Portsoy railway station

Portsoy railway station was a railway station in Portsoy, in current day Aberdeenshire. Opened in 1859 by the Banff, Portsoy and Strathisla Railway, it was absorbed by the Great North of Scotland Railway in 1867. The original terminus closed in 1884 and a new station opened nearby on a through route and two years later, after the Moray Firth coast line opened, the station was served by Aberdeen to Elgin trains.

Portsoy
The former Portsoy station building, now used as a Scout hall.
General information
LocationPortsoy, Aberdeenshire
Scotland
Coordinates57.6794°N 2.691°W / 57.6794; -2.691
Other information
StatusDisused
History
Original companyBanff, Portsoy and Strathisla Railway
Pre-groupingGreat North of Scotland Railway
Post-groupingLondon and North Eastern Railway
Key dates
30 July 1859Opened[1]
1 April 1884Moved and line to Tochieneal opened[2]
1 May 1886Coast Line opened[3]
6 May 1968Closed[4][5]

The Great North of Scotland Railway was absorbed by the London and North Eastern Railway in 1923 and became part of British Railways when the railways were nationalised in 1948. The station was recommended for closure by Dr Beeching's report "The Reshaping of British Railways" and closed on 6 May 1968.

History

Banff, Portsoy and Strathisla

The Banff, Portsoy and Strathisla Railway opened on 30 July 1859, with a 16+1⁄4 miles (26.2 km) line from Banff to Grange, on the Great North of Scotland Railway (GNoSR) main line, with a 3+1⁄4 miles (5.2 km) branch from Tillynaught to Portsoy. Beyond the Portsoy passenger terminus was a steeply graded line, at 1 in 30, to the harbour, restricted to a locomotive and four wagons.[1]

The GNoSR took over services on 1 February 1863, and the railway renamed the Banffshire Railway. An extension to Portgordon was authorised, but this was abandoned in 1867 and the Banffshire absorbed by the GNoSR.[6]

Moray Coast Line
1904 OS map of Portsoy showing harbour branch (in green), and the two stations

The extension to Portgordon was revived and extended along the Moray Firth coast to Elgin. A new station was built at Portsoy for this through line, which opened, together with a 4+1⁄2 miles (7.2 km) extension to Tochieneal, on 1 April 1884. The Countess of Seafield had not allowed a direct route to be built through Cullen House policies so a massive viaduct was built over the town.[7] The former passenger station was kept for goods.[8] After the Moray Coast Line opened on 1 May 1886, through Aberdeen to Elgin services called at the station.[3] The harbour branch was little used after the opening of the Coast Line and the tracks lifted in 1910.[9]

In the 1921 Grouping, the Great North of Scotland Railway was absorbed by the London and North Eastern Railway. This was nationalised in 1948, and services provided by British Railways. The station and line was recommended for closure by Dr Beeching's in his report "The Reshaping of British Railways"[10] closed on 6 May 1968.[4]

The station was host to a LNER camping coach from 1935 to 1939 and possibly one for some of 1934.[11] A camping coach was also positioned here by the Scottish Region from 1952 to 1960.[12]

Portsoy Scout Hut

The 1884 station, a weatherboarded, gabled, single storey building, double cruciform in plan, survived the closure of the railway and is now used as a Scout hall. It is a Category C listed building.[13] Between 2011 and 2016, it was one of five buildings to be renovated as part of the Portsoy Conservation Area Regeneration Scheme, which was funded by Historic Scotland.[14]

Services

After the GNoSR took over services, Portsoy had six trains a day to Tillynaught, three reversing to continue to Banff.[15] Initially the branch services were extended to Tochieneal when the line reached there, and in 1886, after the Coast Line was complete, the station was served by four through trains a day between Aberdeen to Elgin.[16] The speed of trains increased, so that in 1896 Locomotive Magazine was able to record a run from Aberdeen to Elgin that completed the 61 miles (98 km) in 1+1⁄4 hours.[17]

In summer 1948, Portsoy was served by four Aberdeen to Inverness trains, with Portsoy about 2 hours from Aberdeen. There was also a mid-day Keith Town to Inverness service and an evening service from Aberdeen that terminated at Elgin. There were three services from Inverness to Aberdeen, a service from Lossiemouth and Elgin to Aberdeen and a Saturday service from Inverness to Keith that after 19 June was accelerated and extended to Aberdeen. There were no Sunday services.[18]

Preceding station Historical railways Following station
Tillynaught   Banff, Portsoy and Strathisla
Great North of Scotland
Portsoy branch
1859–1884		   Terminus
Tillynaught
Towards Grange		   Great North of Scotland
Portsoy branch
1884–1886		   Glassaugh
Towards Tochnineal
Tillynaught
Towards Keith and Aberdeen		   Great North of Scotland
London and North Eastern
British Railways
Moray Coast Line
1886–1968		   Glassaugh
Towards Elgin and Inverness

References

Footnotes
  1. Vallance 1991, pp. 49–50.
  2. Vallance 1991, p. 188.
  3. Vallance 1991, pp. 94–95.
  4. Butt 1995, p. 190.
  5. Vallance 1991, Appendix 3.
  6. Vallance 1991, pp. 50–51.
  7. Harley, Duncan (April 2014). "The Royal Burgh of Cullen". Leopard Magazine: 14–16. ISSN 2053-9851.
  8. Vallance 1991, p. 93.
  9. Barclay-Harvey 1950, pp. 37–38.
  10. Beeching 1963a, p. 125
    Beeching 1963b, map 9
  11. McRae 1997, p. 11.
  12. McRae 1998, p. 28.
  13. "Soy Park, Scout Hut (Former Railway Station)". www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk. British Listed Building. Retrieved 29 March 2013.
  14. "Portsoy Conservation Area Regeneration Scheme (CARS)". www.aberdeenshire.gov.uk. Aberdeenshire Council. Retrieved 29 March 2018.
  15. Vallance 1991, p. 51.
  16. Vallance 1991, p. 95.
  17. Barclay-Harvey 1950, pp. 125–126.
  18. "Passenger Timetable: Scottish Region". British Railways. May 1948. Table 150. Archived from the original on 26 February 2012. Retrieved 20 June 2013.

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.
  • McRae, Andrew (1997). British Railway Camping Coach Holidays: The 1930s & British Railways (London Midland Region). Vol. Scenes from the Past: 30 (Part One). Foxline. ISBN 1-870119-48-7.
  • McRae, Andrew (1998). British Railways Camping Coach Holidays: A Tour of Britain in the 1950s and 1960s. Vol. Scenes from the Past: 30 (Part Two). Foxline. ISBN 1-870119-53-3.
  • 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.
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