Rosyth Dockyard

Location type

Station

Name and dates

Rosyth Dockyard (1915-1988)

Station code: RYK National Rail
Opened on the Rosyth Dockyard Branch (North British Railway).

Description

This was an island platform station with a narrow platform. The platform has been removed but the seldom used railway remains. The station and line served the HM Rosyth Dockyard.

The location for the base may have been influenced by the nearby supply of coal from the Fife coalfield, eg from Valleyfield Colliery.

A station opened here for the large Rosyth naval base. Construction of this had begun in 1909 and a signal box was opened in 1912 at Naval Base Junction, south of Inverkeithing, for the new single track railway which approached the base from the east. This was originally laid to follow the shoreline but as land reclamation created a new large area for the dockyard and its possible expansion the line was relaid on a more direct course. (Rosyth Castle which had been on an offshore island was now within the base and Du Craig, an offshore rock, became the southern breakwater.) The junction between the original route and new line was Limpetness Junction (box opened 1916).

The station opened in 1915.

The first dry dock at the base opened in 1916. The layout of the base is a large square canting basin at the west end, with dry docks in the north. The basin is accessed through locks. To the east are wet docks, accessed from the south. A long quayside runs east from the docks to south of Rosyth Castle.

The station was at the east end of the dockyard. The signal box, to the east and dating from 1917, survives and is 'B' listed. Lines fanned out at the east end of the station to approach the various quaysides. The railway continued beyond the station to serve further quaysides and docks. The railway was doubled in 1918.

In 1917 Rosyth Halt opened to the north of the dockyard and new housing at Rosyth.

The Dunfermline and District Tramways tramway was extended to Rosyth in 1918, closing in 1937.

The signal box closed in 1923, the site being operated as a yard. The box was re-opened in 1941.

to the east of the dockyard a large tank farm Rosyth Tank Farm and Castlekey Fuel Storage Bunker were laid out to the north of the railway as far east as the former Limpet Ness. the site was railway served from Limpetness Junction
In 1974 the line was singled from Limpetness Junction.

A regular unadvertised passenger service ran to Rosyth Dockyard until 1988.

The box still stands, surrounded by a security fence.

Sidings have been considerably cut back but the line remains in place. A shed has been erected over the line to the west of the box.

Tags

Terminus station

External links

Canmore site record
NLS Collection OS map of 1892-1914
NLS Collection OS map of 1944-67
NLS Map




Nearby stations
Rosyth
Inverkeithing [1st]
Inverkeithing
North Queensferry [1st]
North Queensferry
Port Edgar
Charlestown
South Queensferry [1st]
Dalgety Bay
South Queensferry Halt
Charlestown [1st]
Dunfermline Nethertown [2nd]
New Halls
Dunfermline City
Dunfermline (Comely Park)
Castlekey Fuel Storage Bunker
Rosyth Dockyard [Tram]
Rosyth Tank Farm
Exchange Yard
Limpetness Junction
Ferry Toll Tunnel
Ferrytoll Bus Park and Ride
Jamestown Viaduct [Inverkeithing]
Naval Base Junction
Limpetness Loop
Providence Siding
Inverkeithing Shipbreaking Yard
Castlandhill Siding
Tourist/other
Ferrytoll Pier
Ferryhills Signal Box
Location names in dark blue are on the same original line.


Chronology Dates

  /  /1904Rosyth Dockyard Branch
North British Railway branch authorised to the new under construction naval Rosyth Dockyard. (Facilities extended to the Caledonian Railway.)
  /  /1912Rosyth Dockyard Branch
Naval Base Junction signal box opened, the junction for the branch to the under development Rosyth Dockyard.
01/07/1915Rosyth Dockyard Branch
Rosyth Dockyard station opened.
  /  /1918Rosyth Dockyard Branch
Four passenger trains a day ran from Edinburgh to Rosyth Dockyard.
  /  /1919PS Lady Rowena
During the Great War is used as a tender for the fleet at Rosyth Dockyard and naval hospital carrier.
  /  /1926Alloa Shipbreaking Co Ltd
After gaining the work from Cox to break the scuttled German fleet more capacity is required. Buys Rosyth Shipbreaking Co which leases a portion of the Rosyth Dockyard. Vessels are broken up on shore and in the dry docks.
  /  /1929Metal Industries Ltd
Alloa Shipbreaking Co Ltd changes its name to Metal Industries Ltd. (Sites include rented space at the Rosyth Dockyard.)
  /  /1934Scapa Flow
Bayern raised and scrapped by Metal Industries Ltd at the Rosyth Dockyard.
  /  /1935Scapa Flow
König Albert raised and scrapped by Metal Industries Ltd at the Rosyth Dockyard.
  /07/1935Rosyth Dockyard
RMS Mauretania scrapped by Metal Industries Ltd at the Rosyth Dockyard.
  /  /1936Scapa Flow
Kaiserin raised and scrapped by Metal Industries Ltd at the Rosyth Dockyard.
  /  /1937Scapa Flow
Friedrich der Grosse raised and scrapped by Metal Industries Ltd at the Rosyth Dockyard.
  /  /1938Scapa Flow
Grosser Kurfurst raised and scrapped by Metal Industries Ltd at the Rosyth Dockyard.
  /  /1938Rosyth Dockyard
Leviathan broken up by Metal Industries Ltd at the Rosyth Dockyard.
  /  /1946Metal Industries (Salvage) Ltd
Leases Faslane Port for twenty years as a shipbreaking site. (The Rosyth Dockyard scrapyard site was still in naval use.)
07/07/1957Rosyth Dockyard Branch
Special to Rosyth Dockyard from Cardenden on Navy Day.
17/07/1959Rosyth Dockyard Branch
Special to Rosyth Dockyard from Edinburgh on Navy Day.
10/06/1962Rosyth Dockyard Branch
Special to Rosyth Dockyard from Edinburgh on Navy Day.
16/06/1984Rosyth Dockyard Branch
107 444 with the Tay Forth Venturer visits Rosyth Dockyard on Navy Day.
24/11/1989Rosyth Dockyard Branch
Last regular Kirkcaldy to Rosyth Dockyard shuttle train runs. These ran on weekdays leaving Kirkcaldy at 0640 arriving at 0713 and an evening service returned to Kirkcaldy leaving the dockyard at 1638 (1538 on Fridays).
  /03/1990Rosyth Dockyard Branch (North British Railway)
Dunfermline and Queensferry Railway
Rosyth Dockyard to Inverkeithing South Junction (excluded) closed. (But would re-open.)
  /  /1993Rosyth Dockyard Branch
Babcock Rail undertakes conversion of 22 Class 158s to Class 159 at the Rosyth Dockyard.
  /01/1997Rosyth Dockyard
Rosyth Dockyard purchased by Babcock International. The eastern part of the site is rebuilt as port facilities which are operated by Forth Ports.
07/07/2008Rosyth Dockyard Branch
Rosyth Dockyard signal box closed.
  /  /2009Rosyth Dockyard Branch
Babcock Rail refurbishes Class 170s at the Rosyth Dockyard in early 2009.

News items

02/06/2023Fife: Rail link could be reinstated for Rosyth freeport [Dunfermline Press]
23/09/2021Construction work starts on new Type 31 warships [BBC News]
02/09/2020Babcock Rosyth secures four-year Serco ferry contract [Dunfermline Press]

Books


Edinburgh To Inverkeithing.: including The Port Edgar, North Queensferry And Rosyth Dockyard Branches. (Scottish Main Lines.)