About
The Fife Heritage Railway Story
About the Fife Heritage Railway
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The Fife Heritage Railway (FHR) (the trading name of The Kingdom of Fife Railway Preservation Society (KFRPS)) was established over 30 years ago and has evolved steadily ever since, tracing its origins to the Lochty Private Railway. In 2001 the Railway moved to its current site at Kirkland Yard in Leven.
At its Kirkland site the Society operates and maintains the preserved railway items formerly used on the Lochty Railway, which have been safeguarded and added to. The Society also keeps and gathers historical information about the railways in Fife and beyond. All of this is accessible to the public for their learning and enjoyment, either through visiting our website or Kirkland Yard.
The FHR collects, safeguards and makes accessible its collection of railway locos, rolling stock, artefacts and other items, whilst operating a heritage railway. The Society has constructed a number of sidings, a well-equipped workshop (the Colin Munro Shed), a restoration shed and operates a half mile running line, with plans to double this. Carriages, goods wagons and locomotives are restored in the Restoration Shed and work is underway on constructing a new Conservation Building/Exhibition Hall, which will become a centrepiece for visitors to Kirkland.
The new building will provide facilities for public display, train restoration and storage. It is part of the wider vision for FHR, including the use of the former Network Rail offices used for the reinstatement of the Levenmouth Rail link to bring other partners into the area. The Conservation Building will not only enhance visitor facilities and quality as a ‘must see’ attraction, but will also provide opportunities for local volunteering, tackling skills gaps, developing young people, and providing opportunities for all ages and abilities for leisure and social interaction.
The FHR has been awarded 2-star rating by Visit Scotland and is a major visitor attraction in Fife. The FHR works closely with the Scottish Railway Preservation Society (SRPS) and the Museum of Scottish Railways to help preserve Scotland's railway heritage.
Genesis of the Fife Heritage Railway
In May 1992 the Lochty Private Railway (LPR) closed its doors. Lochty had run successfully from 1967 as a museum and private railway using the last mile of trackbed of the former East Fife Central Railway. This 14-mile mineral line branched off from a junction just west of Kirkland Yard and was the longest goods-only line in the country. The line opened for goods and mineral traffic on 21 August 1898. The goods stations on the line were Kennoway, Montrave, Largoward and Lochty. The last service train ran on the line on 8 August 1964.
The A4 Pacific “Union of South Africa” spent her first six years in preservation on the LPR. The rolling stock at Lochty was owned by the group of volunteers known as the Fife Railway Preservation Group. The group then became incorporated as The Kingdom of Fife Railway Preservation Society (KFRPS). However, we now use the operating name of “Fife Heritage Railway” which is easier to find on signage and Google Maps.
The closing of Lochty meant that KFPRS was left with nowhere to store or run their rolling stock. Helpfully, the management at the former Methil Power Station came to an agreement to accept storage of the stock and the task of locating a piece of land suitable for our needs began in earnest. A variety of locations were surveyed for housing the collection, including Crail Aerodrome, Lochore Meadows, Bowhill Colliery, and even the disused railway station at Kilconquhar.
Move to Kirkland Yard
In 2001 Kirkland Yard was acquired and extensive work on site landscaping and track laying began.
This large yard was associated with the expansion of the docks at Methil in 1912, particularly the opening of Methil Dock No 3 and the expansion of the lines between the former Leven Railway and the Methil docks.
By the time the FHR took over the site, the Yard had been reduced to a single line. By 2003 the former marshalling yard was ready to become Kirkland Yard and the stock at Methil Power Station could finally come “home”. Track was obtained from the nearby Bawbee Bridge-Methil Docks section along with some from Methil Docks and Markinch Goods Yard. Extra track was obtained from the former Lammerlaws Yard at Burntisland in 2005.
In 2008 the doors were opened to the public for the first time. Our normal procedure is to encourage visitors on Saturdays and Tuesdays to view work on the various projects, and to have Running Days on the last Sunday of the month from April-October. There are also Santa Specials in December with passenger rides on the train, hauled by steam or diesel locomotives. Themed days – Easter Bunny, Car Rally, Bus Bundle, Halloween and others – are run as an extra feature of some Running Days.
Restoration Projects
Thanks to the hard work of our volunteers, grants from various sources and ongoing fundraising efforts, work has continued throughout the years and Kirkland Yard now boasts a half mile of track (soon to be doubled in length), a 2-road engine shed/workshop, and a good quantity of sidings. We have recently erected a 2-road Restoration Shed, which now houses three of our restoration projects (DMU, PAL van and the GUV). This gives us a new facility to work on restoration projects under cover.
A major project undertaken was the restoration of Andrew Barclay 0-4-0ST No 10, named “Forth”. Built in 1926 and used at Granton Gas Works in Edinburgh, the locomotive was fully restored by volunteers and brought back into steam in 2016. A further overhaul was completed more recently in 2023, since when “Forth” has again been used to pull passenger coaches on Running Days.
Looking Ahead
We have ambitions to develop Kirkland further to transform it into a ‘must see’ visitor attraction. The FHR has been awarded a £360k grant from the Levenmouth Reconnected Programme (LRP) to help fund a new conservation building, which will become a centrepiece. The project will see the installation of a new steel framed and clad building on the site at Kirkland for public display, train restoration and storage. It is part of the wider vision for FHR, including the use of the former Network Rail offices to bring other partners into the area. The new building will not only enhance visitor facilities and the quality of the destination but will also provide opportunities for local volunteering, tackling skills gaps, developing young people, and providing opportunities for all ages and abilities for leisure and social interaction.
This is a game-changing grant for us and will enable the construction of a building to house our restored railway stock items to conserve our collection whilst allowing us to display our railway vehicles for the public to enjoy and learn more about the heritage of Fife and Levenmouth railways. Maintenance time will be reduced significantly by keeping the stock under cover, as will the constant work and repair due to weather damage. This will allow our volunteers to focus more on a wider variety of projects and make greater progress with preservation. The security of our collection will also be much improved along with the safety of our volunteers by providing them with a better working environment.
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Colin, a 15-year old local lad from Kennoway, was an enthusiastic member of the FHR in whose memory the workshop was officially named at a ceremony in 2004 to act as a lasting memorial. Colin, the only son of Ronnie and Ann Munro, died tragically in a serious road accident on 25 September 1996. It would later transpire that Colin, a keen cyclist, had been the victim of a drink-driver, subsequently jailed for eight years at the High Court in Edinburgh after being found guilty of causing the death of the schoolboy.