Garmouth railway station was a

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

Garmouth Garmouth ( gd, Geàrr Magh narrow plain" spurious gd, Gairmeach, A' Ghairmich; sco, Gairmou', Garmo), is a village in Moray, north east Scotland. It is situated close to the mouth of the River Spey and the coast of the Moray Firth at nearby ...

, parish of Urquhart,

Moray Moray () gd, Moireibh or ') is one of the 32 local government council areas of Scotland. It lies in the north-east of the country, with a coastline on the Moray Firth, and borders the council areas of Aberdeenshire and Highland. Between 1975 ...

. The railway station was opened by the

Great North of Scotland Railway The Great North of Scotland Railway (GNSR) was one of the two smallest of the five major Scottish railway companies prior to the 1923 Grouping, operating in the north-east of the country. Formed in 1845, it carried its first passengers the fr ...

(GNoSR) on its Moray Firth coast line in 1884, served by

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

to Elgin trains. It served the villages of Kingston-on-Spey and

and closed to regular passenger traffic on 6 May 1968 on the same date as the line itself. In 1923 the GNoSR 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 ...

and at nationalisation in 1948 became part of

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 ...

. The line was recommended for closure by

Dr Beeching Richard Beeching, Baron Beeching (21 April 1913 – 23 March 1985), commonly known as Dr Beeching, was a physicist and engineer who for a short but very notable time was chairman of British Railways. He became a household name in Britain in the ...

's report "The Reshaping of British Railways" and closed on 6 May 1968.

History

Background

In 1881 the

put a bill to parliament to extend its

Portsoy Portsoy ( gd, Port Saoidh) is a town in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. Historically, Portsoy was in Banffshire. The original name may come from ''Port Saoithe'', meaning "saithe harbour". Portsoy is located on the Moray Firth coast of northeast Scotlan ...

line along the

Moray Firth The Moray Firth (; Scottish Gaelic: ''An Cuan Moireach'', ''Linne Mhoireibh'' or ''Caolas Mhoireibh'') is a roughly triangular inlet (or firth) of the North Sea, north and east of Inverness, which is in the Highland council area of north of Scotl ...

as far as

Buckie Buckie ( gd, Bucaidh) is a burgh town (defined as such in 1888) on the Moray Firth coast of Scotland. Historically in Banffshire, Buckie was the largest town in the county until the administrative area was abolished in 1975. The town is the ...

. In 1882 the Great North of Scotland applied for permission to build a line from

following the coast to

and then running on to Elgin.

Great North of Scotland Railway

The GNoSR station opened as Garmouth on 12 August 1884 and to goods on 5 May 1886 with the central section of the coast line, served by through Aberdeen to Elgin trains. In 1923 the Great North of Scotland Railway was absorbed by the

. This company was nationalised in 1948, and services were then provided by

. The station and line was recommended for closure by

's in his report "The Reshaping of British Railways" and closed on 6 May 1968.

Services

The GNoSR station was served by through trains a day between Aberdeen to Elgin. There were no Sunday services.

The station infrastructure

Garmouth station had one platform with a typical wooden station building and what appear to be additional toilet buildings on either end. A stationmaster's house sits just beyond the Urquhart end of the platform. A crane stood in the goods yard and a storage hut was located on the platform. The 1903 OS map shows that a considerable number of changes took place with a reduction from two to one platform, the removal of a passing loop, an overbridge and two signal boxes. A goods shed and weighing machine are shown with what may have been a bay platform on the

Spey Bay Spey Bay ( gd, Inbhir Spè) is a small settlement in Moray, Scotland. It is situated at the eastern side of the mouth of the River Spey on the coast of the Moray Firth between the village of Kingston on the western side of the Spey, and the f ...

end. A small shelter is shown on the second platform together with one of the signal boxes.Elginshire, Sheet 009.09. Publication date : 1905. Revised: ca. 1903
/ref> The station was host to a

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 typ ...

camping coach Camping coaches were holiday accommodation offered by many railway companies in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland from the 1930s. The coaches were old passenger vehicles no longer suitable for use in trains, which were converted to ...

from 1935 and 1936 and possibly one for some of 1934. A photograph taken in 1960 may show the grass covered second platform edge with no passing loop and the 1957 OS map confirms this.NJ36. Publication date: 1957
/ref> The Moray Coast line was predominantly single track apart from a double track section between

and Portessie. Track lifting took place shortly after closure in 1968.

The Speyside Way

The Spey Viaduct formerly carried the Moray Coast railway over the

River Spey The River Spey (Scottish Gaelic: Uisge Spè) is a river in the northeast of Scotland. At it is the eighth longest river in the United Kingdom, as well as the second longest and fastest-flowing river in Scotland. It is important for salmon fishi ...

to Spey Bay station and beyond, however it now serves walkers using the

Speyside Way The Speyside Way (Doric: '; gd, Slighe Shrath Spe) is a long-distance path in the Scottish Highlands. The route begins in Buckie and ends at Newtonmore, away. There is an optional spur leading off the main route to Tomintoul, adding and of as ...

that runs from

Aviemore Aviemore (; gd, An Aghaidh Mhòr ) is a town and tourist resort, situated within the Cairngorms National Park in the Highlands of Scotland. It is in the Badenoch and Strathspey committee area, within the Highland council area. The town is popul ...

Buckpool Buckpool is a village on the coast of Moray, Scotland. Originally known as Nether Buckie, it is now effectively a part of the town of Buckie as the nearby fishing settlements merged as they expanded. Buckpool Harbour was built in 1857 by local la ...

old harbour.

References

Footnotes

Sources

* * * * * * *

External links

The Spey Viaduct videoPhotograph of Garmouth station.
{{Portal, Scotland Former Great North of Scotland Railway stations Disused railway stations in Moray Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1884 Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1968 Beeching closures in Scotland