Drummuir railway station

Drummuir railway station is a preserved station that serves the village of Drummuir, Moray, Scotland on the Keith and Dufftown Railway. The station also served the nearby Drummuir Castle estate and Botriphnie Church and the old churchyard are in the vicinity, together with St Fomac's Well.[2]

Drummuir
The remains of the station in 1997
General information
LocationDrummuir, Moray
Scotland
Coordinates57.4842°N 3.0391°W / 57.4842; -3.0391
Grid referenceNJ378442
Platforms2 (before closure)
1 (after reopening)
Other information
StatusDisused
History
Original companyKeith and Dufftown Railway
Pre-groupingGreat North of Scotland Railway
Post-groupingLNER
British Rail (Scottish Region)
Key dates
21 February 1862[1]Opened
6 May 1968[1]Closed to passengers
15 November 1971Closed to goods
2003 (2003)Reopened as a heritage station

History

The station was first opened in 1862 by the Keith and Dufftown Railway. The station was closed to passengers by British Railways in May 1968, but the line remained open for freight and special excursions for some time.[3] It was reopened as a preserved station in 2003 by the Keith and Dufftown Railway Association.

Infrastructure
The station in 2019.

In 1869 the OS map shows that only a single platform was present with no passing loop, however a goods shed, loading dock and sidings were already in situ, approached by trains from the north-east.[2]

By 1902 the station had two platforms, two signal boxes, a pedestrian footbridge, the goods yard to the east and a station building with ticket office and waiting room on the southbound platform. Ancillary buildings stood on the east side of the loading dock and sidings. The up platform had a small wooden shelter.[4]

In 1967 the passing loop was lifted and the signal boxes were closed. The wooden station building was a Great North of Scotland Railway design however the old wooden footbridge had been replaced by a LNER metal design fabricated from old rails and signal wire.[5]

Closure and reopening

The station had closed to regular passenger services in May 1968 and closed to goods on 15/11/71. 'Northern Belle' excursion trains from Aberdeen however used the line for several years in the summer from 1984 and BR ran special trains from London until early 1991 when deteriorating infrastructure brought them to an end.[6] The Keith - Dufftown section was however 'mothballed' by BR and was then purchased by the Keith & Dufftown Railway and it is now publicised as 'The Whisky Line'.

Services
Train for Dufftown arriving at Drummuir.

The station has a car park and nature trail with a bird hide has been created in the old sidings and loading dock area. It is a regular timetabled stop for trains during the operating season with three trains a day in each direction (datum 2019).[7]

Notes
  1. Butt 1995, p. 83.
  2. XIX.15 (Botriphnie and Mortlach) Survey date: 1868. Publication date: 1869.
  3. "Drummuir railway station, Banffshire". Geograph. Retrieved 23 August 2019.
  4. Banffshire Sheet XIX.SE (includes: Botriphnie) Publication date: 1905. Date revised: 1902.
  5. McKenzie, Ian and Coull, Alistair. (2016). The Whisky Line. A Guide to the Keith and Dufftown Railway. The Keith & Dufftown Railway Association. p.21
  6. McKenzie, Ian and Coull, Alistair. (2016). The Whisky Line. A Guide to the Keith and Dufftown Railway. The Keith & Dufftown Railway Association. p.11
  7. "Times & Fares". keith-dufftown-railway.co.uk. Retrieved 7 November 2020.

References
Preceding station Historical railways Following station
Drummuir Curlers' Platform   Great North of Scotland Railway
Keith and Dufftown Railway		   Towiemore Halt
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