Birkhill railway station is a

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a prep ...

on the

Bo'ness and Kinneil Railway The Bo’ness and Kinneil Railway is a heritage railway in Bo'ness, Scotland. It is operated by the Scottish Railway Preservation Society (SRPS), and operates a total of over of track (between Bo'ness and Manuel Junction, via Kinneil and Birkh ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

, equidistant from Grangemouth,

Bo'ness Borrowstounness (commonly known as Bo'ness ( )) is a town and former burgh and seaport on the south bank of the Firth of Forth in the Central Lowlands of Scotland. Historically part of the county of West Lothian, it is a place within the Fal ...

Linlithgow Linlithgow (; gd, Gleann Iucha, sco, Lithgae) is a town in West Lothian, Scotland. It was historically West Lothian's county town, reflected in the county's historical name of Linlithgowshire. An ancient town, it lies in the Central Belt on a ...

and

Polmont Polmont ( gd, Poll-Mhonadh) is a village in the Falkirk council area of Central Scotland. It lies towards the east of the town of Falkirk, north of the Union Canal, which runs adjacent to the village. Due to its situation in Central Scotland, ...

. There was no station here until the

Scottish Railway Preservation Society The Scottish Railway Preservation Society is a charity, whose principal objective is the preservation and advancement of railway heritage in Scotland. The society's headquarters is at Bo'ness Borrowstounness (commonly known as Bo'ness ( )) i ...

took over the branch line. The parts of the building were recovered from

Monifieth railway station Monifieth railway station serves the town of Monifieth near Dundee, Scotland. It is sited from the former Dundee East railway station, Dundee East station, on the Dundee–Aberdeen line, Dundee to Aberdeen line, between Balmossie railway station, ...

and were originally rebuilt in 1988 by Central Regional Council as their display at the

Glasgow Garden Festival The Glasgow Garden Festival was the third of the five national garden festivals, and the only one to take place in Scotland. It was held in Glasgow between 26 April and 26 September 1988. It was the first event of its type to be held in the cit ...

. When this closed the building was relocated to Birkhill. The summit of the line, located to the south of the station, was regraded and lowered to avoid the new platform being on an excessive gradient, and the station was opened to passengers in 1989. The station was the limit of regular train operations from Bo'ness until 2010 when the services were extended to Manuel. The adjacent Birkhill Fireclay Mine is in the Bo'ness area and an integral part of the town's history but the Fireclay mine closed in 2013. There is a station building. which houses a shop, a cafe, and the former access the Birkhill Fireclay Mine.

History

There was no station at Birkhill in its working days but there was a loop, just north of the present station, a water column and a short siding off to the clay mine.

Track layout

The track layout at Birkhill features a simple passing loop with two-lever

ground frame Mechanical railway signalling installations rely on lever frames for their operation to interlock the signals, track locks and points to allow the safe operation of trains in the area the signals control. Usually located in the signal box, th ...

s at either end to control the points. The single platform was recently extended along with track realignment to accommodate 7-coach trains. The construction of a

Caledonian Railway The Caledonian Railway (CR) was a major Scottish railway company. It was formed in the early 19th century with the objective of forming a link between English railways and Glasgow. It progressively extended its network and reached Edinburgh an ...

style signal box with as many as 20 levers, a water column for steam locomotives and a second platform has been proposed, however no date has been set for completion.

References

External links

Scottish Railway Preservation SocietyVideo footage of Birkhill railway station
{{end box Heritage railway stations in Falkirk (council area) Railway stations built for UK heritage railways Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1989 1989 establishments in Scotland