Mills of Drum railway station was opened in September 1853 by the

Deeside Railway The Deeside Railway was a passenger and goods railway between Aberdeen and Ballater in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. Opening in 1853 to Banchory, an extension reached Aboyne in 1859. A separate company, the Aboyne & Braemar Railway, built an extens ...

and served the rural area around Park House and Crathes estates at the Mills of Drum or Drum Mills, corn mills, that lay close to the River Dee. The

was taken over by the GNoSR in the 1860s. Mills of Drum only remained open until 1863 as an intermediate station on the

that ran from Aberdeen (Joint) to

Ballater Ballater (, gd, Bealadair) is a village in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, on the River Dee, immediately east of the Cairngorm Mountains. Situated at an elevation of , Ballater is a centre for hikers and known for its spring water, once said to cure ...

. Mills of Drum station was located in Deeside,

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 ...

, Scotland.

History

The short single-platform station was opened in 1853 and stood on the single track line with a level crossing to the west and a toll gate on the nearby road. By 1903 the site had been renamed Mills of Crathes. The station name is recorded on the 1855 maps It stood 13 miles or 21 km from Aberdeen. The Deeside branch at first was operated by the

. The line became itself became part of the GNoSR and at grouping merged with 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 ...

. The line was closed to passengers on 28 February 1966. The line has been lifted and extensive sections form part of the

Deeside Way The Deeside Way is a rail trail that follows, in part, the bed of the former Deeside Railway in Aberdeenshire. Forming part of the National Cycle Network (National Route 195) the trail leads from Aberdeen to Ballater. The route The pathway r ...

long-distance footpath.

Infrastructure

The station only had a short single platform on the single track line without any sidings or passing loop, etc.1864-1871 - ORDNANCE SURVEY - Six-inch 1st edition maps of Scotland
/ref>

Services

The station was closed after a short life, however the line remained open for passenger services until 1966. Initially three trains a day ran, operated by the Aberdeen Railway, with only one locomotive available. The Deeside Railway purchased its own rolling stock which were in service by summer 1854.

The site today

The station has been demolished and the track lifted. The Deeside long-distance path runs through the old station site. The

Royal Deeside Railway The Royal Deeside Railway is a Scottish heritage railway located at Milton of Crathes railway station on a part of the original Deeside Railway. Original Railway Originally constructed between 1853 and 1866, the Deeside Railway ran between ...

is located at

Milton of Crathes Milton of Crathes is a complex of restored 17th-century stone buildings,United Kingdom Ordnance Survey Map Landranger 45, Stonehaven and Banchory, 1:50,000 scale, 2004 associated with, and previously an outlier of, Crathes Castle in Aberdeenshire, ...

down the line towards

References

Sources

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External links

Film of the station and the Deeside line.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mills of Drum Railway Station Disused railway stations in Aberdeenshire Former Great North of Scotland Railway stations Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1853 Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1863