deposited in January 1893; it proposed share capital of £250,000.

The North British Railway objected on the ground, they claimed, that the district was already well served by them, and that the line would abstract from their business.

George Bradley Wieland was the Chairman of the East Fife Central; he was a director of the North British Railway, and he had been Secretary of that company, but had resigned that office due to ill health.

Wieland acquired the Letham Estate, close to the proposed line, on 14 March 1892, believing there to be extensive workable coal reserves there, and he naturally would welcome a railway connection.

The earlier certainty about mineral wealth had abated, and the thin population of the agricultural district now looked less lucrative.

Raising the money in the ordinary way now appeared to be impossible, and at length Wieland prevailed on the North British to fund the construction; they agreed subject to guarantees from the East Fife Central board members, giving the NBR a 3% return on the capital expenditure of £104,820.

The through routes to Cupar and St Andrews were now abandoned, as was the triangular junction at Leven, and the line was cut back to Lochty, 14 miles in extent.

The junction near Cameron Bridge would be aligned to give direct running from Lochty to Leven and Methil harbours.

The modification of the route required a new Act of Parliament; this was prepared by the NBR, also authorising passenger operation, and transfer of the line to themselves one year after the passage of the Bill.

However, by November 1913 the trains were discontinued; serious water inundation problems were experienced in the Largobeath workings, and in fact the colliery closed permanently soon afterwards.

Footplate rides were given on the engine in the summer of 1967, and the following year a coach had been acquired, enabling trips in a short train, operating as the Lochty Private Railway.

Regular Sunday trips on the line were made in the summer, and the location was popular with holidaymakers and others; the operation was entirely staffed by volunteers.

At the end of the 1992 season it was decided that rising costs of operation made continuing impossible, and the museum at Lochty closed.