Stenlake Publishing - The Leven & East of Fife Railway
The Leven and East of Fife Railway
Author : Andrew Hajducki, Mike Jodeluk & Alan Simpson ISBN : 9780853617280 Cover : paperback Price : £19.95
This book recounts the history of the railway that once served the northern shores of the Firth of Forth and for a century or more faithfully carried coal, fish, farmers and tourists along the 20 or so miles of line between Thornton Junction and Anstruther. Built in stages, the Leven & East of Fife Railway started life as a locally promoted link between the Edinburgh, Perth and Dundee main line and the expanding town of Leven and, within time, to the beautiful fishing ports and seaside villages of the East Neuk. Having fallen out with its larger neighbour the Leven Railway was forced, at short notice, to find its own locomotives and second-hand carriages to operate its trains and it did so successfully for a generation until, in 1877, it was acquired by the North British Railway. From then on it enjoyed a golden heyday that lasted until the war after which nationalisation, the decline in coal, the desertion of the herring shoals and the increasing competition from road traffic brought this to an abrupt end.
With the present authors’ two previous volumes, The St Andrews Railway and The Anstruther & St Andrews Railway, their trilogy dealing with the Fife coastal railway line from Leuchars and Thornton is now complete. In compiling all three books the authors have endeavoured to give as full a picture as they can of the social, financial and historical context of this interesting line.