Devon Valley Railway

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1. Map.

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Some useful links
Of Dr. Ewan Crawford on local railways."Devon Valley Railway",
"Kinross-shire Railway" and "Fife and Kinross Railway" pages.
http://www.medinf.gla.ac.uk/ewan/rail/devon.htm
http://www.medinf.gla.ac.uk/ewan/rail/kinrossshire.htm
http://www.medinf.gla.ac.uk/ewan/rail/fifekinross.htm
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Notes on theDevon Valley Railway
The map of the counties of Fife and Kinross by Greenwood and Fowler dated 1841 shows the first idea for railway lines in the Devon Valley area. One line is shown runing from a train ferry near Culros to a junction near Forest Mill Where it connected to the line from our Alloa. The line then ran to the south of Blairngone and
from there to the village of Cleish where it then turned North to Kinross where the line split with one possible route for going a hundred meters to the West of Kinross house and along the north west shore of Loch Leven to Mawcarse junction where it joins the existing route of the railways.

 Dollar, Tillicoultry, Rumbling Bridge and Crook of Devon are completely bypassed.
Alloa - Tillicoultry section opened third of June 1851. 3.5 miles

Stirling - Alloa - Dunfermline line opens 30th June 1852.
 
 

Kinross Rumbling Bridge section opened first May 1863. 6.5 miles

Alloa - Alva branch line opened third June 1863

Tillicoultry Dollar section opened first May 1869 2.75 miles

Dollar Rumbling Bridge section opened 15th April 1871 4.5 miles

Amalgamate with Northern British railway company on first January 1875

Passenger line closed 1964

Dollar mine - Alloa closed 1973

1871 The last link connecting Kinross-shire and the west of Scotland is completed with the railway line being opened between Rumbling Bridge and Dollar. Nearly ten years have elapsed since the first sod was cut on August 4th, 1861, by Mrs Adam, Blairadam, and the progress of the work has been greatly delayed through financial considerations and other causes. On 15th April a special excursion train conveyed a select company of ladies and gentlemen from Stirling to Hopefield Junction, which connected the Devon Valley Railway with the Fife and Kinross Railways. W.P. Adam, Esq., presided at a dinner held in Mr McAra's Rumbling Bridge Hotel, assisted by Mr Stirling of Kippendavie, and Mr Young, Director of the North British Railway Company, as croupiers. The chairman remarked that at one time it looked as if the Caledonian Railway Directors were casting their eyes in this direction, and if they had managed to control the traffic over the Devon Valley Railway, he did not know what the result would have been.

 Two boys aged ten and eleven were fined 6/- each for throwing stones at a passing train.
 
 

1881 OCT

Buses must be ranged on the side of the turn-pike to the east of the gate at Kinross Railway Junction with the horses heads eastwards.
 
 

1890 December

 Railway men on strike.
 
 

Rumbling Bridge then and now 

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 As I was now five years old I started school in early September 1932. We went to Dollar Academy which was 7 miles away. To reach it we had to walk approximately 1.5 miles to catch the train at Crook of Devon which took us to Dollar.

I remember standing proudly with Bob at the front door of the house in our brand new uniforms while Nicola took our photographs. I was so small my tie showed beneath the hem of my tunic and, with my round velour hat, I looked a bit like a mushroom. We had to walk or cycle the mile and a half to the railway station at Crook of Devon where we caught the train which took us to Dollar and its famous Academy. When I was a little older there was many a day when I raced along the last stretch, neck and neck with the little puffer train, cheered on by my school friends in the train. I would throw my bike down and jump into the train just as it was leaving. In fine weather it was quite enjoyable but in wind, rain and, worst of all, slush, it was no joke. On one occasion - I was by now in secondary school - Bob and I set off for school pushing our bikes as there was about one foot of melting snow. We were struggling slowly through the slush when a lorry came past, spraying us with the horrid stuff and knocking us into the ditch. We struggled on wet and cold but only in time to see the train leaving without us. We left our bikes on the verandah of the village hall and waited for the local bus which went to Dollar, but too late for the start of school. We eventually arrived at school tired, wet and very cold. In accordance with school rules, because we were late, we reported to the Headmaster, Mr. Bell. He began to give us a little lecture regarding time keeping, etc. This was too much for Bob who became quite angry and said, "You are jolly lucky we are here at all. We were knocked into a ditch by a lorry and are cold and soaking wet and could easily have gone straight home."

Mr Bell immediately became very solicitous. He phoned one of the Boarding Houses and sent us over to McNab House. She sat us down in front of a lovely fire, produced hot cocoa, and dry clothes for Bob. I had to wait while my own dried out but she lent me her own wellingtons. We missed two periods in the morning and of course had to leave early in the afternoon to return our borrowed clothes, so all in all it turned out a pleasant day in the end! And I even then admired and respected Mr Bell for his immediate acceptance of our explanation.

 But it was not always summer and there were long hard winters' evenings when we huddled round the fire trying to keep warm. There was no television but we listened to the wireless, played cards or board games and, when absolutely necessary, did our homework. One winter's evening in 1936 it was very cold and snowing heavily outside and inside we were sitting in the dining room in front of the fire listening to the radio announcement of King George V's illness when there was a loud hammering on the front door, followed by excited voices. It was a neighbour of the Dorwards who had struggled through the deep snow for over « mile asking us to phone for the doctor as Mrs Dorward had been injured. As it happened the phone lines were down and the roads impassable so it was only later we heard the full story.
 

The snow had been falling thick and fast when she went out in the dark to open the gates for the 6.15 train. As soon as she got one gate clear the other one had stuck in the drifts. She was clearing the snow frantically and did not hear the train approaching. The weight of snow had moved the signal to 'Go' and the train crashed through the gates just missing her, but a piece of gate hit her on the back of the head and her foot was badly injured. Shortly after, a knock came on her door and who should it be but the doctor asking her for help! His car was stuck in the snow about 100 yards away. Later that night the old King died.

Tullibole Crossing Gates - Scene of Accident

The main source on the Devon Valley Railway is the Dollar Museum who have a permanent display on this railway at:

 Dollar Museum,
1 Castle Road,
Dollar.
FK14 7BE

Opening Hours. Easter to Christmas. Sat 11.00 to 4.30 Sun 2.00 to 4.30.

Books:

 The Annals of Kinross-shire

Fogotten Railways SCOTLAND by John Thomas.

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