The Aberdeen Railway was a Scottish railway company which built a line from Aberdeen to Forfar and Arbroath, partly by leasing and upgrading an existing railway.
The line opened in stages between 1847 and 1850, with branches to Brechin and Montrose. The Aberdeen terminus was at Ferryhill, some distance from the centre of Aberdeen. Reaching central Aberdeen was difficult, but was finally achieved in 1854.
In the 1960s there were two routes from central Scotland to Aberdeen, and rationalisation dictated that a line from Dundee would be retained, and the original Aberdeen Railway route would close. This took place in 1967. Both routes used the same track north of Kinnaber Junction (a little north of Montrose) and this was retained; it is the only section of the original Aberdeen Railway that is still in use. A heritage railway, the Caledonian Railway (Brechin), operates on the former Brechin branch.
History
The first proposals for a railway to Aberdeen were put forward in 1827 when Robert Stevenson was commissioned to assess the potential; however nothing progressed from his study.
Railway politics
In the 1840s there was a frenzy of railway speculation and promotion in Scotland; this was focussed on the means of connecting central Scotland with the developing English network. Considerable controversy existed for some years while the best route was debated: at first it was assumed that only one route was supportable, and the Caledonian Railway route over the Southern Uplands seemed to be the chosen route. The Caledonian obtained parliamentary authorisation in the 1845 session, capitalised at £1,500,000, a tremendous sum at the time. The continuous debate in the preceding years had encouraged thoughts of a Scottish network too; this was further facilitated by easy availability of investment money, and the idea of promoting a railway costing hundreds of thousands of pounds seemed suddenly commonplace.
In the same 1845 session several other lines were promoted. Not all of them were as ambitious as the Caledonian scheme, but among them were the Scottish Central Railway linking Perth with the two dominant railways in central Scotland, the (as yet unbuilt) Caledonian and the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway. Also authorised was the Scottish Midland Junction Railway from Perth to Forfar. Already in existence was the Arbroath and Forfar Railway, on a broadly west to east axis, and with the distinctive track gauge of 5ft6in (1,676mm). Last in this northward-stretching chain was the Aberdeen Railway, which was authorised on 31 July 1845.
The directors of the Caledonian Railway had a strategic vision, and they saw that securing territory to their own company was critical; they set about committing independent lines to an alliance with themselves, by leasing them. This had the advantage that (unlike in a purchase) no cash had to be put down at once: merely an annual charge later on. This arrangement was made with the SCR and the SMJR, giving the Caledonian control of a continuous railway from Carlisle to Forfar, and access to Aberdeen. The Caledonian Railway's authorising Act was entitled An Act for making a railway from Carlisle to Edinburgh an Glasgow and the North of Scotland, to be called the Caledonian Railway.
The Caledonian was not deterred by the fact that the SCR and the SMJR had only received Parliamentary authority on the same day as themselves; however a major hurdle was to be getting Parliamentary sanction for the leases, which were seen as anti-competitive.[1][2]
The Aberdeen Railway authorised
Early proposals for the Aberdeen Railway had envisaged it running from Forfar (at the termination of the Scottish Midland Junction line) via Brechin, but the Bill as presented was for a junction with the Arbroath and Forfar Railway at Guthrie, about halfway between Arbroath and Forfar. This saved some mileage of new construction, but the track gauge of the A&FR would have to be changed. The line was to run a little to the west of Montrose and then follow the coast to Aberdeen. There were to be branches to Montrose and Brechin, and the Arbroath and Forfar line was to be leased to the Aberdeen Railway. The authorised capital was £830,000 and the Act was given the Royal Assent on 31 July 1845, the same day as the Caledonian Railway and the SCR and the SMJR.[3][4]
The lease of the A&FR was only authorised, but the new Aberdeen Railway company lost no time in negotiating the lease, and it was finalised late in 1845. It was to be "in perpetuity".
Construction and initial opening
Opening of the Aberdeen Railway in 1854
The Aberdeen Railway proceeded with constructing its line, and on 1 February 1848 it opened from the junctions with the A&FR to Montrose and Brechin. Both were on branches, with Brechin served from Bridge of Dun, and Montrose from Dubton, which was the northernmost point on the authorised main line at the time, and not a destination of great importance. Only 17miles (27km) had been constructed.
