| Overview | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Locale | Scotland | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Dates of operation | 2 August 1897–1945 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Technical | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Track gauge | 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Length | 15 miles (24 km) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Boddam Branch Line was a 15-mile branch line constructed by the Great North of Scotland Railway from Ellon railway station to Boddam in Aberdeenshire in 1897. The line was single track, with passing loops at stations.
The line was constructed to connect the newly built luxury GNSoR Cruden Bay Hotel in Cruden Bay to the wider rail network. From there, the line ran on to Boddam to serve local quarries. The line ran through a very rural area, from a junction with the Formartine and Buchan Railway at Ellon railway station, however the line was constructed to a high standard, with bridges throughout.
In Cruden Bay itself, the station was connected to the Hotel by the electric Cruden Bay Hotel Tramway.
The line and tramway were closed to passengers in 1932 due to lack of traffic. The hotel was served by a Rolls Royce motorcar until its closure, when it was requisitioned by the armed forces following the outbreak of World War II. After the war, the hotel and tramway were demolished completely.
The line was closed to freight in 1945, with the branch being used to store wagons until the track was lifted in 1950.
Unlike the Formartine and Buchan Railway, the route of the line was not preserved as it closed far earlier. That said, few parts of the line are built on and many farms have not gone to the trouble of leveling the ground on the route. Most of the route is still visible, with several embankments, cuttings and road overbridges still in situ along the route (however many have been backfilled to allow farm access).
Most of the bridges which carried the railway have been taken down, including the substantial Cruden Bay viaduct, although three pillars of it remain standing. One large bridge remains, spanning the Water of Cruden at Bridgend. Numerous culverts are remaining, possibly five or more are over small burns between Pitlurg and Hatton, one is over the Water of Cruden at Nethermill, one is over the smaller burn at Cruden Bay, and another, which can be walked through, is at Bullers o' Buchan. A number of well built bridge buttresses are still standing for the railway and for overbridges. The photo has one of many similar looking overbridges.
The remaining evidence of station sites is slim, some having been built on. The station hotel at Hatton remains while a goods shed there was demolished in 2012. All stationmasters' houses exist today.
Walking the full length of the line is impossible, as some sections have been removed entirely (particularly where the line crossed the A90 and A975), several extant sections are fenced prohibiting access and other sections are thick with bushes. Sections that can be done include Hatton to Bogbrae and a section around the Burn of Forvie.
The Campaign for North East Rail has proposed the reopening of part of the route for a new line to Peterhead, which would follow the alignment of the Boddam branch as far as Cruden Bay. [1]
Ellon is a town in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, approximately 16 miles north of Aberdeen, lying on the River Ythan, which has one of the few undeveloped river estuaries on the eastern coast of Scotland. It is in the ancient region of Formartine. Its name is believed to derive from the Gaelic term Eilean, an island, on account of the presence of an island in the River Ythan, which offered a convenient fording point.
The Great North of Scotland Railway (GNSR) was one of the two smallest of the five major Scottish railway companies prior to the 1923 Grouping, operating in the north-east of the country. Formed in 1845, it carried its first passengers the 39 miles (63 km) from Kittybrewster, in Aberdeen, to Huntly on 20 September 1854. By 1867 it owned 226 1⁄4 route miles (364.1 km) of line and operated over a further 61 miles (98 km).
Cruden Bay is a small village in Scotland, on the north coast of the Bay of Cruden in Aberdeenshire, 26 miles (42 km) north of Aberdeen.
Peterhead is a town in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It is Aberdeenshire's biggest settlement, with a population of 18,537 at the 2011 Census. It is also the largest fishing port in the United Kingdom for total landings by UK vessels, according to a 2019 survey.
The North Auckland Line is a major section of New Zealand's national rail network, and is made up of the following parts: the portion of track that runs northward from Westfield Junction to Newmarket Station; from there, westward to Waitakere; from there, northward to Otiria via Whangārei. The first section was opened in 1868 and the line was completed in 1925. The line, or sections of it, have been known at various times as the Kaipara Line, the Waikato-Kaipara Line, the Kaipara Branch and the North Auckland Main Trunk.
Westerham railway station served the village of Westerham in Kent from 1881 until its closure in 1961.
Maud is a village in the Buchan area of the Scottish county of Aberdeenshire, with a population of 780. Located 13 miles (21 km) west of Peterhead on the South Ugie Water, Maud rose to prosperity in the nineteenth century as a railway junction of the Formartine and Buchan Railway that ran through Maud to Fraserburgh and Peterhead, but has always been the meeting place of six roads. It has had a variety of names:
The Formartine and Buchan Way is a long-distance footpath in Scotland, extending from Dyce north to Peterhead and Fraserburgh in the Buchan and Formartine districts of Aberdeenshire in Scotland. It follows the track of a former railway line, the Formartine and Buchan Railway, and is open to walkers, cyclists and horse riders. The railway closed in 1979 (Fraserburgh) and 1970 (Maud-Peterhead). The walkway opened in the early 1990s, and is managed by Aberdeenshire Council. It is listed as one of Scotland's Great Trails by NatureScot. Places of interest along the way include Drinnes Wood Observatory, Strichen Stone Circle, Aden Country Park, Deer Abbey and The White Horse at Strichen.
Auchnagatt is a village and rural area in Buchan, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, situated on the Ebrie Burn and on the A948 road between Ellon and New Deer.
Boddam is a coastal village in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It is 29 miles (47 km) north of Aberdeen and 3 miles (4.8 km) south of Peterhead. The settlement of Stirling Village lies immediately to the west. Sea cliffs rise to 200 feet (61 m), south of the village: a coastal path leads along these to the Bullers of Buchan.
Hatton is a village in Aberdeenshire, Scotland that lies on the A90 road, approximately equidistant from both Ellon and Peterhead.
Fraserburgh railway station is a former railway station that once served the town of Fraserburgh, Aberdeenshire. It formed a junction where two lines met, the main line from the south terminated here, where it was joined by a small coastal branch line from St Combs. It is now closed, and the site has been redeveloped. The GNSR engine shed and BR goods offices remain in alternative uses.
Ellon railway station was a railway station in Ellon, Aberdeenshire, Scotland.
Maud Junction railway station was a railway station in Maud, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, now housing the Maud Railway Museum. It served as junction where the line north from Aberdeen split into two routes to the coastal town stations of Peterhead and Fraserburgh, both of which are now closed.
The Formartine and Buchan Railway was a railway in the north east of Scotland. It was built to link Fraserburgh and Peterhead with Aberdeen. It had a junction with the main line of the Great North of Scotland Railway at Dyce.
The Rotorua Branch is a railway line from Putāruru to Rotorua, in the Waikato and Bay of Plenty regions of the North Island of New Zealand. Construction of the line was commenced by the Thames Valley and Rotorua Railway Company and finished by the Public Works Department. The complete line, 50.5 kilometres (31.4 mi) in length, opened in two sections; on 24 November 1893 to Tarukenga and the final 8 mi 43 ch (13.7 km) to Rotorua on 8 December 1894.
The Cruden Bay Hotel Tramway operated an electric tramway service between the Cruden Bay Hotel and Cruden Bay railway station between 1899 and 1940.
Bullers O'Buchan Platform railway station also known as Bullers O'Buchan Halt railway station was a railway station serving visitors to the Bullers of Buchan, a spectacular collapsed sea cave, and to the old fishing village. The station was located 6 miles (9.7 km) south of Peterhead in Buchan, Aberdeenshire, Scotland.
