Leven or bust!

Trains have now started running on the reopened Levenmouth branch in Fife, with the first public services advertised to start on Sunday the 2nd of June. And of course, I wanted to go for a bash on the reopened route. This presented a logistical challenge, as both my local routes to Haymarket from Bellshill via Shotts or from Motherwell via Carstairs were closed for engineering works, with replacement bus services substituting for trains. Not wanting to take the bus, I had to consider alternatives. I could go via the Falkirk High route, but that would mean either a trip into Glasgow to catch the train from Queen Street or driving all the way to Croy to use the park-and-ride. A handier alternative, and one that utilised another reopened line, was to travel via the Airdrie-Bathgate route from Coatbridge Sunnyside, so this is the option I chose. Having changed at Haymarket, I arrived at 1122 in sunny Leven and met up with SimOnTrains, Jordan Transport adventures and Joel Hardy. Expecting the Fife Heritage Railway to be running, I had a walk round to it, only to find that no passenger trains were running, but a loco was in steam to greet the Scotrail trains with its whistle. Learn more about the reopening campaign at www.levenmouth.co.uk Learn more about the Fife Heritage Railway at www.fifeheritagerailway.co.uk Kernow Model Rail Centre advert taken from Model Rail magazine June 2024 issue.