IT’S 1966 and the full impact of the Beeching cuts is being felt across the country, with the closure of dozens of rural branch lines.
Just three years after Richard Beeching’s controversial first report on the reshaping of Britain’s railways, more than 2,000 route miles have already been closed. By the end of 1968 another 1,500 miles will have gone.
And in the north-east of Scotland, time is fast running out for the few remaining Great North of Scotland Railway routes that once fanned out across rural Aberdeenshire.
Boddam and Oldmeldrum had shut to passengers in the 1930s, followed by the Alford Valley line in 1950. The first victims of the Beeching era were the Banff and Lossiemouth branches in 1964, followed by Fraserburgh, Peterhead and the Strathspey line from Craigellachie in 1965.
Come 1966 and it’s the turn of the Deeside line, followed in 1968 by the picturesque Moray Coast line through Buckie and Spey Bay to Elgin, along with the routes from Keith and Elgin to Craigellachie.
At Ballater, just over 43 miles west of Aberdeen, it’s the end of a century-old service along a pretty riverside route with royal connections – and by the time I’m able to pay an Easter pilgrimage to the line in 1977, a decade of disuse has left the remaining stations overgrown and in disrepair, as captured by Alan Young on his visit to the line 16 months later in August 1978.
The Deeside Railway from Ferryhill to Banchory was authorised in 1852 and opened in 1853. The Aboyne Extension Railway to Aboyne was authorised in 1857 and opened in 1859. The final stage of the line, the Aboyne and Braemar Railway, was authorised from Aboyne to Ballater in 1865 and opened in 1866. The lines were amalgamated with the GNoSR in 1875-6.
Ballater’s claim to fame lay in its royal connections, as the closest station to Balmoral Castle, seven miles away. A substantial edifice in the heart of the village, it even boasted a small private waiting room for Queen Victoria, the first reigning British monarch to travel by train.
That was in 1842 before the Deeside line even opened, when she took the short journey from Windsor to Paddington, the two other stations in the country which would boast private waiting rooms for the Queen.
By 2008, when Ballater station had been restored as a visitor centre, a replica of the railway carriage used by Queen Victoria to travel between Windsor and Ballater in 1869 was brought back to its Scottish destination, the original in the National Railway Museum in York being too fragile to move.
Painstakingly hand-crafted to match the original design, the replica formed part of a Victorian exhibition at the Ballater Tourist Information Centre and was rescued when the historic structure was destroyed by fire in 2015. The station was restored and reopened in 2018, complete with exhibition area and restaurant.
The revamped station is a fitting reminder of the importance of this line to Victoria and her large family, who spent every summer holiday at Balmoral Castle, arriving in style on the royal train accompanied by an army of servants and even the royal horses and dogs.
The long curving main platform was originally conceived as a through platform, but plans to extend the route to Braemar never came to fruition and only a short tramway extension was built to Bridge of Gairn.
Ballater had a bay platform at the east end, a large goods yard, carriage shed, locomotive shed and turntable. The impressive timber buildings replaced the original structure 20 years after the line opened, in 1886.
Today the station remains the trailhead for the 41-mile Deeside Way long-distance path running along the old trackbed east to Aberdeen which allows walkers and cyclists to appreciate much of the atmosphere of a journey on the picturesque old line.
East of Ballater, the picturesque and quaintly named single-platform station at Cambus O’May opened in 1876 to serve anglers on the River Dee, tourists and visitors to a nearby hunting lodge.
Unstaffed from 1956 and latterly a request stop, the station boasted a loading bay and lay on a particularly scenic stretch of the line where the Ferry Inn had the corner of a gable cut off to allow trains to pass.
Later a private dwelling known as Cutaway Cottage, the old inn once boasted a ferry service that took passengers across the Dee, though from 1905 a suspension bridge offered an easier way to cross.
Both the cottage and the old station buildings have been converted into private dwellings, though the suspension bridge was badly damaged during Storm Frank in December 2015, reopening in 2021.
When it opened in 1866 Dinnet was a humble single-track station like Cambus O’ May, serving the local estate and with a pub handily located nearby. But the facilities were expanded with the building of a new road, with a level crossing, signal boxes and passing loop added.
There was a small goods yard and loading bay too, although the station shut to goods in 1964 before the withdrawal of passenger services in 1966.
The buildings subsequently fell into disrepair but were later enlarged and pressed into use as estate offices, with the station master’s house becoming a private dwelling.
The station buildings at Aboyne were a lot more imposing, with substantial canopies and a large enclosed wooden overbridge linking the two curving platforms.
The main stone-built station building on the eastern platform with its distinctive twin turrets was refurbished as part of the town’s shopping centre, although the large glazed canopy pictured by Alan Young in August 1978 did not survive.
The buildings date from 1896 when the station was rebuilt, along with a smaller timber building on the westbound platform, with signalboxes flanking the station and an expanded goods yard to the north.
There’s an unusual view of the station taken from the cab of an experimental two-car battery electric multiple unit introduced on the Ballater branch from April 1958.
It was converted from the prototype Derby Lightweight diesel multiple units, of which only a couple survive, and was powered by lead-acid batteries.
