REVIEW OF THE MONTH
Scotland’s Lost Branch Lines
David Spaven Birlinn Publishing, West Newington House, 10 Newington Road Edinburgh EH9 1QS. Tel: 0845 370 0067. Web: www.birlinn.co.uk Email:customerservice@booksource.net
Description: Hardback, 308mm x 215mm, 298pp
ISBN: 9781839830198. Price £30.00
The closure of the 22-mile double-track main line linking Edinburgh with Perth in 1970, simply to build the new M90 motorway, has to be regarded as one of the most scandalous abuses of railway policy in the latter half of the 20th century.
Would it happen today? Caving into powerful road planners in sacrificing the direct route from Cowdenbeath to Bridge of Earn via Kinross and Glenfarg - where GWR 2-8-0 No. 2804 was tested out in 1921 on six miles including a stretch of 1in74 - is still being felt because the rail route between the two cities has been extended from 48 miles to
