A significant event in the development of Port Edgar occurred in the early 18o0's, the Government upgraded piers and landing places in North and South Queensferry. Civil Engineer John Rennie was given this task. This followed the advent of turnpike roads from Perth to North Queensferry, and on the Southern shore a turnpike road from Edinburgh to South Queensferry. Up until this period the ferry services between North and South Queensferry had been poorly run. All this changed when an act of Parliament decreed the running of the ferry be put into the hands of a group of trustees. Government funding was provided to upgrade landing facilities.
Port Edgar's pier upgrade cost almost £5,000, a grand sum in those days. The other piers upgraded on the South side were the Hawes Pier, Port Nuke and Longcraig. In addition, accommodation for the boatmen and their families was constructed on the foreshore of Newhalls, just outside the Queensferry boundary in those days.
In 1842 a railway line was opened between Glasgow and Edinburgh. By the late 1860's a branch line had been built from Ratho to Dalmeny which included the power to construct and operate a direct rail ferry crossing between Port Edgar and North Queensferry, (train to the jetty then Ferry across the water). The North British Railway obtained the title deed to construct and operate a direct rail ferry crossing between Port Edgar and North Queensferry in 1869 but it wasn't until 1878 that the railway came into service. It was to serve as a Rail Ferry Terminus, linking the Lothians to Fife and the North of Scotland for almost 12 years.
The work required by the North British railway Company to extend the line was considerable, not least the construction of the west breakwater. The arrival of the rail network at Port Edgar caused the existing station at Newhalls to be closed. The ferry commenced running from Port Edgar's west breakwater on 1st October 1878, calling at the Hawes Pier for road traffic if the tide was suitable.
When the Forth Rail Bridge was officially opened by Prince Edward, the Prince of Wales, in March 1890 this had the immediate effect of making Port Edgar's Rail Ferry redundant, however the North British Railway retained a small amount of track and fittings and used the site as a sleeper creosoting depot. The rail tracks can be seen there to this day.
"The Royal Navy At Port Edgar" –Peter A Collinson, 2004