Lochearnhead is a former

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 ...

in the village of

Lochearnhead Lochearnhead (Scottish Gaelic: Ceann Loch Èireann) is a village in Perthshire on the A84 Stirling to Crianlarich road at the foot of Glen Ogle, north of the Highland Boundary Fault. It is situated at the western end of Loch Earn where the A85 ...

Perthshire Perthshire (locally: ; gd, Siorrachd Pheairt), officially the County of Perth, is a historic county and registration county in central Scotland. Geographically it extends from Strathmore in the east, to the Pass of Drumochter in the north, ...

. It opened in 1904 as part of the Comrie, St Fillans & Lochearnhead Railway, but closed in 1951. Since 1962, the station has been used as a

Scout Scout may refer to: Youth movement *Scout (Scouting), a child, usually 10–18 years of age, participating in the worldwide Scouting movement **Scouts (The Scout Association), section for 10-14 year olds in the United Kingdom **Scouts BSA, sectio ...

centre for youth adventurous activities.

History

The first station named Lochearnhead was actually at

Balquhidder Balquhidder (; gd, Both Chuidir or ) is a small village in Perthshire located north-west of Callander. It is administered by the Stirling council area of Scotland and is overlooked by the dramatic mountain terrain of the 'Braes of Balquhidde ...

about south of the village, which opened as part of the

Callander and Oban Railway The Callander and Oban Railway company was established with the intention of linking the sea port of Oban to the railway network. This involved a long line from Callander through wild and thinly populated terrain, and shortage of money meant that ...

on 1 June 1870,Butt (1995) In October 1901, the first stretch of the Comrie, St Fillans & Lochearnhead Railway opened between

Comrie Comrie may refer to: Places *Comrie (crater), a lunar crater *Comrie, Fife, a village in Fife, Scotland *Comrie, Perth and Kinross, a village and parish in Strathearn, Scotland People with the surname *Aaron Comrie (born 1997), Scottish footballer ...

and

St Fillans St Fillans is a village in Perthshire in the central highlands of Scotland, in the council area of Perth and Kinross. The village lies at the eastern end of Loch Earn, west of Comrie on the A85 road, at the point where the River Earn leaves t ...

. In order to reach Lochearnhead, the next stretch of line had to pass through a tunnel and cross numerous

viaduct A viaduct is a specific type of bridge that consists of a series of arches, piers or columns supporting a long elevated railway or road. Typically a viaduct connects two points of roughly equal elevation, allowing direct overpass across a wide v ...

s, the largest being one that crosses

Glen Ogle Glen Ogle (Scottish Gaelic: Gleann Ogail) extends 7 miles north westwards from Lochearnhead to Lix Toll, where it opens into Glen Dochart. The Ogle Burn flows within the steep sides of the glen, from the Lochan Lairig Cheile at the glen's head. ...

, which has nine concrete arches, each with a span. The projected cost of that section was £113,000. The line opened on 1 May 1904, with the new station in Lochearnhead village commencing scheduled passenger services on 1 July, when the old station was renamed Balquhidder railway station. Lochearnhead and Balquhidder were finally connected in May 1905, with a service of three trains daily, each requiring four coupled

tank engine A tank locomotive or tank engine is a steam locomotive that carries its water in one or more on-board water tanks, instead of a more traditional tender. Most tank engines also have bunkers (or fuel tanks) to hold fuel; in a tender-tank locomot ...

s to negotiate the steep rise to Balquhidder with gradients of up to 1:60. Situated on the western side of the village, the station has an

island platform An island platform (also center platform, centre platform) is a station layout arrangement where a single platform is positioned between two tracks within a railway station, tram stop or transitway interchange. Island platforms are popular on ...

, as it formed a

passing loop A passing loop (UK usage) or passing siding (North America) (also called a crossing loop, crossing place, refuge loop or, colloquially, a hole) is a place on a single line railway or tramway, often located at or near a station, where trains or ...

on an otherwise single-tracked line; the canopied platforms being accessed through a pedestrian tunnel. A

goods yard A goods station (also known as a goods yard or goods depot) or freight station is, in the widest sense, a railway station where, either exclusively or predominantly, goods (or freight), such as merchandise, parcels, and manufactured items, are lo ...

was on the west side of the station, and to the south, there was a

signal box In signal processing, a signal is a function that conveys information about a phenomenon. Any quantity that can vary over space or time can be used as a signal to share messages between observers. The ''IEEE Transactions on Signal Processing'' ...

which was tall enough for the signalman to see over the station building, but this closed in 1921. The station was on closed on 1 July 1917, but reopened on 1 February 1919. The line closed to freight traffic in 1950,Mather (2017) and was finally closed for passengers on 1 October 1951. However, the track was later reopened for use in the construction of the

Breadalbane Hydro-Electric Scheme The Breadalbane Hydro-Electric Scheme is a hydroelectric scheme in the Breadalbane area of Perthshire, Scotland. It comprises seven power stations which generate 120MW of power from the dams around Loch Lyon, Loch Earn and Loch Tay. History ...

until 1959.

Routes

Lochearnhead Scout Station

In 1960, Hertfordshire Scout County obtained a lease on the station from

British Rail 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 ...

, for the conversion of the building into a base for adventurous activities. The Scout Station was opened on 4 August 1962, by the Chief Scout of The Scout Association, Sir Charles Maclean. Following a fundraising appeal and grants from

Hertfordshire County Council Hertfordshire County Council is the upper-tier local authority for the non-metropolitan county of Hertfordshire, in England, the United Kingdom. After the 2021 election, it consists of 78 councillors, and is controlled by the Conservative Party, ...

and the

Department of Education and Science An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...

, Hertfordshire Scouts were able to purchase the property outright in 1977. In 2005, new sleeping accommodation and a shower block were opened by the Chief Scout, Sir

Garth Morrison Sir William Garth Morrison, (8 April 1943 – 24 May 2013) was the Scout Association's Chief Scout from 1988 to 1996 and a member of the World Scout Committee from 1992 to 2002. Morrison attended Pangbourne College where he was Chief Cadet ...

and in 2019, the centre won the National Railway Heritage Award for its restoration of the platform canopy.

References

Notes

Sources

* * {{cite book , last=Mather , first=Michael , date=2017 , title=Exploring Disused Railways in East Scotland , chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=W2loDgAAQBAJ&pg=PT64 , location=Stroud, Gloucestershire , publisher=Amberley Publishing , chapter=Comrie, St Fillans & Lochearnhead Railway , isbn=978-1445655673 Disused railway stations in Stirling (council area) Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1904 Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1951 Former Caledonian Railway stations The Scout Association