page_title: Fife Coast Railway
section_title: Opening: from Anstruther to Boarhill at first
hierarchical_section_title: Fife Coast Railway / History / Opening: from Anstruther to Boarhill at first
caption_attribution_description: English: "Glenfinnan" leaving Largo on Fife Coast Railway Line
context_page_description: The Fife Coast Railway was a railway line running round the southern and eastern part of Fife, in Scotland. It was built in stages by four railway companies:
  the Leven Railway opened the section from a junction at Thornton on the Edinburgh and Northern Railway main line to Leven in 1854, serving textile mills and a distillery. In 1857 the company extended eastwards to Kilconquhar;
  the East of Fife Railway built the line from Leven to Kilconquhar, opening in 1857;
  the Leven and East of Fife Railway was created in 1861 by an amalgamation of the first two companies. It opened the line to Anstruther in 1863;
  finally the Anstruther and St Andrews Railway completed the line from Anstruther to St Andrews in 1887.
  St Andrews itself had already been reached from Leuchars in 1852 by The St. Andrews Railway.
  As well as the textile industries, the line served fishing and agriculture, and an important passenger traffic built up. The lines had been engineered by Thomas Bouch and some difficulties were experienced with inadequately specified technical equipment.
context_section_description: A rudimentary goods train service had already been started, on 1 May 1883, between Anstruther and Crail, following pressure from local farmers. The line as far as Boarhills was pressed forward and in August 1883 Major Marindin of the Board of Trade inspected the line. Marindin gave a positive report, although some details required to be resolved; in particular it was intended to detach coaches at Anstruther off trains for Boarhills, and there was no accommodation to do so at the new Anstruther station. (The old Anstruther station would be on a spur from the new line, and was to become a goods station.)
  The line was single with a passing loop at Kingsbarns (although for the time being the line was to be worked on the one-engine-in-steam principle). Stations were at Anstruther, Crail, Kingsbarns and Boarhills. The steepest gradient was 1 in 60. Accordingly, the line opened for passenger traffic as far as Boarhills on 1 September 1883.
  There were five passenger trains daily except Sundays, and they ran from Pittenweem on the Leven and East of Fife line to Boarhills, calling at Anstruther new station on the way. The coaches of the trains ran through from Leven and were detached at Pittenweem, the Leven train continuing to Anstruther old station. The arrangement worked in reverse in the other direction, being necessitated by the absence of a loop of other track connections at Anstruther on the St Andrews line. In fact, as required by Major Marindin, a loop there was constructed, and was operational at the end of December 1883. The Leven passenger trains diverted there from then onwards and the East of Fife station at Anstruther became a goods station only. The first train of the day was mixed, passenger and goods. There were three road coach journeys daily connecting Boarhills and St Andrews.
caption: Glen Class D 30 "Glen Douglas" at Mount Melville with a railtour in 1960
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