Townhill Junction
Location type
JunctionName and dates
Townhill Junction (1866-1993)Station code: National Rail
Opened on the Dunfermline Branch (Edinburgh and Northern Railway).
Opened on the West of Fife Railway and Harbour.
Opened on the West of Fife Mineral Railway.
Description
The 1866 West of Fife Railway and Harbour, for Charlestown, met the 1849 Dunfermline Branch (Edinburgh and Northern Railway) at this junction. The location was just west of the Townhill Tramway route and Halbeath. Approach to the Charlestown line was from the east, the line running south west. The Dunfermline and Queensferry to the line to North Queensferry [1st] in 1877.
In 1880 another junction opened just to the east, for a connection which ran north to meet the West of Fife Mineral Railway. The line served the area formerly served by the Townhill Waggonway. Approach to the later line was from the west and the route ran north. A signal box opened on the north side of the junction.
Townhill Yard developed to the east of the junctions, looped sidings on the north side and dead end sidings to the south, approached from the west.
The Townhill Wagon Shops opened to the south of the yard, a little to the east. It was approached from the west, the junction. Additional yard sidings were added to the north side of the yard, approached from the east. There were headshunts for the yard and works to the west of the junction, those to the north for the looped sidings had a weighbridge.
In 1968 the line west to Dunfermline Upper, Oakley and Stirling closed to passengers. It was singled in 1973.
The line north, latterly for Townhill Power Station, closed in 1976. The workshops closed in 1980 and the yard cut back.
The signal box closed in 1981, taken over by the Edinburgh Signalling Centre.
The Stirling route was closed as a through route and cut back to Oakley, for Comrie Colliery, in 1982. It was cut back to Townhill in 1993 with just a short length left in place at the junction. This was lifted when Dunfermline Queen Margaret was opened in 2005.
Townhill Yard, now rather minimal, still exists. There are two loops on the north side of the line and one to the south.
Nearby was an earlier Townhill Junction where the Townhill Waggonway met the Halbeath Railway at Guttergates in 1841.
Tags
Junction10/06/2019
| Nearby stations Dunfermline Queen Margaret Halbeath Dunfermline (Comely Park) Dunfermline Upper Dunfermline City Crossgates (Fife) Dunfermline Nethertown [2nd] Dunfermline [1st] Rosyth Dalgety Bay Inverkeithing Cowdenbeath (Old) Donibristle Platform Cowdenbeath Inverkeithing [1st] | Mine Townhill Yard Townhill Wagon Shops Quarry Touch South Junction Touch North Junction Appin Fire Clay Works Appin Fire Clay Siding Muircockhall Colliery Cuttlehill Colliery Big Mine Lochside Siding Lochside Coal and fire Clay Works Townhill Colliery Crawford Pit Tourist/other Halbeath House |
| Location names in dark blue are on the same original line. | |
Chronology Dates
| / /1866 | West of Fife Railway and Harbour Elbowend Junction [1st] to Townhill Junction opened, linking the Charlestown Railway to the West of Fife Mineral Railway. (Allowing the Pittencrieff Incline to close?) |
| / /1880 | West of Fife Railway and Harbour Townhill Waggonway Townhill Junction to Lilliehill Junction opened by North British Railway, providing a second route to Dunfermline. The route used part of the former Townhill Waggonway. |
| 06/05/1968 | Stirling and Dunfermline Railway Dunfermline; Townhill Junction to Touch North Junction closed to passengers. |
| / /1976 | West of Fife Railway and Harbour Townhill Power Station [2nd] to Lilliehill Junction to Townhill Junction closed. |
| / /1984 | Stirling and Dunfermline Railway Dunfermline Branch (Edinburgh and Northern Railway) Comrie Colliery to Oakley to Dunfermline Upper closed. Dunfermline Upper to Townhill Junction closed. |
