Oakley Railway Path

When the bitter year-long miners strike broke out in 1984, Fife only had half a dozen deep coal mines still in operation. The industry had been scaled back in previous decades but nevertheless remained a major employer within the Kingdom. I vividly recall seeing pit buses pass by as I made my way to school. It must have been a massive economic blow to the village of Oakley and surrounding settlements when Comrie Colliery shut its doors in 1986. It had been regarded as a modern mining operation with enhanced production techniques upon opening in 1939. A washery and smokeless fuel plant formed part of the complex and an aerial ropeway carried waste to the spoil heaps, known locally as bings. Almost 500 men were employed at the time of closure.

A branch railway linked the pithead to the trunk route that ran between Dunfermline Upper and Stirling. This corridor closed to passengers in 1968 and through freight services ceased in 1979. Coal traffic between Comrie and Dunfermline continued to run until the mine's closure. The old main line was converted to a tarmac cycleway in the 1990s and the mineral connection from Oakley Station became a surfaced footpath as far as the the A907 road, where a level crossing was situated. A roadside pub called the White Gates gives a clue to the previous intersection of highway and railway at this point. After closure of the pit line, a section of trackbed was turned into a beer garden adjacent to the hostelry. The remainder of the old railway route was cleaned up in recent years by the West Fife Woodlands Group and is now a recognised public footpath. I proceeded up a flight of steps in the White Gates car-park and almost immediately met the Rainbow Bridge - a newly constructed timber footway across the Blair Burn. The original railway structure is long gone and the site has been set up as a pet memorial space. Dozens of objects have been placed by visitors to commemorate lost animals. Mainly dogs, but I spotted a few dedications to departed kitties, plus the odd rabbit and guinea pig. From here, I simply followed the uphill gradient of the old line through the countryside for the next mile, passing through a shallow cutting before emerging into open territory. The railway was built in Victorian times to serve local pits on the other side of the Saline Road. These operations had already closed when plans for the state of the art Comrie Colliery were unveiled in 1935. The original branch line was revitalised and a new alignment pushed north towards the modern mine. Meanwhile Oakley Station was extended to house exchange sidings for the anticipated large volumes of coal. I walked past the point where the old trackbed curved away to my right, now heavily overgrown. The path reached the former National Coal Board boundary and at this point a diversion cuts through a field and links up with woodland walks towards Saline. Access to the actual pit site is barred as the land is currently undergoing redevelopment work. Over the low gate, I could clearly see the train maintenance shed in the distance. It survived demolition and was later used for agricultural purposes.