Glassaugh railway station

Glassaugh
Old railway buildings at Glassaugh
General information
Location	Glassaugh, Moray Scotland
Coordinates	57.676393°N 2.741506°W / 57.676393; -2.741506
Grid reference	NJ 5585 6538
Platforms	2
Other information
Status	Disused
History
Pre-grouping	Great North of Scotland Railway
Post-grouping	London and North Eastern Railway
Key dates
1 April 1884	Great North of Scotland station opened[1]
21 September 1953[2]	Closed

Glassaugh railway station was a railway station that served the rural area of Glassaugh and the nearby Glenglassaugh distillery close to Portsoy in Moray. The railway station was opened by the Great North of Scotland Railway (GNoSR) on its Moray Firth coast line in 1884, served by Aberdeen to Elgin trains. The station closed to regular passenger traffic on 21 September 1953, more than a decade before the total closure of the line itself in 1968.[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 itself was later 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.[3] 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

Railway cutting at Glassaugh looking towards Cullen.

The GNoSR station opened as 'Glassaugh' on 1 April 1884[1] with the central section of the coast line, served by through Aberdeen to Elgin trains.[4] In the 1923 the Great North of Scotland Railway was absorbed by the London and North Eastern Railway. This company was nationalised in 1948, and services provided by British Railways. The line itself was recommended for closure by Dr Beeching's in his report "The Reshaping of British Railways"[5] and closed on 6 May 1968.[6][7]

Services

The GNoSR station was served by through trains running between Aberdeen and Elgin.[4] There were no Sunday services.[8]

The station infrastructure

Glassaugh station had two platforms, a passing loop, a bay platform and one signal box. The 1902 OS map shows a station agent's or stationmaster's cottage sat near to the site and two sidings with a goods shed.[9] The station was host to a LNER camping coach from 1935 to 1936 and possibly one for some of 1934.[10]

The line was predominantly single track apart from a double track section between Buckie and Portessie.[7] Track lifting took place shortly after closure in 1968.[7]

Station remnants

In 2009 the westbound platform had been demolished, however the eastbound and bay platforms remained.^[citation needed]

Preceding station	Historical railways			Following station
Tochieneal		Great North of Scotland		Portsoy

References

Footnotes

1. Butt 1995, p. 231.
2. Butt 1995, p. 103.
3. Barclay-Harvey 1950, pp. 92–93.
4. Vallance 1991, p. 95.
5. Beeching 1963a, p. 125
   Beeching 1963b, map 9
6. Butt 1995, p. 47.
7. Maxtone 2005, p. 3.
8. "Passenger Timetable: Scottish Region". British Railways. May 1948. Table 150. Archived from the original on 26 February 2012. Retrieved 20 June 2013.
9. Banffshire, Sheet 003.11. Publication date: 1904. Revised: ca. 1902
10. 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.
• 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.
• 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