Tauchers Platform railway station served Glentauchers distillery,

Mulben Mulben ( gd, Am Muileann Bàn) is a hamlet situated at a crossroads that forms the intersection of the A95 road and the B9103 in the Moray council area of Scotland. It lies on the Burn of Mulben, 6.5 km (4 miles) west of Keith. Upon the ar ...

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 ...

, Scotland that had originally opened in 1897 and the hamlet of Tauchers. The single platform halt was opened by the

London, Midland and Scottish Railway The London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMSIt has been argued that the initials LMSR should be used to be consistent with LNER, GWR and SR. The London, Midland and Scottish Railway's corporate image used LMS, and this is what is generally u ...

circa 1923 on the Inverness and Aberdeen Junction Railway route for the convenience of workers at the site and for the general public from 1949. The station lay 3 miles 70 chains (6.2 km) from Keith railway station.

History

The station is generally said to have been opened at some point after 1923 and closed to passengers traffic on 7 December 1964, however the

distillery Distillation, or classical distillation, is the process of separating the components or substances from a liquid mixture by using selective boiling and condensation, usually inside an apparatus known as a still. Dry distillation is the heati ...

remained open and is still operational (datum 2018). The distillery was once connected by a single line that was served by freight trains from the west. From 23 May 1949 the halt was available to the general public. One source gives the opening date as 1922 in the final days of the Highland Railway. A 'Tauchers Halt' is shown on the 1938

Ordnance Survey , nativename_a = , nativename_r = , logo = Ordnance Survey 2015 Logo.svg , logo_width = 240px , logo_caption = , seal = , seal_width = , seal_caption = , picture = , picture_width = , picture_caption = , formed = , preceding1 = , di ...

map.

Infrastructure

The simple wooden platform had basic lighting, a simple shelter and steps that ran down from the overbridge on the northern side of the line. Tauchers may have been constructed as early as 1922, immediately before the Highland Railway became part of the London Midland and Scottish Railway.Simon Bowditch Illustrations
/ref> It served the distillery workers and the local community, etc. until 7 December 1964, freight facilities were not provided. Nothing now remains of the station, signal box or siding however the entrance and car park area is still present and the line remains open.Geograph - Tauchers Halt railway station (site), Moray
/ref> The distillery branch was operated by a signal box located near the road overbridge on its western side with two short sidings and associated points lying parallel to the main line. The single track branch to the distillery had sidings that supplied the loading dock area.Banffshire XIII.15 (Boharm; Botriphnie) Publication date: 1905 Revised: 1902
/ref>

Distillery operations

The siding at Glentauchers Distillery was circa 4 miles west of

Keith Keith may refer to: People and fictional characters * Keith (given name), includes a list of people and fictional characters * Keith (surname) * Keith (singer), American singer James Keefer (born 1949) * Baron Keith, a line of Scottish barons ...

on the line between Aberdeen and Inverness. The working timetable in the mid-1950s shows that a single daily working ran between Keith and

, leaving at 2:20pm, working the Glentauchers distillery siding until 2:50pm and then running to Mulben railway station, arriving at 2:55pm and returning to Keith for 3:25pm.

References

External links

Glentauchers Distillery video footageRailScot
{{s-end Disused railway stations in Moray Former London, Midland and Scottish Railway stations Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1923 Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1964 Beeching closures in Scotland