RUN by the Alloa Coal Company, production commenced at Dollar mine in 1943.

Work had begun on Pits Number 1, 2 and 3 at West Pitgober, the previous year.

These were surface pits, east of Dollar station, and were served by a branch line from the Devon Valley Railway. Projected output was initially 400 tons a day.

In 1948, the mine had 89 employees with the average output standing at 180 tons per day, and 45,000 tons per year. What was lacking at the mine, however, were facilities.

There was no canteen, and no baths the miners could use after their shifts. There was a first aid room which dealt with minor injuries, and electricity came from Devon Colliery, roughly five miles away.

There were five sections to the mine, and although Pits 1, 2 and 3 closed in 1954, the mine was re-opened two years later.

New pits, Numbers 4 and 5, were driven by the National Coal Board from 1956, and in December 1960 production began. In just over a year output rose from 180 tons to 1710 tons.

It peaked in 1963, and the mine supplied Kincardine Power Station using the railway to transport the coal in wagons.

In 1962, the mine broke the national record for a single face colliery when it maintained an output of over 9,000 tons on average for four consecutive weeks. The total output per man per shift was 5 tons 7 cwt.

George McAlpine, the manager, and the three shift leaders joined in the raising of the NCB flag at the mine head in recognition of the achievement.

The mine was not without incident. On January 9, 1961, coal miners James McGrath, and Peter Mitchell, both from Sauchie, were killed when they were hit by a fall of coal from the roof.

In the summer of 1963, William Morton, an apprentice colliery engineer from Tillicoultry, died on August 20 when he was crushed by two pieces of machinery.

On April 28, 1951, John Newall, a coal stripper, was struck by falling stone.

The last recorded death occurred on April 8, 1952, when Edward Flood, another coal miner, was killed by a fall of redd and coal from roof.

By the early 1970s, the miners hit burnt coal, and water ingress was causing issues. Poisonous gas was discovered and resulted in shutdown.

Now unviable, the mine was closed in May 1973 and the Dollar railway closed shortly afterwards, as it had only remained open for transporting coal following the Beeching cuts.