The motor coach and trailer SC79998 and SC79999 were built at Derby in 1956 and converted at Cowlairs works in 1957 to run three round trips a day to Ballater, recharging at each end of the line.
Taken out of service in 1962 and officially withdrawn in 1966, it was later used as a test vehicle until being put up for sale in 1984 and passing through various owners before being bought by the Royal Deeside Railway Preservation Society and returning to Scotland in 2001.
The railway reached Aboyne in 1859 when the section from Banchory was completed, the first stop eastbound being at Dess, serving the rural area around Dess House and estate.
The station had a single stone built platform with the stationmaster’s house, ticket office and waiting room on the up side of the line. The single freight siding was lifted prior to the end of freight services on the line and it became an unstaffed halt on July 1, 1960.
Both the station buildings and stationmaster’s house passed into private ownership after the closure of the line to passengers in 1966 and was home to Stewart Johnston of Dess Station Pottery in the 1970s.
Beyond Dess lay Lumphanan, which had a passing loop installed in 1892 and boasted two stone- built platforms standing on a slightly curved section of the line.
The ticket office, toilets and waiting room were situated on the up platform, while the shelter on the down platform was a typical GNoSR design with wooden slatted sides accessed by a pedestrian footbridge.
The station boasted a signalbox at the eastern end, along with a large goods shed, sidings and loading bay. But after closure the waiting room was demolished and the main station buildings fell into disrepair before the site was cleared and redeveloped.
A similar fate awaited the next station along at Torphins, where the layout was similar in style to Lumphanan but obliterated after closure to make way for new housing. The single-track platform at Glassel was also largely buried under a new housing development, having been unstaffed from 1960.
Banchory may have been a lot more substantial, but fared little better after closure. By the 1970s the goods shed and loading bay remained, but little sign of the three-platform station and substantial yard area was to be seen.
Despite that, the Royal Deeside Railway Preservation Society was formed in 1996 with the intention of restoring a section of the railway between Banchory and Milton of Crathes and the first trains started running on a short section of track a decade later.
The first steam-hauled passenger service operated in 2010 and a after a platform was built at Milton of Crathes railway station, a station building was donated from the closed Oldmeldrum Railway to serve as the society’s headquarters.
The original Crathes station opened as a private platform for the exclusive use of the Laird of Crathes and only became a public station in 1863. It was bought as a private dwelling after the line closed, complete with a replica signal box on one of the two platforms.
After falling into disrepair again it was bought in 2021 and transformed into a modern family home as part of an ambitious renovation project involving the structure being carefully stripped back to its original stone and brick walls, with the roof replaced.
Park station lost its goods services in 1964 and closed completely in 1966. The space between the platforms was filled in and the site subsumed into a caravan sales park.
By contrast the station at Drum closed completely in 1951 but although the station buildings were demolished, the waiting room remained, along with a loading bay in the goods yard.
When the original line to Banchory opened in 1853 it was single track with passing loops, but between 1884 and 1899 another track was laid, enabling a frequent suburban service to operate between Culter and Aberdeen, calling at a series of eight intermediate stations en route.
Affectionately known as “subbies”, the trains travelled the 7â…œ-mile route in around 20 minutes, the Lower Deeside suburban service being complemented by a similar service on the Donside line towards Dyce.
The subbies proved popular with the number of trains being doubled in 1900, but ultimately competition from buses made the service unsustainable and the trains were withdrawn in April 1937, when all but one of the stations on the Culter route were closed.
Culter itself had two platforms and a goods yard with sidings to the nearby paper mills, with a signal box on the western end of the eastbound platform, typical GNoSR wooden station buildings and a shelter on the westbound platform together with a water tank tower.
By 1963 the main line had been singled and the westbound track lifted, leaving the eastbound platform intact along with the old station name board, both surviving years after closure and the transformation of the branch into a long-distance walkway.
East of Culter, the stations at Milltimber, Murtle, Bieldside and West Cults all closed in 1937 though trains continued to run through them for almost 30 years, latterly with passenger services worked by diesel multiple-unit trains after the experiment with battery railcars between 1958 and 1962.
At Milltimber the main station buildings were redeveloped as a private residence, though the waiting room on the second platform was demolished after closure.
At Murtle too, the station buildings became a private house, both platforms remaining in situ after the Deeside Way became a recognised long-distance path. At Bieldside, the curving platforms remained, but the station buildings were demolished. At West Cults, a single granite platform stands as testimony to the lost era of the “subbies” on the line.
The walkway continues along the old trackbed through the platforms of Cults station, which remained open with the rest of the line after the suburban stations closed. By the 1970s the main station buildings remained in use for storage, and it continues to be utilised as a workshop.
At Pitfodels too, the refurbished main station building survives, along with the overgrown platforms.
Long in private ownership, the station was subject to a major renovation project in 2012 which saw it turned into a four-bedroom house.
Closer to Aberdeen, the trackbed and platforms remain at Ruthrieston and Holburn Street as part of the Deeside Walkway, which ends in the winter gardens at Duthie Park rather than the main railway station in Guild Street where Deeside trains once terminated.
