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Leslie Railway
All photographs of this railway in date order.
![Looking west from the cab of J38 no 65915 returning tender-first from Leslie to Markinch with the daily goods in the early 1960s [see image 23788]. The train is passing through the eastern part of Glenrothes. The earthworks in the right background carry the present day A92 and the houses of Laverock Avenue stand beyond. The Leslie branch was closed in 1967 and this part of the trackbed is now a footpath.<br><br>[Robin Barbour Collection (Courtesy Bruce McCartney) //]](/images/27000/27713.jpg "Auchmuty Junction")
![Prestonhall level crossing on the disused Auchmuty branch, since converted to a walkway. Undated photograph. <br><br>[David Panton //]](/images/27000/27920.jpg "Prestonhall level crossing")
![A freight arrives at Leslie in 1966.<br><br>[Robin Barbour Collection (Courtesy Bruce McCartney) //1966]](/images/18000/18107.jpg "Leslie")
![Thornton J38 no 65915 coming off the viaduct into Leslie with 6 mineral wagons in 1966. Although the station lost its passenger service as long ago as 1932, the branch remained open for freight traffic until 1967. Developments on the western edge of Glenrothes New Town can be seen in the background.<br><br>[Robin Barbour Collection (Courtesy Bruce McCartney) //1966]](/images/22000/22825.jpg "Leslie")
![The local pickup freight comes off the viaduct into Leslie sidings in 1966 behind Thornton J38 no 65915. Freight services to Leslie finally ceased in 1967.<br><br>[Robin Barbour Collection (Courtesy Bruce McCartney) //1966]](/images/23000/23020.jpg "Leslie")
![Thornton shed's J38 no 65915 shunting waggons off the Fettykill Paper Mill branch at Leslie east yard in 1966.<br><br>[Robin Barbour Collection (Courtesy Bruce McCartney) //1966]](/images/23000/23083.jpg "Leslie")
![The morning sun catches J38 no 65915 as it prepares to leave Leslie in 1966 with a rake of empty wagons for Thornton yard via Markinch. [See image 27713] <br><br>[Robin Barbour Collection (Courtesy Bruce McCartney) //1966]](/images/23000/23788.jpg "Leslie")
![Having brought in a short freight from Thornton, J38 no 65915 shunts the yard at Leslie in the mid sixties. The branch finally closed to all traffic in 1967 and the impressive Leslie viaduct (off picture to the right ) is now part of a walkway [See image 3993]<br>
<br><br>[Robin Barbour Collection (Courtesy Bruce McCartney) //1966]](/images/24000/24804.jpg "Leslie")
![Shunting the Fettykill Paper Mill branch at Leslie in 1966. J38 no 65915 of Thornton Junction shed doing the honours.<br><br>[Robin Barbour Collection (Courtesy Bruce McCartney) //1966]](/images/25000/25647.jpg "Leslie")
![J38 0-6-0 no 65915 shunting the yard at Leslie after bringing in the freight from Thornton in 1966. The Leslie branch closed to all traffic a year later.<br><br>[Robin Barbour Collection (Courtesy Bruce McCartney) //1966]](/images/31000/31932.jpg "Leslie")
![J38 no 65921 shunting at Leslie, Fife, in the mid sixties.<br><br>[Robin Barbour Collection (Courtesy Bruce McCartney) //1966]](/images/33000/33812.jpg "Leslie")
![Looking east at Leslie in 1966 along the line serving Fettykil Paper Mill, with the east sidings of Leslie goods yard at a slightly higher level on the left. The train approaching over Glenwood Road level crossing is the returning trip from the mill, in the hands of Thornton shed's J38 0-6-0 no 65915. Passenger services to Leslie had ceased in 1932 but the branch survived for goods traffic until 1967. [See image 24804] <br><br>[Robin Barbour Collection (Courtesy Bruce McCartney) //1966]](/images/62000/62756.jpg "Leslie")
![Looking west over the Sappi Graphics/Balbirnie Mill siding off the Tullis Russell branch which continues to the right. A cargowaggon peeps out from behind a building to the left. Rail services finished soon after this shot was taken in October 1984. The mills have since been demolished to make way for housing but the rails remain in the roadway in 2015. [Ref query 10268]<br><br>[Bill Roberton 28/10/1984]](/images/51000/51425.jpg "Balbirnie Mills")
![Prestonhall level crossing on the Auchmuty (Tullis Russell) branch in October 1984. Note the decrepit hut!<br><br>[Bill Roberton 28/10/1984]](/images/52000/52382.jpg "Prestonhall level crossing")
