Scotscalder railway station
Scotscalder railway station is a railway station located in the Highland council area in the far north of Scotland. It serves several rural hamlets in the historic county of Caithness, including Scotscalder, Olgrinmore, Westerdale and Calder.
Scotscalder  | |
|---|---|
| Scottish Gaelic: Caladal nan Gall[1] | |
 Scotscalder railway station looking east towards Georgemas Junction and Wick. | |
| Location | |
| Place | Scotscalder |
| Local authority | Highland |
| Coordinates | 58.4829°N 3.5521°W |
| Grid reference | ND096560 |
| Operations | |
| Station code | SCT |
| Managed by | Abellio ScotRail |
| Number of platforms | 1 |
| Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections from National Rail Enquiries | |
| Annual rail passenger usage* | |
| 2014/15 |  |
| 2015/16 |  |
| 2016/17 | |
| 2017/18 | |
| 2018/19 | |
| History | |
| Original company | Sutherland and Caithness Railway |
| Pre-grouping | Highland Railway |
| Post-grouping | LMS |
| 28 July 1874[2] | Open |
| National Rail – UK railway stations | |
| |
The station is situated on the Far North Line, 143 miles 2 chains (230.2 km) down the line from Inverness. It has a single platform which is long enough to accommodate a four-carriage train.[3]
Owing to its geographical remoteness, limited services and lengthy journey times, Scotscalder's patronage is extremely low: the station has not seen more than 500 passengers in a year since at least the 2002–03 financial year. In 2017–18 the station only saw 182 passengers, making it the 12th least-used railway station in Britain and the least-used on the Far North Line. In 2018–19 the patronage increased to 238, making Scotscalder the second least-used station on the line (behind Kildonan) and the 15th least-used in Britain.[4]
The station is managed by Abellio ScotRail, which also operates all trains serving the station.
History
The station was opened by the Sutherland and Caithness Railway on 28 July 1874.[2][5]
In 1988 the station house was sold by the British Railways Board for conversion to a residential dwelling. Following the conversion, in 1994, the station house was sold again and renovated further, for which the owner won the Ian Allan Railway Heritage Award. The station house was used as a holiday home during this period, but was available to rent for short periods. It was also occasionally open to the public for viewings. Between 1994 and 2004, the owner purchased additional land to the North and South of the station house to prevent development.
In 2004 the station house and surrounding land was sold again to the present owners who have carried out extensive refurbishment. The station house is now a private residence and is no longer available to rent or open to the public.
Services
On weekdays and Saturdays, the service pattern from the station consists of four trains per day northbound to Wick via Thurso and three trains per day southbound to Inverness via Helmsdale, Golspie, Lairg, Tain and Dingwall. (There is a fourth train bound for Inverness but it is not scheduled to call at Scotscalder.) On Sundays there is just one train per day each way.[6]
This station is designated as a request stop. This means that passengers intending to alight must inform the guard in advance, and any passengers wishing to board must ensure they are in view of the train driver, and are required to use a hand signal to stop the train.
| Preceding station | |
Following station | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Altnabreac | Abellio ScotRail Far North Line |
Georgemas Junction | ||
| Historical railways | ||||
| Altnabreac Line and station open |
Highland Railway Sutherland and Caithness Railway |
Halkirk Line open, station closed | ||
References
Notes
- Brailsford 2017, Gaelic/English Station Index.
- Butt (1995)
- Brailsford 2017, map 20D.
- Estimates of station usage - Office or Rail and Road
- "The Sunderland and Caithness Railway". The Scotsman. British Newspaper Archive. 27 July 1874. Retrieved 14 August 2016 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- Table 239 National Rail timetable, May 2017
Sources
- Brailsford, Martyn, ed. (December 2017) [1987]. Railway Track Diagrams 1: Scotland & Isle of Man (6th ed.). Frome: Trackmaps. ISBN 978-0-9549866-9-8.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
- 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.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 978-1-85260-508-7. OCLC 60251199.
- Jowett, Alan (March 1989). Jowett's Railway Atlas of Great Britain and Ireland: From Pre-Grouping to the Present Day (1st ed.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 978-1-85260-086-0. OCLC 22311137.
- Jowett, Alan (2000). Jowett's Nationalised Railway Atlas (1st ed.). Penryn, Cornwall: Atlantic Transport Publishers. ISBN 978-0-906899-99-1. OCLC 228266687.