Gollanfield Junction | |
---|---|
General information | |
Location | Gollanfield, Highland Scotland |
Platforms | 2 |
Other information | |
Status | Disused |
History | |
Original company | Inverness and Nairn Railway |
Pre-grouping | Highland Railway |
Post-grouping | London, Midland and Scottish Railway |
Key dates | |
7 November 1855 | Opened as Fort George |
1 July 1899 | Renamed Gollanfield Junction |
March 1959 | Renamed Gollanfield |
3 May 1965 | Closed |
Gollanfield Junction was a railway station located at Gollanfield, to the west of Nairn, Scotland, (now in the Highland Council Area). Opened in 1855 by the Inverness and Nairn Railway, it was initially named Fort George after the military base nearby. [1]
In July 1899 the Highland Railway opened a direct branch to Fort George (which was actually sited in the village of Ardersier). With the opening of the branch, the station was renamed Gollanfield Junction. Passenger services on the branch were withdrawn in 1943 and it closed to all traffic in August 1958.[ citation needed ] The following year, the station was renamed Gollanfield by British Railways. [1]
Goods traffic at the station ceased in May 1964 and it was closed to passenger traffic on 3 May 1965 (along with all the other remaining stations between Nairn & Inverness) as a result of the Beeching Axe. [1]
Most of the buildings were subsequently demolished after closure, but the station house remain standing and is used as a private residence. A single line remains in use by passenger trains between Inverness, Elgin and Aberdeen. [2]
In 1953, a head-on collision between an eastbound Inverness to Keith passenger train and a westbound freight train just west of the station resulted in the deaths of three train crew (both drivers and the passenger train fireman) and injuries to three passengers & the goods train fireman. [3] The driver of the freight train was held culpable for the accident for failing to regulate the speed of his train on approach to the station, though the station signalman was also censured for lowering the home signal prematurely and thus misleading the driver into thinking the starting signal ahead would also be clear.
The Highland Railway (HR) was one of the smaller British railways before the Railways Act 1921, operating north of Perth railway station in Scotland and serving the farthest north of Britain. Based in Inverness, the company was formed by merger in 1865, absorbing over 249 miles (401 km) of line. It continued to expand, reaching Wick and Thurso in the north and Kyle of Lochalsh in the west, eventually serving the counties of Caithness, Sutherland, Ross & Cromarty, Inverness, Perth, Nairn, Moray and Banff. Southward it connected with the Caledonian Railway at Stanley Junction, north of Perth, and eastward with the Great North of Scotland Railway at Boat of Garten, Elgin, Keith and Portessie.
The East Suffolk line is an un-electrified 49-mile secondary railway line running between Ipswich and Lowestoft in Suffolk, England. The traffic along the route consists of passenger services operated by Greater Anglia, while nuclear flask trains for the Sizewell nuclear power stations are operated by Direct Rail Services.
The Aberdeen–Inverness line is a railway line in Scotland linking Aberdeen and Inverness. It is not electrified. Most of the line is single-track, other than passing places and longer double-track sections between Insch and Kennethmont and Inverurie and Berryden Junction (Aberdeen).
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The West Highland Railway was a railway company that constructed a railway line from Craigendoran to Fort William and Mallaig. The line was built through remote and difficult terrain in two stages: the section from Craigendoran to Fort William opened in 1894, with a short extension to Banavie on the Caledonian Canal opening in 1895.
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The Inverness and Nairn Railway was a railway company that operated between the burghs in the company name. It opened its line in 1855 and its passenger business was instantly successful. At first it was not connected to any other line. However it was seen as a first step towards connecting Inverness and Central Scotland, via Aberdeen and when feasible, directly southwards.
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The Inverness and Perth Junction Railway (I&PJR) was a railway company that built a line providing a more direct route between Inverness and the south for passengers and goods. Up to the time of its opening, the only route was a circuitous way through Aberdeen. The I&PJR was built from a junction with the friendly Inverness and Aberdeen Junction Railway at Forres to the Perth and Dunkeld Railway at Dunkeld.
The Inverness and Aberdeen Junction Railway (I&AJR) was a railway company in Scotland, created to connect other railways and complete the route between Inverness and Aberdeen. The Inverness and Nairn Railway had opened to the public on 7 November 1855 and the Great North of Scotland Railway (GNoSR) was building from Aberdeen to Keith. The I&AJR opened, closing the gap, on 18 August 1856.
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The Buckie and Portessie Branch was a railway branch line in Scotland, built by the Highland Railway to serve an important fishing harbour at Buckie, in Banffshire. It connected with the rival Great North of Scotland Railway at Portessie.
The Bangor and Carnarvon Railway was a railway company promoted to build a branch railway connecting Caernarfon with the main line at Bangor, in north-west Wales. It opened in 1852 as far as Port Dinorwic and was extended to Caernarfon later in the same year.
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The accident at St Bedes Junction was one of several serious accidents in 1915. It featured a double collision and fire fuelled by gas, characteristics shared by a much worse accident that year at Quintinshill. There were also similarities in that a signalman was unaware of the presence of a train near his signal box and rules were not observed. The accident is sometimes referred to as the Jarrow railway disaster as there was no station at Bede and Jarrow was then the nearest place of importance.
Banavie Pier railway station was the terminus of a short branch and was at first known as Banvie, opened by the North British Railway in 1895. The station's location was just above the impressive flight of locks on the Caledonian Canal known as "Neptune's Staircase", Banavie, Highland council area, Scotland.
Burghead was a railway station serving Burghead in the Scottish district of Moray. Initially the station was the terminus of the branch line from Alves but later a through station, at a new location, as the line was extended to Hopeman.
Preceding station | Historical railways | Following station | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
Nairn Line and station open | Highland Railway Inverness and Nairn Railway | Dalcross Line open; station closed | ||
Disused railways | ||||
Terminus | Highland Railway Fort George branch line | Fort George Line and station closed |
Coordinates: 57°33′04″N4°00′31″W / 57.5510°N 4.0087°W