Fife Heritage Railway

Much fanfare surrounded the return of passenger services to Leven last year. The Fife coastal town lost its railway station in 1969, although the seafront power station received freight deliveries until the turn of the century. The double-track line then rusted away for years before being slated for reopening. But train whistles could occasionally be heard in Kirkton Yard, an old marshalling facility next to the inactive route. Fife Heritage Railway - then known as the Kingdom of Fife Railway Preservation Society - acquired the premises in 2001 and began transforming the place into a working railway, initially with diesel stock.

The organisation was formed from the ashes of the Lochty Private Railway - a preservation project that ran between 1967 and 1992, further north in the county on a portion of a former freight link. Lochty even housed the legendary streamlined Union of South Africa locomotive for the first six years of operation! Owner John Cameron (born 1939) was a local farmer and steam enthusiast, who later became chairman of both ScotRail and the National Farmers Union. Fife Heritage Railway has continued to grow since the public were first admitted to the Leven site in 2008. The complex now boasts half a mile of usable track, along with a maintenance depot and canvas covered storage sheds. I went along to a one-off Doors Open Day event and immediately noted the progress made since I'd last visited with my dad, around ten years previously. A tarmac access road and car-park now serve the site, part of a deal worked out with Network Rail, who used the heritage infrastructure to store equipment during the reopening works. Within the compound, new platforms have been built and steam services have been in operation since 2016. Regular running days take place between April and October on the last Sunday in the month, with additional Santa Specials towards the end of the year. Around 4000 people visit each year. Guided tours behind the scenes were on offer today. No services were scheduled but I was able to enter carriages and generally explore the entire site, with volunteers on hand to answer questions and show you around. Not all the rolling stock is rail-worthy and staff have the never-ending job of attempting to bring coaches and locos up to standard. A main reason for including the railway in the Doors Open programme was to raise awareness of the campaign to open a museum. The proposal is costed at £480,000 and three quarters of that sum is available as a government regeneration grant. The challenge for the society is to bridge the funding gap and enable the conversion of the temporary Network Rail office block by the car-park into a permanent exhibition space and café. Shared community facilities also form part of the plans. The new complex would also function as the main halt for the heritage trains, with a triangular pattern of three on-site stations envisaged. The Levenmouth area has a rich industrial history and cargo was exported all over the world from Methil Docks. A museum illustrating this tale would be an exciting development and help breathe life into a community that has long been classed as an area of economic deprivation.

The new railway link to Kirkcaldy and Edinburgh is already doing a good job of putting the town back on the map, both literally and figuratively. Until 1967, you could travel right round the East Neuk of Fife by rail but this was reduced to two end stubs serving Leven and St Andrews, an arrangement swept away just two years later. One can only imagine the popularity of a scenic coastal ride around the Kingdom today. The picturesque fishing villages dotted around the Fife coast attract hordes of visitors all year round. Following the withdrawal of passenger services, the retention of coal traffic to Methil Power Station (and the subsequent mothballing of the line) made the reopening process relatively straightforward, as the basic infrastructure remained in place. A campaign to restore the St Andrews link at the other end of the old loop is bravely battling on. The new Leven Station sits on the branch alignment to the power station. The principal tracks through the town (and beyond) were removed decades ago. Nevertheless, the current terminus offers an ideal location as the bus station, High Street, leisure centre and promenade are all just a short walk away. There was talk of integrating the heritage project with the new transport corridor, but that would have entailed considerable expense and signalling arrangements. Kirkton Yard is now a physically separate entity. A very worthy project and I wish them the best of luck.