3. Perth to the central Belt-26.07.19

THE ARCHIVE FILES > Archive-2019 > 53. A North British Extravaganza-24-28.07.19 > 3. Perth to the central Belt-26.07.19

The weather started off fine enough in the morning but clouded up as the day progressed with the sun putting in a return appearance during the evening. An interesting day that saw us head southwest towards the central belt and then back east again towards Edinburgh. Our overnight stay was on the outskirts of Polmont with a really nice evening walk around Bo'ness. Plenty of stations for Andy, but only one preserved signal box for me!

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Images 1-18 of 18 displayed.

Stanley Junction signal box (BR, 1961)
A very poor photograph of Stanley Junction signal box located between Perth and Dunkeld. It is the fringe box north of the area controlled by the Scottish signalling centre and represents a huge change from twenty-first-century technology to that of the Victorian era. The box was constructed in 1961 by British Railways at the junction where the former North British line to the Angus coastal route via Forfar diverged. Be warned, if you ever wish to visit this spot, the local farmer was not very welcoming making a huge fuss about us parking our hire car by the side of the road on a piece of his land, it was there for all of five minutes!
Keywords: Stanley Junction signal box (BR, 1961)

170417, SR 09.50 Edinburgh Waverley-Glenrothes with Thornton (2G49, 1E), Longelly station
170417 comes to halt atone of the split platforms at Longelly forming the 09.50 Edinburgh Waverley to Glenrothes with Thornton service. The Fife Circle route enjoys a regular service with a number of stopping patterns. During the morning and evening peak times, it also receives two locomotive-hauled services, something that has been in operation for a number of years now.
Keywords: 170417 SR 09.50 Edinburgh Waverley-Glenrothes with Thornton 2G49 Longelly station

170433, SR 10.40 Glenrothes with Thornton-Edinburgh Waverley (2G08, 2L), Cowdenbeath station
The town of Cowdenbeath has a proud history of mining with many former mines in the area. Now, with them all closed, people have had to look elsewhere for work with the excellent railway service enjoyed by the town's fourteen thousand population has helped with this. 170433 leaves the station with the 10.40 Glenrothes with Thornton to Edinburgh service.
Keywords: 170433 10.40 Glenrothes with Thornton-Edinburgh Waverley 2G08 Cowdenbeath station

158730, SR 11.15 Edinburgh W-Cowdenbeath (2G25, 1E), Dunfermline Park, Public Road bridge
With Dumfermline station in the background, 158730 leaves with the 11.15 Edinburgh Waverley to Cowdenbeath service. I am standing on a bridge in Dunfermline park, a very pleasant place to be on a summer's day taking pictures of trains. I was also able to enjoy eating some superb wild raspberries that were growing by the bridge!
Keywords: 158730 11.15 Edinburgh W-Cowdenbeath 2G25 Dunfermline Park Public Road bridge

170431, SR 11.38 Glenrothes with Thornton-Edinburgh Waverley (2G10, 3L), Dunfermline Park, Public Road bridge
With the sun having just gone behind a troublesome cloud some thirty seconds before 170431 arrived a shade photograph will have to suffice as it passes Dumfirmline park. 170431 is forming the 11.38 Glenrothes with Thornton to Edinburgh Waverley train.
Keywords: 170431 11.38 Glenrothes with Thornton-Edinburgh Wsverley 2G10 Dunfermline Park, Public Road bridge

Charlestown Junction to Longannet power station line, Culross NS993860
We decided to take the scenic coastal drive along the north coast of the Firth of Forth rather than racing along the A585 between Dumfermline and the Kincardine bridge. This involved us closely following the mothballed line that used to allow trains to access the closed Langannet power station. Here, just east of the lovely village of Culross, the tracks are a little rusty but the weedkiller train must have traversed as the ballast is clear.
Keywords: Charlestown Junction to Longannet power station line Culross NS993860

Charlestown Junction to Longannet power station line, Culross NS993860
This rusting section of otherwise well-maintained track carried heavy and regular coal trains until the closure of the huge Longannet power station in March of 2016. Since then, it has seen little traffic but it has a possible future use as there are plans for Talgo to construct a train manufacturing facility on the site of the old power station that is in the process of demolition. This will be where they will build the new fleet of HS2 trains. If this happens, the line will be upgraded and probably electrified for testing purposes as at Old Dalby. Locals would also like to see the reintroduction of passenger services on the line that follows the northern side of the Forth estuary from Dumfermline to Alloa and Stirling.
Keywords: Charlestown Junction to Longannet power station line Culross NS993860

380102, SR 12.37 Ayr-Edinburgh Waverley (1C58, 3L), Wishaw station
380102 arrives at Wishaw station that is southwest of Glasgow with the 12.37 Ayr to Edinburgh Waverley. Having had a poor start, these class 380 units have been in squadron service for some eight years and are the backbone of many ScotRail services.
Keywords: 380102 12.37 Ayr-Edinburgh Waverley 1C58 Wishaw station

385022, SR 15.03 Glasgow Central-Edinburgh Waverley (1Y88, 6L), Cleland station
One of ScotRail's new class 385 arrives at Cleland station forming the 15.03 Glasgow Central to Edinburgh Waverley. Like many stations on this recently electrified line, a lot of work was taking place to upgrade their facilities. However, they all looked very similar with their grey and somewhat over-engineered structures. Despite a regular train service, Andy and I saw very few passengers on the platforms.
Keywords: 385022 15.03 Glasgow Central-Edinburgh Waverley 1Y88 Cleland station

