Train Travel 1911-1920

[Daonnachd]

Me again!

I just wondered if there's anyone out there who knows something about train travel in the early 20th Century.

Basically, my Dad and his sister lived in Kettle when they were small until their mid-late teens, while their mother lived in Leith.

Having looked at old maps, I can see there was a station a Kettle, and there was a station close to where she lived. I just wondered if it was at all feasible that she, or they, could travel by train for visits?

1. were there trains between the two?
2. could a poor working class family afford it?

Even if not, their mother later married a railway engine stoker, and I like to think he'd sneak her aboard sometimes!   

 Thanks for any ideas,

Lindsey

[KGarrad]

It would have been fairly straightforward to get from Leith to Edinburgh.
From Edinburgh, the North British Railway ran to Kingkettle and Ladybank.

Rail travel used to be cheap!

[Daonnachd]

Thank you.

From old films, I understand there used to be a 3rd class so perhaps they did meet sometimes.

[shanghaipanda]

There were also ferries operating from Granton (just beside Leith) over to Burntisland and from there they could make their way overland to K. 

[KGarrad]

Third Class rail travel ended on 3rd June 1956.

The 1844 Railway Regulation Act stipulated that 3rd Class passengers must be sheltered from the elements, and be provided with seats.

The maximum fare allowed to be charges was 1d per mile.

The Forth Bridge, carrying trains, opened in 1890.

A map showing the 1890 rail routes using the Forth Bridge:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forth_Bridge_approach_railways#/media/File:Forth_bridge_approaches.png

And a map showing the routes of the North British Railway in 1923, prior to being amalgamated in the LNER:
https://d240vprofozpi.cloudfront.net/co/NBR/nbr_map.gif

[Daonnachd]

Thank you so much.

Having looked at G..... Maps, the road from Waverley to Kettlebridge follows a roughly similar route to the road - about 34.4 miles. add a bit extra on for trip from Leith, I guess would make it about 37 miles. that makes 37d. - 74d. for a round trip - about 6/2d?

Based on the info from this website: https://www.bclm.co.uk/media/learning/library/witr_costofliving1910.pdf

That would be more than a weeks rent, but then these days a phone can cost more than a months rent - I guess its about priorites!

[hdw]

Train travel started in the 1840s so was a normal part of life well before the early 20th century. With the differentiated fare structure designed to suit every pocket.
I come from a fishing family in east Fife, and my paternal grandparents brought up 10 children. One of my uncles married a girl from Hartlepool in Co. Durham, and my granny planned to go and visit them one day, no doubt imagining the red carpet would be rolled out and she would be the centre of attention. So imagine her chagrin when my grandad announced that he would take a little holiday and come with her. On the great day the two of them were sitting on the train at our village station waiting for the whistle to go when my granny suddenly prodded my grandad and told him to go and buy a paper on the platform. He protested that there wasn't time, but she was adamant. So grandad was standing at the kiosk handing over the pennies for the paper when he heard Toot-toot, and turned round to see the train chugging out of the station while my granny smiled sweetly at the window and gave a little Queen Mother wave with her fingers. So she got her own way in the end (as she usually did).
Harry

[MonicaL]

That is a great family story, Harry. You tell it well...I could almost see grandmother winking at your grandfather as she waved him goodbye 

Monica

[Daonnachd]

Thank you for your story Harry, it did make me smile. It also helped conjure up images of what it might have been like.

Hopefully one day, I'll get to do the train journey through Fife myself.