The site of the stations at both Brechin and Montrose had been controversial; at Brechin the station was sited nearer the town centre than originally planned; at Montrose the station could not be constructed in its intended location, and a temporary station at Victoria Bridge was used. A Mr Cloudsley operated a horse bus connection until the proper terminus opened on 8 Feb 1850. A local newspaper reported it as "The roomiest and best [station] in the northern part of the kingdom", but this seems to have been hyperbole, and the station was reconstructed in 1864.[5]
The Aberdeen company had run out of money, and the state of trade was such that raising more would not be easy, yet £300,000 was needed. A shareholders' meeting in October 1848 considered some radical proposals, including a takeover by the English London and North Western Railway. The company decided to continue alone, and the only way out was to issue preference shares, authorised by Parliament.[note 1] The shares were taken up, and northwards construction resumed. On 30 October 1848 the line was extended to Limpet Mill, north of Stonehaven, and it reached Portlethen on 13 December 1849. Passenger services on the extended route started on 1 February 1850.[1][4][5]
Problems in Aberdeen
There were difficulties with the Burgh of Aberdeen over the proposed terminal site; originally a terminus in Market Street had been contemplated, but now the company had to settle for a temporary terminus at Ferryhill, some distance from the city centre.[6] The first steam locomotive reached Ferryhill on 16 March 1850, and public services started on 1 April 1850.[1][4][6][7]
The independent Deeside Railway was constructing its line at this time, from Banchory; it too had difficulty in entering Aberdeen and by arrangement it ran to the Aberdeen Railway Ferryhill terminus, opening its line on 7 September 1853.[6]
The extension to the permanent terminal station at Aberdeen, known as "Guild Street", was opened on 2 August 1854.[note 2][2][8][9] This involved bridging the River Dee: a laminated timber design was used, but this proved not to be durable and was reconstructed in the 1880s. With the increasing importance of the Great North of Scotland Railway, running north from Aberdeen, agreement was made to construct a larger station that they would use jointly. This Joint Station opened on 4 Nov 1867, by which time the Caledonian Railway had absorbed the Aberdeen Railway company.[6] (The name Aberdeen Joint station was changed to simply Aberdeen in 1952.[10]
The Arbroath connection
The Glasterlaw triangle
The regauging of the A&FR line was supposed to proceed concurrently with the construction of the main line, but the A&FR too was short of money and did not pursue the work rapidly. At first the old track was simply to be regauged, but it soon became clear that the stone block track of the A&FR would be inadequate for main line operation. Work started laying a new standard gauge line on the north side of the existing single track broad gauge line; the new track would have transverse timber sleepers and wrought iron rails. In addition its locomotives and rolling stock needed to be converted, or new equipment obtained.
The Aberdeen main line joined the A&FR by a triangular junction; the north apex was at Glasterlaw, with the south (Arbroath) apex at Friockheim; the west apex was at Guthrie. However the Guthrie fork was not properly connected and was not open at first. In fact the majority of the Aberdeen Railway traffic took the Guthrie curve and ran to Perth via Forfar and the SMJR. Much Dundee traffic travelled via Forfar and the Dundee and Newtyle Railway; until October 1849 this still had its own track gauge of 4ft6+1⁄2in (1,384mm), so transshipment and change of train were necessary for a few years.[1][11] The Aberdeen Railway was worked by the Scottish Central Railway between 12 February 1851 and 31 July 1854.[7]
The Scottish North Eastern Railway
On 29 July 1856 the Aberdeen Railway amalgamated with the Scottish Midland Junction Railway to form the Scottish North Eastern Railway (SNER), forming a single company controlling the route from Perth to Aberdeen.[1]
Parliament was uncomfortable with the formation of large railway companies, and in granting the amalgamation Bill, it gave running powers over much of the northern part of the system to the North British Railway. The NBR pressed the point further, and obtained authorisation in 1871 to build a line from a junction at St Vigeans, immediately north of Arbroath, to Kinnaber Junction via Montrose, giving it access to Aberdeen over the former Aberdeen Railway route.[1]
On 10 August 1866 the Scottish North Eastern Railway was itself absorbed by the Caledonian Railway.
