THE railway station at Dollar was forced to undergo some alterations following two serious flooding events.

In September, 1879, the platform was lengthened and made more suitable for passengers.

The officials who worked at the station also had improvements made in the form of better facilities for them.

During the March 1879 flood, in Dollar, the damage to property that was seen during the severe August 1877 flood did not happen.

The burn had been widened and the banks strengthened and repaired, but with snow melt and recent rain, the burn had risen considerably but did not overflow at the Burnside.

However, it ran through a small bridge under the railway line, a little above the station.

The bridge had caused issues during the 1877 flood, and again, on Wednesday, March 5, it became clogged with debris so with the water having nowhere to go, it overflowed onto the railway track, submerging it under two feet of water for around half a mile.

This had a knock-on effect with the traffic with trains having to be redirected.

All express trains running to and from Dundee and Glasgow had to be diverted via Dunfermline as did all passenger trains running between Alloa, Ladybank and Kinross, causing considerable inconvenience.

It took around 24 hours to clear the track.

The little bridge, at the east end of the platform, was heightened by 18 inches so that it would run more freely, even when swollen.

To allow this to happen, around 200 yards of rail were lifted and raised, and a new iron girder, measuring 18 inches in height, was placed over the old piers at the burn.

Huge stones were also used to build up the side of the burn to prevent a re-occurrence of the travel disruption.

It took a group of 57 men along with two powerful cranes working from 11 o’clock one Saturday night through to 5pm on the Sunday, when no trains were running, to accomplish the work.

It was overseen by Mr Aitkin, the assistant engineer of the railway company, Inspector Chapman, and Mr Reay, the station master.

It was hoped all this work would prevent any further disruption by flooding at Dollar in the future.

Another improvement which had already taken place was a 60 foot signal that had been placed at the east end of the viaduct for the more efficient working of the line, especially for the express trains.

The station had opened in May 1869.