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
Location
Place	Drummuir
Area	Moray
Coordinates	57.4842°N 3.0391°W / 57.4842; -3.0391
Grid reference	NJ378442
Operations
Original company	Keith and Dufftown Railway
Pre-grouping	Great North of Scotland Railway
Post-grouping	LNER British Rail (Scottish Region)
Platforms	2 (before closure) 1 (after reopening)
History
21 February 1862[1]	Opened
6 May 1968[1]	Closed to passengers
15 November 1971	Closed to goods
2003 (2003)	Reopened as a heritage station
Disused railway stations in the United Kingdom
Closed railway stations in Britain A B C D–F G H–J K–L M–O P–R S T–V W–Z

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.[4]

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.[5]

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 The wooden station building was a Great North of Scotland Railway design however the old wooden footbridge had been replaced by a LNER metal design fabricated from old rails and signal wire.[6]

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.[7] 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).<ref>Train times on the Keith & Dufftown Railway.

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. "RAILSCOT - Drummuir". Railscot. Retrieved 23 August 2019.
5. Banffshire Sheet XIX.SE (includes: Botriphnie) Publication date: 1905. Date revised: 1902.
6. McKenzie, Ian and Coull, Alistair. (2016). The Whisky Line. A Guide to the Keith and Dufftown Railway. The Keith & Dufftown Railway Association. p.21
7. McKenzie, Ian and Coull, Alistair. (2016). The Whisky Line. A Guide to the Keith and Dufftown Railway. The Keith & Dufftown Railway Association. p.11

References

• 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.

External links

• Video and narration - Drummuir railway station

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