The Caledonian Railway now operated a trunk network from Carlisle to Aberdeen. Long distance passenger traffic assumed greater importance, but while less prominent, goods traffic was a major activity. At the same time the rival North British Railway developed its route through Edinburgh and Dundee to Aberdeen; the final approach was over Caledonian tracks by the running powers granted by Parliament.
Rivalry for the prestige traffic led to competition for the fastest runs, and in 1888 and again in 1895 the two companies ran a series of demonstration trains, vying for the accolade of the fastest transit from London to Scotland - to Edinburgh in 1888 and to Aberdeen in 1895. The competition and the press attention surrounding it, became characterised as the Railway Race to the North. In the 1895 races Kinnaber Junction, where the two routes converged for the last section to Aberdeen, became key, for whichever trains passed the junction first was sure to get to Aberdeen first.
In 1923 the Caledonian Railway was a constituent of the new London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) as the main line railways of Great Britain were "grouped" under the Railways Act 1921; the North British Railway was a constituent of the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER), so that the rivalry and competition, while not as extreme as in the racing period, continued.
After nationalisation of the railways in 1948 the two railways were merged into a new Scottish Region, but for a long time the structure and pattern of the railways continued relatively unchanged, and Aberdeen was reached by trains from London by the West Coast route (the old LMS line) and also by the East Coast route (the old LNER line). However passenger and goods traffic was declining, and in the mid 1960s it was becoming obvious that two competing routes to Aberdeen were not sustainable. It was determined that the LNER route via Dundee, Arbroath and Montrose would be retained, and the former Aberdeen Railway route would cease to carry through traffic. Glasgow to Aberdeen trains would run via Perth and Dundee. This was put into effect in 1967.
The section from Kinnaber Junction to Aberdeen carried the East Coast trains and was retained. That is now the only section of the former Aberdeen Railway that remains in use, apart from the heritage section of the Brechin branch, operated by the Caledonian Railway Brechin Ltd, which started operation in 1993.[4]
Current operations
The line between Aberdeen and Kinnaber Junction remains in use; passenger services are operated by ScotRail with a limited through passenger service to London operated by London North Eastern Railway. In addition a night sleeper service to London Euston is operated by Caledonian Sleeper.
Aberdeen Guild Street station; opened 2 August 1854; closed 4 November 1867 when the Joint Station was opened;
Ferryhill; opened 1 April 1850; closed 2 August 1854 when the line was extended to Guild Street;
Cove; opened 1 April 1850; renamed Cove Bay 1912; closed 11 June 1956;
Portlethen; opened 1 February 1850; closed 11 June 1956; reopened 17 May 1985;
Newtonhill; opened 1851; closed 11 June 1956;
Muchalls; opened 1 February 1850; closed 4 December 1950;
Limpet Mill; opened 1 November 1849 as temporary terminus; closed 1 April 1850 when the line was extended to Aberdeen;[note 3]
Stonehaven; opened 1 November 1849;
New Mill Offset; opened September 1855; renamed Newmill Siding 1866; renamed Newmill 1891; renamed Carmont 1912; closed 11 June 1956:
Drumlithie; opened 1 November 1849; closed 11 June 1956;
Fordoun; opened 1 November 1849; closed 11 June 1956;
Laurencekirk; opened 1 November 1849; closed 4 September 1967; reopened 18 May 2009
Marykirk; opened 1 November 1849; closed 11 June 1956;
Craigo; opened February 1851; closed 11 June 1956;
Dubton; trailing junction from Montrose; opened 1 February 1848; closed 4 August 1952;
Bridge of Dun; facing junction to Brechin; opened 1 February 1848; sometimes known as Bridge of Dun Junction; closed 4 September 1967;
Farnell Road; opened 1 February 1848; closed 11 June 1956;
Glasterlaw; opened 1 February 1848; closed March 1849; reopened September 1880; closed 2 April 1951; facing junction to next;
Guthrie Junction and Friockheim Junction with Arbroath and Forfar Railway line.
Branches:
Montrose station; opened 1 February 1848; may have been a temporary station initially; closed 30 April 1934 when trains were diverted to the former North British Railway station.