385036, SR 14.56 Edinburgh Waverley-Glasgow Central (1Y87, RT), Hartwood station
385036 whisks through Hartwood station with the 14.56 Edinburgh to Glasgow Central service. Hartwood is situated in the pleasant countryside of north Lanarkshire. It has not enjoyed buoyant passenger numbers, particularly since the large psychiatric hospital, in whose grounds it is located, closed. The station has been re-built with the line electrified and a full service commencing just three months prior to this photograph being taken.
Keywords: 385036 14.56 Edinburgh Waverley-Glasgow Central 1Y87 Hartwood station

66739, 08.07 Fort William Alcan-North Blyth Alcan (6E45), Hartwood station
66739 'Bluebell Railway' leads the 08.07 Fort William to North Blyth Alcan train through Hartwood station. This train runs regularly from Alcan's smelter at Fort William to collect the main raw material used in the manufacturing of aluminum, alumina. This is imported into the UK at the North Blyth facility. The importing of alumina to and the export of finished aluminum from the huge Fort William factory is one of the factors that has kept the West Highland line open.
Keywords: 66739 08.07 Fort William Alcan-North Blyth Alcan 6E45 Hartwood station

380018, SR 15.16 Glasgow Central-Edinburgh Waverley (2Y48, 2L), Shotts station
Taken against the afternoon light but I suppose I should be grateful as the sun was at a bit of a premium now being a particularly dull Friday afternoon! 380018 arrives at Shotts station forming the 15.16 Glasgow Central to Edinburgh service. Behind the train is part of an extraordinarily long disabled access footbridge that comes down from the street level of the aptly named Station Road above the station to the right.
Keywords: 380018 15.16 Glasgow Central-Edinburgh Waverley 2Y48 Shotts station

68016, 15.53 Motherwell TMD-Edinburgh Waverley ECS (5L69), Breich station
Despite the introduction of the short-set HSTs and the cascading of DMUs, ScotRail is still struggling with capacity. To satisfy demand, they continue to run two evening locomotive-hauled diagrams from Edinburgh departing at 17.07 and 17.19 for Glenrothes with Thornton and Cardenden respectively. There is also a pair of morning commuter services as well. Between duties, the stock is kept and serviced at Motherwell TMD so it makes a number of ECS runs to get to and from Waverley. Here at the newly reconstructed Breich station, 68016 'Fearless' leads the 15.53 Motherwell to Edinburgh 5L69 ECS stock move. This takes the Edinburgh southern avoiding line to arrive into Waverley from the east thus heading loco. first for its commuter service as the services are not top and tailed. Breich station is in a totally isolated location, seemingly in the middle of nowhere directly serving no particular settlements. There was a proposal to close the station in 2014 when it was the tenth least used station on the network with just ninety-two entry and exits. However, railways in Scotland are viewed in a somewhat different light and closure proposals were overturned and a huge amount spent on the station when the line was electrified. Let's hope now that the stopping patterns are improved and that more passengers make use of its up-to-date facilities.
Keywords: 68016 15.53 Motherwell TMD-Edinburgh Waverley 5L69 Breich station

385039, SR 16.03 Glasgow Central-Edinburgh Waverley (1Y90, 4L), Addiewell station
385039 passes through Addiewell station forming the 16.03 Glasgow Central to Edinburgh service. Like all the stations on this route, electrification has resulted in some significant upgrading of facilities. The most noticeable, apart from the wiring, is the new footbridge with the traditional wrought iron structure removed by a crane during March 2018. It was slightly concerning to see that the accessible lifts installed at the new footbridge were out of order!
Keywords: 385039 16.03 Glasgow Central-Edinburgh Waverley 1Y90 Addiewell station

385022, SR 16.25 Edinburgh Waverley-Glasgow Central (2Y49, RT), West Calder station
Having seen 385022 earlier in the afternoon a little further west at Cleland station it is seen again working the return 16.25 Edinburgh to Glasgow Central. It is seen passing through West Calder station that is near to Livingston. Like all the other stations on this line, it has been extensively upgraded, but in this case, its original station building remains now the home to the Mei Hua Platform Chinese restaurant.
Keywords: 385022 16.25 Edinburgh Waverley-Glasgow Central 2Y49 West Calder station

Home signal, Bo`ness
In the evening, in the hope of finding somewhere to eat, Andy and I went to Bo'ness. Whilst our efforts to find a restaurant of any type were thwarted, we did enjoy a lovely walk along the waterfront and around the Bo'ness and Kinneil Railway. With the Forth of Forth behind me, one of the railway's superb Caledonian Railway latticed signals is seen in the evening sun.
Keywords: Home signal Bo'ness

37703, 20020, 37214 & 82113, stabled, Bo`ness yard
The main yard of the Bo'ness and Kinneil Railway's headquarters sees many items of interest. There are three traditional heritage locomotives, from left to right, 37703, 20020 and 37214. To the far right is converted DVT 82113. This has been developed by Artemis for possible use on lines where electrification ends or is incomplete. It utilises a small JCB sourced diesel engine powering hydrostatic transmission with a form of regenerative braking that then stores the excess generated power in a set of on-board batteries. This battery power can then be used to supplement the diesel engine, thus making it a hybrid locomotive.
Keywords: 37703 20020 37214 82113 stabled Bo'ness yard

Bo`ness signal box (Ex Garnqueen Junction, Cal, 1889) & station
In the lovely evening light, the platform end and signal box are seen at Bo'ness. The box is a traditional Caledonian structure dating from 1889 but was originally located at Garnqueen Junction just north of Coatbridge. The Bo'ness and Kinneil Railway looked to be a great place to visit. Andy and I considered going back the following morning when they were open but decided not to when we realised that were having a Thomas event, indeed, Percy can be seen putting in an appearance in this photograph!
Keywords: Bo'ness signal box Ex Garnqueen Junction station

Images 1-18 of 18 displayed.