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The Alloa Railway was intended to bridge the River Forth linking Alloa with the south without using a ferry.
The railway was authorised on 11 August 1879, it started from a new junction, Dunmore Junction, on the South Alloa branch of the Scottish Central Section of the Caledonian Railway located approximately 3 miles (4.8 km) north of Alloa Junction. It was 3 miles (4.8 km) long, with a swing bridge over River Forth, and terminated at a piece of vacant ground in the town of Alloa, on the west side of the private road leading from Craigward Place to Bass Crest Brewery, about 230 metres short of the final point of termination. [note 1] [1] [2]
From the beginning the CR supported the railway financially, they entered into agreements for the maintenance, management and working of the railway, and had those arrangements approved by Parliament. [note 2] In 1884 the CR absorbed the Alloa Railway before the line had been completed. The Act authorising the absorption of the Alloa Railway also provided for an extension of one furlong one chain and eleven yards (231 metres) from the planned terminus in Alloa so that the line now terminated on the western side of Glasshouse Loan. [note 3] [1] [2]
The major civil engineering construction on the line was the Alloa Swing Bridge, this was a railway swing bridge across the River Forth. The structure was in use until 1968 and was demolished in 1971. [3]
The connecting line between Alloa West junction and Longcarse junction (called the Alloa Junction Loop on OS maps) belonged to the North British Railway (NBR) and as such it was authorised by a different parliamentary Act, this Act was also used to confirm the reciprocal running powers agreement between the CR and the NBR. The NBR gave the CR access to its station in Alloa via the Alloa Junction Loop and the section of the line from there to Alloa station, they also agreed to contribute towards the doubling of the rest of the line, in exchange the CR gave the NBR access to the Alloa Railway and its former Scottish Central Line as far as the junction with the NBR at Greenhill. [note 4] [4] [5] [6]
To accommodate the CR at its Alloa station the NBR firstly opened a new goods station on 21 September 1885 to the east of Glasshouse Loan on the Harbour branch in order to create some space at the passenger station, it also undertook some alterations to the station itself prior to a major rebuilding scheduled for the following few years. [7]
The CR opened its own goods station on the site mentioned above, on the western side of Glasshouse Loan, directly opposite the NBR one. The CR set up its own passenger booking office at Alloa station, in what had formerly been the parcel office. [7]
The Caledonian line and the North British connecting line both opened on 1 October 1885, there were no stations opened on the line at this time. [5] [8]
The Edinburgh Evening News reported the first train:
To-day the new Alloa Railway and Bridge were opened for traffic by the Caledonian and North British Railway Companies. The first train which left Alloa N.B. station for the new bridge line was a Caledonian one, consisting of three new carriages having all the latest improvements and fitted with gas tanks, so that the gas light will be supplied in place of the old oil lamps. A large number of people witnessed the departure of the train, which had about a dozen passengers, most of whom intended going to Larbert junction and return with the following train. Mr Gillespie, Perth, the district superintendent accompanied the train. The N.B. Company have running powers over this new line which considerably shortens the distance to Glasgow, the time occupied in the run between Alloa and Glasgow being now one hour. [9]
Throsk station opened to the south of the swing bridge in 1890. [10]
The NBR made full use of the running powers, which gave it a viable route from Perth to Glasgow avoiding the Caledonian, except where it had running powers (between Perth and Hilton Junction and over the Alloa bridge section). Express passenger and goods services were brought over the line. [11] Use of the route by NBR goods trains was especially heavy between the opening of the (Second) Tay Bridge and the opening of the Forth Bridge, for services from Dundee southwards. [12] [ page needed ]
During the First World war Bandeath Munitions Depot was established on the peninsula to the west of the swing bridge, it had rail access from a junction to the south of the bridge, between it and Throsk station. [13] [14]
British Railways added a second connection from Longcarse Junction to Alloa Marshalling Yard (parallel with the S&D line) in 1957. This made the turntable at Alloa passenger station redundant.[ citation needed ]
The line closed in stages, firstly the passenger service was withdrawn on 29 January 1968. [15] The section from Longcarse Junction to the junction for the RNAD at Throsk, including the swing bridge, closed completely on 6 May 1968. [16] The line may have been closed to all traffic but it was retained until the bridge was fixed in the open position on 18 May 1970, at this time it finally closed together with the section between Longcarse Junction and Alloa West Junction. [17] The Alloa Swing Bridge was mostly demolished on 8 February 1971, the piers remain as wildlife havens sheltering cormorants. [18] Then on 1 April 1978 the remaining southerly section from Throsk to Alloa Junction closed. [19]
The North British Railway was a British railway company, based in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was established in 1844, with the intention of linking with English railways at Berwick. The line opened in 1846, and from the outset the company followed a policy of expanding its geographical area, and competing with the Caledonian Railway in particular. In doing so it committed huge sums of money, and incurred shareholder disapproval that resulted in two chairmen leaving the company.
The Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway was authorised by Act of Parliament on 4 July 1838. It was opened to passenger traffic on 21 February 1842, between its Glasgow Queen Street railway station and Haymarket railway station in Edinburgh. Construction cost £1,200,000 for 46 miles (74 km). The intermediate stations were at Corstorphine, Gogar, Ratho, Winchburgh, Linlithgow, Polmont, Falkirk, Castlecary, Croy, Kirkintilloch and Bishopbriggs. There was a ticket platform at Cowlairs. The line was extended eastwards from Haymarket to North Bridge in 1846, and a joint station for connection with the North British Railway was opened on what is now Edinburgh Waverley railway station in 1847.
The Lanarkshire and Dumbartonshire Railway was a railway company in Scotland. It was promoted independently but supported by the Caledonian Railway, and it was designed to connect Balloch and Dumbarton with central Glasgow, linking in heavy industry on the north bank of the River Clyde. From Dumbarton to Balloch the line would have closely duplicated an existing railway, and negotiation led to the latter being made jointly operated, and the L&DR terminated immediately east of Dumbarton, trains continuing on the joint section.
The Scottish Central Railway was formed in 1845 to link Perth and Stirling to Central Scotland, by building a railway line to join the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway near Castlecary.
Alloa railway station is a railway station in the town of Alloa, Clackmannanshire, Scotland, which was re-opened on Monday, 19 May 2008.
The Stirling and Dunfermline Railway was a railway in Scotland connecting Stirling and Dunfermline. It was planned by the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway 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.
The Kincardine Line is a railway in Clackmannanshire and Fife, Scotland. It was originally built to serve settlements along the north shore of the Firth of Forth, between Alloa and Dunfermline.
The Caledonian and Dumbartonshire Junction Railway (C&DJR) was a Scottish railway opened in 1850 between Bowling and Balloch via Dumbarton. The company had intended to build to Glasgow but it could not raise the money.
The Forth and Clyde Junction Railway was a railway line in Scotland which ran from Stirling to Balloch.
The Dundee and Perth Railway was a Scottish railway company. It opened its line in 1847 from Dundee to a temporary station at Barnhill and extended to Perth station in 1849. It hoped to link with other railways to reach Aberdeen and changed its name to the Dundee and Perth and Aberdeen Railway Junction Company, but this early attempt was frustrated, and for some years it failed to make a physical connection with other railways in Dundee.
The Edinburgh and Northern Railway was a railway company authorised in 1845 to connect Edinburgh to both Perth and Dundee. It relied on ferry crossings of the Firth of Forth and the Firth of Tay, but despite those disadvantages it proved extremely successful. It took over a short railway on the southern shore of the Forth giving a direct connection to Edinburgh, and it changed its name to the Edinburgh, Perth and Dundee Railway.
The Border Counties Railway was a railway line connecting Hexham in Northumberland, with Riccarton Junction on the Waverley Route in Roxburghshire.
The Throsk railway station was a railway station that served the village of Throsk, Stirling, Scotland from 1890 to 1966.
The Montrose and Bervie Railway was a Scottish railway. When the Aberdeen Railway opened in 1850, the coastal settlements north of Montrose were not linked in, and local interests promoted a branch line from Montrose to Bervie. They found it impossible to raise capital at first, but from 1861 the larger railways were promoting new connections around Aberdeen, and the Great North of Scotland Railway (GNoSR) decided that the Bervie line would give it a route to the south.
The Kelvin Valley Railway was an independent railway designed to connect Kilsyth, an important mining town in central Scotland, with the railway network. It connected Kilsyth to Kirkintilloch and thence over other railways to the ironworks of Coatbridge, and to Maryhill, connecting onwards to the Queen's Dock at Stobcross.
Alloa goods station was a goods railway station operated by the Caledonian Railway in Alloa, Clackmannanshire, Scotland, from 1885 to 1980.
The Kilsyth and Bonnybridge Railway was a railway line in central Scotland, built to exploit the mineral extractive industries in the area; it opened in 1888. A passenger service was run, but bus competition overwhelmed it after 1920 and the passenger service closed in 1935. The goods and mineral traffic continued, but it was dependent on the industries it served, and when they declined so did the business on the railway; it closed in 1964 and none of it is now in railway use.
The Grangemouth branch railways served Grangemouth docks on the Firth of Forth, Scotland, connecting the docks to the main line railway network. The first line was opened in 1860. The docks and the branch line developed considerably, and a second branch line was opened in 1911. Grangemouth docks was exceptionally busy during World War I, supplying the Grand Fleet.
The Railways of Kinross were a local network of three rural railways which made the town of Kinross in Scotland their objective in the 1850s.
South Alloa railway station, located south of the River Forth, served the village of South Alloa, Scotland and the town of Alloa via a ferry link from 1850 to 1885.
The brewery is just off the top left of the map, Craigward Place is directly south from there.