Brechin station; opened 1 February 1848; closed 4 August 1952.[9][13]
Connections to other lines
From Aberdeen Guild Street southward, 1913
From Guthrie northward, 1912 (right)
Railway Clearing House Junction Diagrams showing portions of the Aberdeen Railway (following absorption into the Caledonian Railway) and connecting lines
Arbroath and Forfar Railway at the triangular junctions of Glasterlaw Junction, Friockheim Junction and Guthrie Junction
Related Research Articles
The Caledonian Railway (CR) was a major Scottish railway company. It was formed in the early 19th century with the objective of forming a link between English railways and Glasgow. It progressively extended its network and reached Edinburgh and Aberdeen, with a dense network of branch lines in the area surrounding Glasgow. It was absorbed into the London, Midland and Scottish Railway in 1923. Many of its principal routes are still used, and the original main line between Carlisle and Glasgow is in use as part of the West Coast Main Line railway.
Perth railway station is a railway station located in the city of Perth, Scotland, on both the Glasgow to Dundee line and the Highland Main Line. It is managed by ScotRail, who provide almost all of the services.
Arbroath railway station serves the town of Arbroath in Angus, Scotland. The station is 17 miles (27 km) east of Dundee on the line between Dundee and Aberdeen, between Carnoustie and Montrose. There are two crossovers at the north end of the station, which can be used to facilitate trains turning back if the line south to Carnoustie is blocked. ScotRail, who manage the station, provide most of the services, along with CrossCountry, London North Eastern Railway and Caledonian Sleeper.
Montrose railway station serves the town of Montrose in Angus, Scotland. The station overlooks the Montrose Basin and is situated on the Dundee–Aberdeen line, 90 miles (144 km) north of Edinburgh Waverley, between Arbroath and Laurencekirk. There is a crossover at the north end of the station, which can be used to facilitate trains turning back if the line south to Arbroath is blocked.
Stonehaven railway station serves the town of Stonehaven in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, United Kingdom. It is sited 224 miles 74 chains from Carlisle via Perth, on the Dundee to Aberdeen line, and is situated between Laurencekirk and Portlethen. There is a crossover at the southern end of the station, which can be used to facilitate trains turning back if the line towards Aberdeen is blocked.
Brechin is a station in Angus, on the Caledonian Railway line.
The Dundee and Newtyle Railway opened in 1831 and was the first railway in the north of Scotland. It was built to carry goods between Dundee and the fertile area known as Strathmore; this involved crossing the Sidlaw Hills, and was accomplished with three rope-worked inclined planes. Newtyle was simply a remote railhead, and the anticipated traffic volumes were not achieved, the inclines incurred heavy operating costs, and the railway never made money.
The Scottish Central Railway was formed in 1845 to link Perth and Stirling to Central Scotland, by building a railway line to join the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway near Castlecary.
The Scottish Midland Junction Railway was authorised in 1845 to build a line from Perth to Forfar. Other companies obtained authorisation in the same year, and together they formed a route from central Scotland to Aberdeen. The SMJR opened its main line on 4 August 1848. Proposals to merge with other railways were rejected by Parliament at first, but in 1856 the SMJR merged with the Aberdeen Railway to form the Scottish North Eastern Railway. The SNER was itself absorbed into the larger Caledonian Railway in 1866. The original SMJR main line was now a small section of a main line from Carlisle and central Scotland to Aberdeen.
The Arbroath and Forfar Railway (A&FR) was a railway that connected Forfar with the port town of Arbroath, in Scotland.
The Dundee and Arbroath Railway was an early railway in Scotland. It opened in 1838, and used the unusual track gauge of 5 ft 6 in (1,676 mm). In 1848 it changed to standard gauge and connected to the emerging Scottish railway network.
The Scottish North Eastern Railway was a railway company in Scotland operating a main line from Perth to Aberdeen, with branches to Kirriemuir, Brechin and Montrose. It was created when the Aberdeen Railway amalgamated with the Scottish Midland Junction Railway on 29 July 1856. It did not remain independent for long, for it was itself absorbed by the Caledonian Railway on 10 August 1866.
