Auchterless railway station was a railway station in

Auchterless Auchterless ( gd, Uachdar Leasa, meaning the "Upper Part of Less") is a village in Aberdeenshire, Scotland; grid reference NJ 713 416, postcode AB53 8BG. The nearest large settlement is Turriff. It is traditionally known as "Kirkton of Auchterl ...

Aberdeenshire Aberdeenshire ( sco, Aiberdeenshire; gd, Siorrachd Obar Dheathain) is one of the 32 Subdivisions of Scotland#council areas of Scotland, council areas of Scotland. It takes its name from the County of Aberdeen which has substantially differe ...

. It served the rural area, the estate of Towie Barclay and a settlement known as

Kirkton of Auchterless Auchterless ( gd, Uachdar Leasa, meaning the "Upper Part of Less") is a village in Aberdeenshire, Scotland; grid reference NJ 713 416, postcode AB53 8BG. The nearest large settlement is Turriff. It is traditionally known as "Kirkton of Auchterle ...

stands away. It was opened in 1857 by the Banff Macduff & Turriff Junction Railway, later part of the Great North of Scotland Railway, then the

LNER LNER may refer to: *London and North Eastern Railway, a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1923 until 1947 *London North Eastern Railway, a train operating company in the United Kingdom since 2018 * Liquid neutral earthing resistor, a type ...

and finally

British Railways British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most of the overground rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the Big Four British rai ...

, on the branchline from

Inveramsay Balquhain, also known as Balquhain Stone Circle, is a recumbent stone circle from Inverurie in Scotland. It is a scheduled ancient monument. Description and measurements It is located in farmland at an altitude of c. on a terraced hillside lea ...

to Macduff, the station closed to passengers in 1951 and to goods in 1966. The station lay below Gallowhill and the town lay to the north-east.

History

Opened by the Banff, Macduff and Turriff Junction Railway, then part of the Great North of Scotland Railway it became part of the

London and North Eastern Railway The London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) was the second largest (after LMS) of the " Big Four" railway companies created by the Railways Act 1921 in Britain. It operated from 1 January 1923 until nationalisation on 1 January 1948. At th ...

during the

Grouping Grouping may refer to: * Muenchian grouping * Principles of grouping * Railways Act 1921, also known as Grouping Act, a reorganisation of the British railway system * Grouping (firearms), the pattern of multiple shots from a sidearm See also ...

of 1923, passing on to the

Scottish Region of British Railways The Scottish Region (ScR) was one of the six regions created on British Railways (BR) and consisted of ex-London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) and ex-London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) lines in Scotland. It existed from the creation o ...

during the

nationalisation Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately-owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization usually refers to pri ...

of 1948. It was then closed by

with passenger services withdrawn after 30 September 1951.

Infrastructure

The station lay from

and stood at above sea level. Two signal boxes were eventually located here, designated 'South' and 'North'. They were both opened on 28 March 1892 and were closed on 28 March 1933.McLeish, p.79 The station originally had two stone built platforms with a small wooden shelter on one side and a typical brick built ticket office and waiting room on the other northbound platform. A footbridge crossed the passing loop to the north of the station buildings, and a signal box stood next to the level crossing. The signal box to the south closed in 1933, whilst the box to the north remained as a gate box for the level crossing until 1966. The passing loop and second platform, footbridge, etc were removed before passenger services ceased to reduce maintenance costs. The station house and cottage stood to the north.Aberdeenshire XIX.15 (Auchterless; Fyvie; Monquhitter; Turriff). Publication date:1926. Revised:1925 Levelled:1900
/ref> The goods station stood to the south on the western side of the single track line and was approached from the south. The goods yard in 1900 had three sidings, a shed and a loading dock with some ancillary buildings. The goods yard had a crane and a weighing machine.

Remains

The main station survives in altered form as a private dwelling and the railway cottage and house are still present.

Services

From 1926 Sunday excursion trains from Aberdeen were advertised and from 1938 they appeared in the timetables. In 1932 passenger trains stopped at all the stations with five a day in each direction. Although regular passengers services ceased in 1951 a SLS/RCTS Joint Scottish Tour visited Turriff on 13 June 1960 and another excursion ran in 1965. In WWII fuel oil was transported to Turriff and was then piped to Ministry of Defence storage tanks which supplied local airfields.McLeish, p.62 By 1948 four return trips a day were made as the coal supply situation had improved. Another severe coal shortage occurred in 1951 and the passenger service ceased despite protests.McLeish, p.63 All trains stopped at Auchterless.

References

Notes

Sources

* * * McLeish, Duncan (2014). ''Rails to Banff, Macduff and Oldmeldrum.'' Pub. GNoSRA. {{ISBN, 978-0902343-26-9.

External links

RAILSCOT on Banff, Macduff and Turriff Junction Railway
Disused railway stations in Aberdeenshire Former Great North of Scotland Railway stations Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1857 Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1951 1857 establishments in Scotland 1951 disestablishments in Scotland