Inveramsay railway station

Inveramsay
Railway bridge near Milton of Inveramsay
General information
Location	Inveramsay, Aberdeenshire Coordinates: 57°19′03″N2°26′20″W / 57.3174°N 2.4388°W / 57.3174; -2.4388 Scotland
Grid reference	NJ736252
Platforms	3 [1]
Other information
Status	Disused
History
Original company	Banff, Macduff and Turriff Junction Railway
Pre-grouping	Great North of Scotland Railway
Post-grouping	London and North Eastern Railway
Key dates
5 September 1857	Station opened [2]
1 October 1951	Station closed to passengers [2]
1966	Branch line closed entirely

Inveramsay railway station was a railway station in the parish of Chapel of Garioch, near the Mill of Inveramsay, Aberdeenshire. ^[3] It served the sparsely populated rural area, but was mainly an interchange for the Macduff and Banff branch lines.

History

Inveramsay was opened in 1857 by the Banff, Macduff and Turriff Junction Railway, ^[2] then part of the Great North of Scotland Railway it became part of the London and North Eastern Railway during the Grouping of 1923, passing on to the Scottish Region of British Railways during the nationalisation of 1948. It was then closed by British Railways in October 1951 on the same date as the branch despite the main line north remaining open. Although a junction it was never officially referred to as such on the name boards. ^[4]

Infrastructure

The station was the junction for the branch to Macduff and Banff, standing at 237 feet above sea level. ^[5] It had two platforms on the main line, with one serving as an island with the main station building and one of its two platform being used for the branch with a passing loop present. ^[6] A footbridge was present. ^[1] Sidings stood to the East and a turntable was provided. Inveramsay to Kintore was doubled in 1882 and the north and south signal boxes were open in the same year.

The north signal box worked the branch line, controlling the passing loop's north end, and access to a loading bank, with the south box, standing on the west side of the tracks, controlling the lines to the engine shed and sidings from the south.

In 1930 a ground frame replaced the north signal box. By 1888 the Insch to Inveramsay section of the Inverness line had been doubled however in 1969 the Insch to Inverurie section was singled.

Several railway cottages stood to the south-west in 1901. ^[7]

The exchange sidings on the branch side were latterly used to hold wagons destined for the nearby Inverurie works. ^[1]

Remains

A station building survives on the old island platform and the second platform to the west remains with the single track line now realigned between the two. The single track line to Inverness runs through the site.

Services

From 1926 Sunday excursion trains from Aberdeen were advertised and from 1938 they appeared in the timetables. In 1932 passenger trains stopped at all the stations with five a day in each direction. ^[8] Although regular passengers services ceased in 1951 a SLS/RCTS Joint Scottish Tour visited Turriff on 13 June 1960 and another excursion ran in 1965. In WWII fuel oil was transported to Turriff and was then piped to Ministry of Defence storage tanks which supplied local airfields. ^[9] By 1948 four return trips a day were made as the coal supply situation had improved. ^[9] Another severe coal shortage occurred in 1951 and the passenger service ceased despite protests, with services withdrawn after 30 September 1951. ^{[10] [11]}

Preceding station	Historical railways			Following station
Inverurie Line and Station open		Great North of Scotland Railway GNoSR Main Line		Pitcaple Line open; Station closed
	Disused railways
Terminus		Great North of Scotland Railway Banff, Macduff and Turriff Junction Railway		Wartle Line and Station closed

References

Notes

1. McLeish, p.18
2. Butt (1995), page 127
3. British Railways Atlas.1947. p.38
4. McLeish, p.19
5. McLeish, p.20
6. Aberdeenshire, Sheet XLV. Survey date:1867. Publication date:1870
7. Aberdeenshire Sheet XLV.SW (includes: Chapel Of Garioch; Oyne). Publication date:1901. Date revised:1899
8. McLeish, p.59
9. McLeish, p.62
10. "Withdrawal of passenger service". Evening Express. 17 September 1951. p. 10. Retrieved 12 December 2022.
11. McLeish, p.63

Sources

• Butt, R. V. J. (October 1995). The Directory of Railway Stations: details every public and private passenger station, halt, platform and stopping place, past and present (1st ed.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN   978-1-85260-508-7. OCLC   60251199. OL   11956311M.
• Jowett, Alan (March 1989). Jowett's Railway Atlas of Great Britain and Ireland: From Pre-Grouping to the Present Day (1st ed.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN   978-1-85260-086-0. OCLC   22311137.
• McLeish, Duncan (2014). Rails to Banff, Macduff and Oldmeldrum. Pub. GNoSRA. ISBN   978-0902343-26-9.