The Dundee and Perth Railway was a Scottish railway company. It opened its line in 1847 from Dundee to a temporary station at Barnhill and extended to Perth station in 1849. It hoped to link with other railways to reach Aberdeen and changed its name to the Dundee and Perth and Aberdeen Railway Junction Company, but this early attempt was frustrated, and for some years it failed to make a physical connection with other railways in Dundee.
The Alyth Railway was a short branch railway line built in Strathmore in Scotland, connecting the town of Alyth to the main line network. It opened in 1861. Its junction was remote from any large population centre except Dundee, which was only reached by a primitive line with three rope worked inclines. This was modernised in 1868 and the Alyth branch, now with a good connection to Dundee, became busy. Nonetheless, the population of Alyth declined, and so did usage of the line, and it closed in 1951.
The Montrose and Bervie Railway was a Scottish railway. When the Aberdeen Railway opened in 1850, the coastal settlements north of Montrose were not linked in, and local interests promoted a branch line from Montrose to Bervie. They found it impossible to raise capital at first, but from 1861 the larger railways were promoting new connections around Aberdeen, and the Great North of Scotland Railway (GNoSR) decided that the Bervie line would give it a route to the south.
The North British, Arbroath and Montrose Railway was a company established by Act of Parliament in 1871 to construct and operate a railway line from north of Arbroath via Montrose to Kinnaber Junction, 38 miles (61 km) south of Aberdeen. The company was originally a subsidiary of the North British Railway but was absorbed into its parent in 1880.
The Brechin and Edzell District Railway was a local line in Scotland connecting Edzell, then a developing tourist centre, to the nearby main population centre of Brechin, where there was a branch of the Caledonian Railway. The short line opened in 1896, and it was worked by the Caledonian Railway.
The Forfar and Brechin Railway was promoted as a possible alternative main line to part of the Caledonian Railway route between Perth and Aberdeen. It was opened in 1895, having been sold while incomplete to the Caledonian Railway.
The Dundee and Forfar direct line was a railway line opened by the Caledonian Railway in 1870, connecting the important county town of Forfar with the harbour and manufacturing town of Dundee.
Montrose railway station was opened on 1 February 1848 by the Aberdeen Railway as a terminus of a short branch from Dubton Junction. Services initially comprised trains to the junction at Dubton, with some continuing through to Brechin.
References
1 2 3 4 5 6 David Ross, The Caledonian: Scotland's Imperial Railway: A History, Stenlake Publishing Limited, Catrine, 2014, ISBN978 1840 335842
1 2 Christopher Awdry, Encyclopaedia of British Railway Companies, Patrick Stephens Limited, Wellingborough, 1990, ISBN1 85260 049 7
↑ E F Carter, An Historical Geography of the Railways of the British Isles, Cassell, London, 1959
1 2 3 4 John Thomas and David Turnock, A Regional History of the Railways of Great Britain: Volume 15, North of Scotland, David and Charles, Newton Abbot, 1989, ISBN0 946537 03 8
1 2 W Simms, Railways of Brechin, Angus District Libraries and Museums, 1985
1 2 3 4 Keith G Jones, The Railways of Aberdeen, The Great North of Scotland Railway Association, Aberdeen, 2000, ISBN0 902343 10 6
1 2 W A C Smith and Paul Anderson, An Illustrated History of Tayside's Railways, Dundee and Perth, Irwell Press, Clophill, 1997, ISBN1 871608 73 2
↑ R V J Butt, The Directory of Railway Stations, Patrick Stephens Limited, Sparkford, 1995, ISBN1 85260 508 1
1 2 M E Quick, Railway Passenger Stations in England Scotland and Wales—A Chronology, The Railway and Canal Historical Society, 2002
↑ Gordon Stansfield, Aberdeenshire's Lost Railways, Stenlake Publishing, Ochiltree, 2000, ISBN1 84033 103 8
↑ Niall Ferguson, The Arbroath & Forfar Railway, the Dundee Direct Line and the Kirriemuir Branch, Oakwood Press, Usk, 2000, ISBN978-0-85361-545-3
Jowett, Alan (March 1989). Jowett's Railway Atlas of Great Britain and Ireland: From Pre-Grouping to the Present Day (1sted.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN978-1-85260-086-0. OCLC22311137.
O S Nock, The Railway Race to the North, Ian Allan Ltd, Shepperton, 1958
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