The trains may be long gone, but the Deeside Way gives visitors a welcome taste of the atmosphere of the old line, with its Victorian heritage, stunning views and links to Balmoral Castle.
It’s not quite the same as jumping on a steam train for the 41-mile journey as we could have done in Queen Victoria’s day, but it’s a marvellous opportunity to enjoy a scenic area of Aberdeenshire and step back in time on one of the north-east’s most picturesque railway lines.
DEESIDE RAILWAY
Authorised (Ferryhill – Banchory) 28/5/1852
Leased to the GNoSR 1/9/1866, merged with the GNoSR 1/8/1875
ABOYNE EXTENSION RAILWAY
Authorised (Banchory – Aboyne) 27/7/1857
Merged with the GNoSR 1/8/1875
ABOYNE & BRAEMAR RAILWAY
Authorised (Aboyne – Ballater) 5/7/1865
Merged with the GNoSR 31/1/1876
Opened
Ferryhill – Banchory 8/9/1853*
Banchory – Aboyne 2/12/1859
Aboyne – Ballater 17/10/1866
*: A section of the line was later doubled: Ferryhill – Cults 14/6/1864, Cults – Murtle 13/7/1892, Murtle – Culter 24/9/1892 and Culter- Park 28/8/1899. The entire length was singled again in March 1960.
Closed
Aberdeen (Ferryhill Junction – Ballater) P 28/2/66 G/CC 18/7/66
Stations
1 FERRYHILL (P/G/CC 2/8/1854)*
2 HOLBURN STREET (P/CC 5/4/37) no goods
3 RUTHRIESTON (P/CC 5/4/37) no goods
4 PITFODELS (P/CC 5/4/37) no goods
(RN PITFODELS HALT and unstaffed 16/7/26)
5 CULTS (G 15/6/64 P/CC 28/2/66)
6 WEST CULTS (P/CC 5/4/37) no goods
7 BIELDSIDE (P/CC 5/4/37) no goods
8 MURTLE (P/G/CC 5/4/37) unstaffed 16/3/31
9 MILLTIMBER (P/G/CC 5/4/37)
10 CULTER (P 28/2/66 G/CC 2/1/67)
11 DRUM (P/G/CC 10/9/51)
12 PARK (G 15/6/64 P/CC 28/2/66)
13 MILLS OF DRUM (P/CC 1863) no goods*
14 CRATHES (G 15/6/64 P/CC 28/2/66)*
15 BANCHORY (P 28/2/66 G/CC 18/7/66)*
16 DEE STREET HALT (P/CC 28/2/66) no goods
17 GLASSEL (G 15/6/64 P/CC 28/2/66) unstaffed 1/7/60
18 TORPHINS (G 29/3/65 P/CC 28/2/66)
19 LUMPHANAN (G 15/6/64 P/CC 28/2/66)
20 DESS (G 1/7/60 P/CC 28/2/66) unstaffed 1/7/60
21 ABOYNE (P 28/2/66 G/CC 18/7/66)
22 DINNET (G 15/6/64 P/CC 28/2/66)
23 CAMBUS O’MAY (P 28/2/66 G/CC 18/7/66) unstaffed 1952*
24 BALLATER (P 28/2/66 G/CC 18/7/66)*
*1: Closed completely when all traffic was transferred to the Aberdeen Railway’s new terminus at Guild Street
*13: Closed in 1863 and replaced by new Crathes station on site of private platform built to serve the castle.
*14: Originally a private platform serving Crathes Castle. Replaced in 1863 by new Crathes station. Unstaffed 1/7/60.
*15: Original terminus P/CC 2/12/1859 (no goods) and replaced by new station on the extension.
*23: Also known as Cambus o’ May Halt.
*24: About 1.25m of track was laid beyond Ballater as part of an original plan to take the railway as far as Bridge of Gairn, where a tramway was planned to exploit the timber in Ballochbuie Forest. But construction was suspended and the tramway plans shelved. In August 2000 the Royal Deeside Railway Preservation Society submitted plans for a reinstated railway between Banchory and Milton of Crathes. The scheme was authorised on 10/6/03 and work started at the Milton end shortly afterwards.
Station openings
Cults, Murtle, Culter, Park, Mills of Drum, Crathes and Banchory opened with the line in 1853. Glassel, Torphins, Lumphanan, Dess and Aboyne opened with the extension in 1859. Dinnet and Ballater opened when the line was completed in 1866.
Between Aberdeen and Banchory, Ferryhill opened in 4/1850, Milltimber and Drum in 1854, Ruthrieston in 1856, Holborn Street, Pitfodels and West Cults in 1894, and Bieldside in 1897. Elsewhere on the line, Cambus o’ May opened in 1876 and Dee Street Halt in 2/1961.
Closures
Ferryhill closed completely on 2/8/1854 when all traffic was transferred to the Aberdeen Railway’s new terminus at Guild Street. Mills of Drum closed completely in 1863 and was replaced by Crathes station.
Holburn Street, Ruthrieston, Pitfodels, West Cults, Bieldside, Murtle and Milltimber all closed completely in 1937 when passenger services were withdrawn. Only Murtle and Milltimber had goods services.
