The night they closed countless Fife Train stations

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the closure of the Sinclairtown and Dysart railway stations.
Colin Cant.Colin Cant.
Colin Cant.

The two stations that were located in Kirkcaldy, among others in Fife, were closed for the last time on October 6, 1969.

Both stations, along with Kirkcaldy station, were opened on September 20, 1847, and were part of the Edinburgh and Northern Railway, before being reincorporated as the Edinburgh, Perth and Dundee Railway in April 1849 as part of a financial reconstruction.

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In the 1950s and 60s, the British railway system was losing £100 million a year and was in drastic need of modernisation.

The last ticket.The last ticket.
The last ticket.

Dr Richard Beeching, a businessman and economist, was brought in by British Railways to try to stem the losses and plan for the future of rail as part of a national transport system.

By 1963 the Beeching report had been published, 2363 stations and 5000 miles of track were earmarked for closure across the United Kingdom.

Many lines that were named in the report were saved from the axe, but dozens in Fife were shut for good.

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The last ticket.The last ticket.
The last ticket.
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Dr Beeching has long been criticised for the brutal manner in which he shut down a third of the country’s 7000 stations and thousands of miles of track, isolating communities in some of the most rural parts of the country.

Last train out of Sinclairtown station.Last train out of Sinclairtown station.
Last train out of Sinclairtown station.

Colin Cant (68), a lifelong train enthusiast from Kirkcaldy was one of the last passengers on the Edinburgh-Dundee line.

He contacted the Fife Free Press after we recently issued an appeal online to track down the last passengers to hear their memories of the long-missed service.

Colin said: “My dad was an engine fitter with the railway, and my mum was a locomotive examiner, so the railway and trains are in my blood.

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“One of my very first memories as a wee boy is getting lifted up by the milkman onto his horse and cart, his name was Donald Brown, and his horse was called Molly.

“We went all the way down to the station at Thornton where he left me with the ladies at the booking stall.

“I was there all day with them.

“I can remember my dad came down to the station to drag me up the road kicking and screaming to get my tea.

“I spent all my youth down at Thornton Station watching the steam engines, and then going to the railway sheds to meet my dad, where I would get to climb on the engines.”

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When Colin found out that Thornton, Sinclairtown and Dysart stations were closing, he thought that it was an opportunity that he daren’t miss.

He said: “It was at these stations where I did all my train spotting, and when they were closing all these stations in one night, you could not do it.

“My friends and I got the train from Thornton to Cameron Bridge, then on to Leven.

“We had a couple of pints in Leven and then on to Sinclairtown, then Dysart where we got the train back to Thornton.

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“I bought the last ticket at Sinclairtown to Dysart, and when we got to Dysart the railman wasn’t selling anymore tickets, so I got the journey back to Thornton for free.”

Colin marked the occasion by wearing his dad’s bowler hat, that usually only came out for funerals.

He said: “I had to persuade my dad to let me take it, he only ever wore it at funerals.

“ I thought that it would be a symbolic gesture to wear it to the closure of the stations. There were a few of the other passengers commenting on my hat, but it didn’t bother me as I was pretty gallus back then.”

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The last train to stop at Sinclairtown and Dysart stations on October 5, 1969, was the 11.20pm Edinburgh-Dundee which arrived at Sinclairtown bang on schedule at seven minutes past midnight.

Joining Colin on the service with their souvenir tickets to Dysart were 16-year-old junior technician Jim Neilson, Jim Kirk of Coaltown of Balgonie, James Prentice, then 23 of Dysart, and Kenneth Bryan, aged 18 from Burntisland.

When the passengers had boarded the train and continued down the line, the two stations were locked up for the last time.

This task was performed at Sinclairtown by railman Michael Riddle (20).