Moffat railway station was a
station and the terminus of a short branch line which served
Moffat
Moffat ( gd, Mofad) is a burgh and parish in Dumfriesshire, now part of the Dumfries and Galloway local authority area in Scotland. It lies on the River Annan, with a population of around 2,500. It was a centre of the wool trade and a spa town.
...
, in the
Scottish county of
Dumfries and Galloway. It was served by trains from the junction at the now closed
Beattock.
History
When the
Caledonian Railway
The Caledonian Railway (CR) was a major Scottish railway company. It was formed in the early 19th century with the objective of forming a link between English railways and Glasgow. It progressively extended its network and reached Edinburgh an ...
was authorised on 31 July 1845, its route was constrained by the difficult terrain of the
Southern Uplands
The Southern Uplands ( gd, Na Monaidhean a Deas) are the southernmost and least populous of mainland Scotland's three major geographic areas (the other two being the Central Lowlands and the Grampian Mountains and the Highlands, as illustrate ...
, and it followed the Evan Water through Beattock. Moffat was already an important spa town, but the topography prevented it from being directly connected.
[C J A Robertson, ''The Origins of the Scottish Railway System, 1722 - 1844'', John Donald Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh, 1983, ] From 1878 a hydropathic establishment was founded in the town, making use of the thermal springs there.
[David Ross, ''The Caledonian: Scotland's Imperial Railway: A History'', Stenlake Publishing Limited, Catrine, 2014, ][John Thomas revised J S Paterson, ''A Regional History of the Railways of Great Britain: Volume 6, Scotland, the Lowlands and the Borders'', David and Charles, Newton Abbot, 1984, ]
When the Caledonian Railway declined to build a branch line, local interests considered a railway connection to be advantageous, and promoted a branch line. The Moffat Railway was incorporated on 27 June 1881 with capital of £25,330.
[Ross says the line cost £16,000, citing the Glasgow Herald newspaper of 5 May 1881. This may have been an optimistic publicity statement.] The authorised capital needed to be extended (by Act of 19 June 1882) in order to allow an extension to the Caledonian Railway's Beattock station: the original intention was to join the railway some distance north of the station, but the modification resulted in the line running parallel with the Caledonian Railway main line to the Beattock station.
The line opened on 2 April 1883. It was leased to the Caledonian Railway and worked by them. The Moffat Railway was absorbed by the Caledonian by Act of 11 May 1889, with effect from on 11 November 1889.
[
The line was only 1 mile and 71 chains (3 km) in length, with no intermediate stations; the passenger train journey took between four and six minutes. Kinnear, Moodie and Co. of Edinburgh were the contractors for the station buildings, goods shed, and signal boxes.][Storrar, Page 157] The station was licensed for the sale of wines and spirits and had a John Menzies bookstall on the platform.[Storrar, Page 158]
The spa town visitors had at first a service of twelve to fifteen three coach trains per day. In around 1926 this service was replaced by the 'Moffat Bus' or 'Puffer' steam railcar that worked the line until circa 1948. The first train of the day from Beattock was the 6.45am that also took loaded or empty wagons to Moffat as required.[ The fare in the 1940s was 2d. one way, 3d. return.
]
The station site
The last passenger train from Moffat was the 3.05pm on 6 December 1954 and the last railtour was on 29 March 1964; the line closed to goods traffic on 6 April 1964.[ The station and goods shed were demolished and what survives (2004) is an embankment, the abutments of a railway bridge at the southern end of the town, the aptly named 'Station Park', a short section of platform and the station toilets that stood near the platform end.
]
Stationmasters
*Thomas Cowan 1884 - 1891 (formerly station master at Beattock)
*Thomas Bryden 1891 - 1895 (formerly station master at Lanark, afterwards station master at Douglas)
*Walter Smith 1894 - 1924
*William Russell from 1924 (formerly station master at Beattock)
*William Hall 1931 - 1933 (afterwards station master at Crieff)
*C. Dunbar 1933 - 1944
*James Burns from 1944
References
Notes
Sources
* Butt, R. V. J. (1995). ''The Directory of Railway Stations: details every public and private passenger station, halt, platform and stopping place, past and present (1st ed.)''. Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. . OCLC 60251199.
* Storrar, J. (2010). ''Moffat Miscellany V.3. A Moffat Bedside Book.'' Moffat : Jim Storrar. {{ISBN, 978-0-9558952-2-7.
External links
Moffat Station
Disused railway stations in Dumfries and Galloway
Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1883
Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1954
Former Caledonian Railway stations
Railway lines opened in 1883
Moffat