Spey Bay railway station

Spey Bay railway station was a railway station in Spey Bay, Moray. The railway station was opened by the Great North of Scotland Railway (GNoSR) on its Moray Firth coast line in 1886,[1] served by Aberdeen to Elgin trains. The station was originally named Fochabers-on-Spey railway station on 1 May 1886.[1] In November 1893 it became Fochabers railway station,[1] Fochabers and Spey Bay railway station on 1 January 1916[1] before finally becoming on 1 January 1918 Spey Bay railway station.[2] It closed to regular passenger traffic on 6 May 1968 on the same date as the line itself.[2][3]

Spey Bay
Nether Dallacy as seen from the old railway, now the Speyside Way
General information
LocationSpey Bay, Moray
Scotland
Coordinates57.6628°N 3.0831°W / 57.6628; -3.0831
Grid referenceNJ 35479 64181
Platforms2
Other information
StatusDisused
History
Pre-groupingGreat North of Scotland Railway
Post-groupingLondon and North Eastern Railway
Key dates
1 May 1886station opened[1]
6 May 1968Closed[2]

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.

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.[4] 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 Fochabers-on-Spey on 1 May 1886[1] and to goods on 5 May 1886[5] with the central section of the coast line, 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's in his report "The Reshaping of British Railways"[7] and closed on 6 May 1968.[2][8]

Services

The GNoSR station was served by through trains a day between Aberdeen to Elgin.[6] There were no Sunday services.[9]

The station infrastructure
The Spey Viaduct and river near Garmouth.

Spey Bay station had two platforms on a passing loop with a typical wooden station building on the 'Up' line and two wooden signal boxes, one of which has been moved to the Keith and Dufftown Railway.[10] A London and North Eastern Railway style passenger footbridge was present.[11] The 1903 OS map shows a small goods shed and three sidings.[12] The station was host to a LNER camping coach from 1935 to 1939 and possibly one for some of 1934.[13] A 1959 photograph shows a significant number of waggons in the station's sidings, possibly being stored there.[10]

The line was predominantly single track apart from a double track section between Buckie and Portessie.[8] Track lifting took place shortly after closure in 1968.[8] The station site is now a private dwelling with landscaped grounds.

The imposing Spey Viaduct stands on the line between Spey Bay railway station and Garmouth railway station, today (2015) it is only used by walkers taking the Speyside Way route that runs to Buckpool old harbour from Aviemore.

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

References

Footnotes
  1. Butt 1995, p. 97.
  2. Butt 1995, p. 217.
  3. RCAHMS Site Record
  4. Barclay-Harvey 1950, pp. 92–93.
  5. Scotlands Places Accessed : 2015-01-20
  6. Vallance 1991, p. 95.
  7. Beeching 1963a, p. 125
    Beeching 1963b, map 9
  8. Maxtone 2005, p. 3.
  9. "Passenger Timetable: Scottish Region". British Railways. May 1948. Table 150. Archived from the original on 26 February 2012. Retrieved 20 June 2013.
  10. Maxtone 2005, p. 20.
  11. Maxtone 2005, p. 21.
  12. Elginshire Sheet IX.SW & SE. Publication date: 1905. Date revised: 1903
  13. McRae 1997, p. 11.

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.
  • 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.
  • 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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