![08710 near Prestonhall level crossing on a cold January day in 1990 with the Thornton - Tullis Russell trip freight. [See image 39870]<br><br>[Bill Roberton 26/01/1990]](/images/39000/39844.jpg "Auchmuty Paper Mill")
![Attending to the gates at Prestonhall level crossing on 26 January 1990 as 08710 works the Thornton - Tullis Russell trip. [See image 39844]<br><br>[Bill Roberton 26/01/1990]](/images/39000/39870.jpg "Auchmuty Paper Mill")
![08761 nears the A92 bridge having just passed over Prestonhall level crossing with china clay for Tullis Russell. <br>
<br><br>[Bill Roberton //1991]](/images/62000/62918.jpg "Prestonhall level crossing")
![The Auchmuty branch in 1992 after the end of traffic. The Balbirnie Mills siding diverges to the left with the line to Tullis Russell veering right. Access with permission.<br><br>[Bill Roberton //1992]](/images/58000/58248.jpg "Balbirnie Mills")
![Looking west in 1993 from the Haig's sidings at Markinch, which branched off the Auchmuty/Leslie branch beyond the fence.<br>
<br>
<br><br>[Bill Roberton //1993]](/images/62000/62894.jpg "Markinch")
![The former coal discharge pit at Tullis Russell paper mill in 1993. Rail author and consultant David Spaven is looking into it ...<br>
<br><br>[Bill Roberton //1993]](/images/62000/62907.jpg "Auchmuty Paper Mill")
![Unilok 4-wheel shunter awaiting disposal at Tullis Russell paper mill in 1993. The rail service had finished the year before and the mill finally closed in 2015.<br>
<br><br>[Bill Roberton //1993]](/images/62000/62928.jpg "Auchmuty Paper Mill")
![The site of Leslie Station looking west in 1997. Much of the former railway land has now been given over to housing, although part of the old goods yard remains to the east [see image 4030]. <br><br>[Ewan Crawford //1997]](/images/42000/42850.jpg "Leslie")
![Looking towards the site of Leslie Station from the viaduct - May 2005.<br><br>[John Furnevel 01/05/2005]](/images/3000/3992.jpg "Leslie Viaduct")
![Leslie Viaduct from the south in May 2005 with the chimney of one of the last of the Leven Valley paper mills bisecting the central arch. <br><br>[John Furnevel 01/05/2005]](/images/3000/3993.jpg "Leslie Viaduct")
![View of the former Leslie east yard in May 2005. The Fettykill Paper Mill branch came in from the right. The site of Leslie station (closed to passengers in 1932) is out of shot to the left. [See image 23083]<br><br>[John Furnevel 01/05/2005]](/images/4000/4030.jpg "Leslie")
![Viaduct through a viaduct. Shortly after leaving the main line south of Markinch station, the Leslie branch crossed the Leven on a substantial viaduct, seen here in the centre background on 6 February 2007, looking west through one of the arches of Markinch Viaduct.<br><br>[John Furnevel 06/02/2007]](/images/13000/13518.jpg "Balbirnie Viaduct")
![Viaduct carrying the Leslie branch over the River Leven, February 2007.<br><br>[John Furnevel 06/02/2007]](/images/13000/13560.jpg "Balbirnie Viaduct")
![Long, long ago... before Glenrothes had been invented, the Leslie branch served various mills along the Leven valley. Remains of Prestonhall level crossing, just west of Markinch, in February 2007 looking along the trackbed of the short stub which served Auchmuty Paper Mill. The route is now a walkway. <br><br>[John Furnevel 15/02/2007]](/images/13000/13514.jpg "Prestonhall level crossing")
![Viaduct near Leslie former station, now a pedestrian pathway.<br><br>[Brian Forbes 24/05/2007]](/images/15000/15117.jpg "Leslie Viaduct")
![Bridge on the former line to Auchmuty off the Leslie branch passing under the A92 near Cadham. May 2007.<br><br>[David Panton 24/05/2007]](/images/15000/15820.jpg "Auchmuty Paper Mill")
![Part of the sidings off the Leslie branch that once served Haigs Markinch bottling plant, photographed on 31 March 2008.<br><br>[Bill Roberton 31/03/2008]](/images/18000/18697.jpg "Markinch")
![Trees are partly obscuring the River Leven Viaduct on the old single line branch to Leslie. This is a foot/cycle path these days.<br><br>[Brian Forbes 23/08/2008]](/images/20000/20370.jpg "Leslie Viaduct")
![Looking north up the 1 in 60 gradient to the summit of the branch on the western side of Glenrothes on 12 March. Almost the entire route has been adapted to a footpath, including two fine viaducts.<br><br>[Bill Roberton 12/03/2009]](/images/22000/22826.jpg "Leslie")
