Urquhart railway station

Urquhart
The remains of Urquhart Station in 1988
General information
Location	Urquhart, Moray Scotland
Coordinates	57°39′07″N3°11′46″W / 57.651853°N 3.196080°W / 57.651853; -3.196080
Grid reference	NJ 28747 63070
Platforms	1
Other information
Status	Disused
History
Pre-grouping	Great North of Scotland Railway
Post-grouping	London and North Eastern Railway
Key dates
12 August 1884	station opened [1]
6 May 1968	Closed [2]

Urquhart railway station was a railway station serving the village of Urquhart, parish of Urquhart, Moray. The railway station was opened by the Great North of Scotland Railway (GNoSR) on its Moray Firth coast line in 1884, ^[3] served by Aberdeen to Elgin trains.

In 1923 the GNoSR became part of the London and North Eastern Railway and at nationalisation in 1948 became part of British Railways. The line was recommended for closure by Dr Beeching's report "The Reshaping of British Railways" and closed on 6 May 1968. ^{[3] [4]}

History

Background

In 1881 the Great North of Scotland Railway put a bill to parliament to extend its Portsoy line along the Moray Firth as far as Buckie. ^[5] In 1882 the Great North of Scotland applied for permission to build a 25+1⁄4-mile (40.6 km) line from Portsoy following the coast to Buckie and then running on to Elgin.

Great North of Scotland Railway

The GNoSR station opened as Urquhart on 12 August 1884, ^[3] served by through Aberdeen to Elgin trains. ^[6] In the 1923 Grouping, the Great North of Scotland Railway was absorbed by the London and North Eastern Railway. This company was nationalised in 1948, and services were then provided by British Railways. The station and line was recommended for closure by Dr Beeching in his report "The Reshaping of British Railways" ^[7] and closed on 6 May 1968. ^{[8] [9]}

Services

The GNoSR station was served by through trains between Aberdeen to Elgin. ^[6] There were no Sunday services. ^[10]

The station infrastructure

Urquhart station had one platform with the typical wooden station buildings found at many of the stations on the line. ^[11] A 'Station Cottage', a possible stationmaster's house sat near the entrance to the goods yard. ^[11] The station goods yard had a goods shed that stood near the station building and three other sidings with a loading dock. ^[11] A storage hut was located on the platform and in 1959 the platform flower beds were well tended and a number of possibly stored waggons stood in the yard. A shed stood incongruously just beyond the Garmouth end of the platform. ^[12]

The Moray Coast line was predominantly single track apart from a double track section between Buckie and Portessie. ^[9] Track lifting took place shortly after closure in 1968. ^[9] The station site was used as a caravan site for a while, ^[12] but the station has now been demolished and a private dwelling occupies the site with landscaped grounds.

Preceding station	Historical railways			Following station
Calcots		Great North of Scotland		Garmouth

References

Footnotes

1. Butt 1995, p. 97.
2. Butt 1995, p. 217.
3. Butt 1995, p. 238.
4. RCAHMS Site Record
5. Barclay-Harvey 1950, pp. 92–93.
6. Vallance 1991, p. 95.
7. Beeching 1963a , p. 125
   Beeching 1963b , map 9
8. Butt 1995, p. 101.
9. Maxtone 2005, p. 3.
10. "Passenger Timetable: Scottish Region". British Railways. May 1948. Table 150. Archived from the original on 26 February 2012. Retrieved 20 June 2013.
11. Elginshire Sheet VIII.SE. Publication date: 1905. Date revised: 1903
12. Maxtone 2005, p. 15.

Sources

• Beeching, Richard (1963). The Reshaping of British Railways (PDF). HMSO.
• Beeching, Richard (1963). The Reshaping of British Railways (maps) (PDF). HMSO.
• Butt, R. V. J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations: details every public and private passenger station, halt, platform and stopping place, past and present (1st ed.). Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN   1-85260-508-1.
• Barclay-Harvey, Malcolm (1950). A History of the Great North of Scotland Railway. Ian Allan. ISBN   978-0-7110-2592-9.
• Maxtone, G.R. (2005). The Railways of the Banff & Moray Coast. Keith & Dufftown Railway Association. ISBN   0-9547346-1-0.
• Vallance, H. A. (27 June 1991). Great North of Scotland Railway. The History of the Railways of the Scottish Highlands Vol. 3. David St John Thomas. ISBN   978-0-946537-60-0.

External links

• RAILSCOT on Moray Coast Railway
• GNoSR Gallery - Urquhart station

• Scotland portal