Gollanfield Junction railway station

Last updated

Gollanfield Junction
Gollanfield Junction railway station (site), Highland (geograph 4424549).jpg
The site of the station in 2015
General information
Location Gollanfield, Highland
Scotland
Platforms2
Other information
StatusDisused
History
Original company Inverness and Nairn Railway
Pre-grouping Highland Railway
Post-grouping London, Midland and Scottish Railway
Key dates
7 November 1855Opened as Fort George
1 July 1899Renamed Gollanfield Junction
March 1959Renamed Gollanfield
3 May 1965Closed

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]

Contents

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 Passenger services on the branch were withdrawn in 1943 and it closed to all traffic in August 1958.[ citation needed ] The following year, the station was renamed Gollanfield by British Railways.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]

Accident

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.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Highland Railway</span> Former British railway company

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">East Suffolk line</span>

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aberdeen–Inverness line</span> Railway line in Scotland linking Aberdeen and Inverness

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).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kemp Town railway station</span> Closed station in Brighton, England

Kemp Town railway station was the terminus station of the Kemp Town branch line, a short branch line serving the Kemptown district of Brighton, England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Forres railway station</span> Railway station in Moray, Scotland

Forres railway station serves the town of Forres, Moray in Scotland. The station is managed and served by ScotRail and is on the Aberdeen–Inverness line, between Nairn and Elgin, measured 119 miles 42 chains (192.4 km) from Perth via the Dava route.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elgin railway station</span> Railway station in Moray, Scotland

Elgin railway station is a railway station serving the town of Elgin, Moray in Scotland. The station is managed and served by ScotRail and is on the Aberdeen to Inverness Line, between Keith and Forres, measured 12 miles 18 chains (19.7 km) from Forres.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">West Highland Railway</span> Former railway company in Scotland

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stourbridge Junction railway station</span> Railway station in the West Midlands, England

Stourbridge Junction is one of two railway stations serving the town of Stourbridge, in the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley in the West Midlands, England. It lies on the Birmingham to Worcester via Kidderminster Line and is the junction for the Stourbridge Town Branch Line, said to be the shortest operational branch line in Europe. The other station serving Stourbridge is Stourbridge Town at the end of the branch line.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Inverness and Nairn Railway</span> Scottish railway line

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Allanfearn railway station</span> Railway station in the Scottish Highlands

Allanfearn was a railway station located near Culloden, outside Inverness, Highland, Scotland. It was initially named Culloden when opened, but was renamed to Allanfearn in November 1898, to avoid confusion with the station at Culloden Moor on the newly opened direct line from Inverness to Aviemore.

The Cuckoo Line is an informal name for the now defunct railway service which linked Polegate and Eridge in East Sussex, England, from 1880 to 1968. It was nicknamed the Cuckoo Line by drivers, from a tradition observed at the annual fair at Heathfield, a station on the route. At the fair, which was held each April, a lady would release a cuckoo from a basket, it being supposedly the 'first cuckoo of spring'. The railway line served the following Sussex communities: Polegate, Hailsham, Hellingly, Horam for Waldron, Heathfield, Mayfield, Rotherfield and Eridge. Services continued through Eridge and onward via Groombridge to Tunbridge Wells.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Inverness and Perth Junction Railway</span>

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fortrose Branch</span>

The Fortrose Branch, also known as the Black Isle Railway, was a railway branch line serving Fortrose in the Black Isle, in the north of Scotland. It was built by the Highland Railway as a tactical measure to exclude a rival railway company and to move the locals from Fortrose onwards to other destinations.

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alves railway station</span> Disused railway station in Alves, Moray

Alves was a railway station located near Elgin, in the Scottish administrative area of Moray. The station was the junction where the line to Burghead and Hopeman diverged from the line from Aberdeen to Inverness.

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Banavie Pier railway station</span> Disused railway station in Banavie, Highland

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Burghead railway station</span> Disused railway station in 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.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Disused Stations - Gollanfield" Disused Stations Site Record; Retrieved 17 August 2016
  2. "Gollanfield Junction railway station (site), Highland" Thompson, Nigel Geograph.org; Retrieved 17 August 2016
  3. "Report on the Collision which occurred on 9th June 1953 near Gollanfield Junction in the Scottish Region, British Railways" The Railways Archive; Retrieved 17 August 2016
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 / 57.5510; -4.0087