![Share certificate issued by The Leslie Railway in 1863. This particular certificate is made out to John Fergus and his partner Andrew Wylie who owned the Prinlaws flax mill at Leslie (a building demolished in the 1960s). The branch lost its passenger service in 1932 but continued to serve the various mills (latterly paper) along the Leven Valley until 1967. [See image 23083] <br><br>[Ian Dinmore 05/04/2009]](/images/27000/27054.jpg "Plates, signs and notices")
![The site of Prestonhall Level Crossing on the Auchmuty Paper Mill branch in Glenrothes photographed from the trackbed looking east on 27 October. Notice the rail still embedded in the road. The view is taken from behind the site of the decrepit gate pictured a few years ago at image 27920. This road here is in something of a backwater but it was once the main road north through Fife. <br><br>[David Panton 27/10/2010]](/images/31000/31326.jpg "Prestonhall level crossing")
![Although most of the Leslie branch runs through what is now Glenrothes, that town wasn't thought of even when the line closed to passengers in 1932, and unlike the other four Scottish New Towns simply had no existence before it was designated. The branch therefore wasn't troubled with intermediate stations, but it did have a junction at Auchmuty for the Paper Mill branch. That Branch lasted longer than the line to Leslie which closed completely in 1967 whereas the Paper Mill line survived until the 1980s. This was the site of the junction, looking west with Leslie to the left and the Paper Mill to the right. <br>
<br><br>[David Panton 29/01/2011]](/images/32000/32552.jpg "Auchmuty Junction")
![The Leslie branch remained open for goods until 1967, long enough for much of Glenrothes New Town to be built round it and for the line to be bridged (briefly) by new roads. This is the realigned A92 of the mid-1960s, seen here in January 2011. It is the same road and bridge seen (under construction?) in the background of an earlier Railscot photograph [see image 27713] though viewed from the other side. Laverock Avenue is therefore to my left. <br><br>[David Panton 29/01/2011]](/images/32000/32564.jpg "Auchmuty Junction")
![Base of an old signal post at Auchmuty Junction, Glenrothes, on the former Leslie branch. Photographed on 29 January 2011. [See image 32587]<br>
<br><br>[David Panton 29/01/2011]](/images/32000/32566.jpg "Auchmuty Junction")
![The Leslie branch had two substantial viaducts - this <br>
is Balbirnie, just to the west of Auchmuty Junction, itself not <br>
far from the main line at Markinch. It crosses the valley of the River Leven. Although there was a location called Rothes around here there is no river Rothes, and Fife has Dens rather than Glens. Denleven might therefore have been a more appropriate fabrication than Glenrothes, which it is said was chosen to suggest a romantic Highland location in order to attract American investment. <br><br>[David Panton 29/01/2011]](/images/32000/32574.jpg "Balbirnie Viaduct")
![This appears to have been the site of the signal box at Auchmuty <br>
Junction on the Leslie branch; there is certainly the remains of a <br>
signal post base nearby [see image 32566]. I would imagine that it was the quiet sort of box which was either a signalman's first posting or his last. The box would have become redundant on the closure of the line to Leslie in 1967 but rail traffic would continue to pass here on the way to to Auchmuty Paper Mill until 1991/2 (thanks to David Spaven for this information) and the rails remained in place into the 21st century. Photographed on 29 January 2011.<br><br>[David Panton 29/01/2011]](/images/32000/32587.jpg "Auchmuty Junction")
![Thomas Bouch's Cabbagehall viaduct at the Leslie end of the branch is more conspicuous, but the line also had a viaduct at Balbirnie near Auchmuty Junction at the Markinch end. Like most of the Leslie and Auchmuty branches this is now a walkway. I'm standing at the west end of the viaduct, looking towards Markinch on 29 January. One of Scotland's 3 River Levens passes below.<br><br>[David Panton 29/01/2011]](/images/32000/32597.jpg "Balbirnie Viaduct")
