Glenfarg Tunnels (3.5 miles)
The railway between Cowdenbeath and Perth was closed in 1970 with parts of the trackbed disappearing under the construction of the M90. This line was part of a direct connection between Edinburgh and the Fair City - a journey which now requires a far more circuitous route. Even today, bad feeling still exists about the line's demise. This walk explores some of the spectacular engineering.
A mile and a half after leaving Glenfarg on the B996 in the Perth direction, there is a small lay-by on your right. If you miss it you can always burl round at the Bein Inn a little further down the hill. Hop over the metal barrier and walk on to the old railway.
A cutting takes us to the viaduct over the B996 and this leads straight to the mouth of the first tunnel. It is around 500 yards long and a kink at the end means you are walking into darkness most of the way. Please bring a torch! Both tunnels are relatively dry but take care as there many be some debris underfoot. Weird noises do ping up and down the tunnels. You just have to hold your nerve.
After exiting the first tunnel, we walk through a deep cutting which provides a strange sense of isolation tempered with the ever present rumble of the nearby M90. The second tunnel looms ahead and this one is curved in its entirety - again around the 500-yard mark. When you reach the middle, light pretty much disappears altogether. Perhaps time to switch the torch off and appreciate the blackness.
It's possible to walk a bit further along the trackbed, crossing a smaller viaduct, until we emerge at a minor road. There are other ways to get back to the start but why would you do that when you can go through the tunnels all over again?
