Milltimber railway station served the

Milltimber Milltimber is a suburb of Aberdeen, Scotland, around west of Aberdeen city centre. From 1854 to 1937 the area was served by Milltimber railway station on the Aberdeen suburban railway. Along with the nearby settlements of Cults and Bieldside, ...

area within the parish of

Peterculter Peterculter ( sco, Petercouter), also known as Culter (Scots: ''Couter''), is a suburb of Aberdeen, Scotland, about inland from Aberdeen city centre. Peterculter is on the northern banks of the River Dee, near the confluences with Crynoch ...

from 1854 to 1937 on 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 ...

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 ...

. This area at that time had a number of mansion houses, estates, etc. such as Culter House, Fairgirth House, Camphill House, Avondow House, Glasterberry House, etc. whose workers, etc. would have used the station. Milltimber was only a short distance from Murtle station. The station was named for the nearby Milltimber Farm.

History

The station was opened in January 1854 on the Deeside branch and at first its services were operated by the

. Later it 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 ...

. Milltimber is likely to have become an unstaffed halt circa 1930 and was closed to passengers on 5 April 1937. The station was probably unstaffed at the same time as Murtle with the closure of the Aberdeen suburban service, with its goods services also withdrawn. After its closure in 1937 the line itself remained open until 1966. The line has been lifted and this sections forms 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 although major roadworks have required a diversion from the route of the old trackbed. In 1899 the station had served as a post office.

Infrastructure

The station had at first a single platform on the northern side of the line with a waiting room and ticket office building that was similar to those at

Torphins Torphins ( ; gd, Tòrr Fionn) is a village in Royal Deeside, Aberdeenshire, Scotland which lies about west of Aberdeen. It is situated on the A980, about north-west of Banchory, and was once served by the Great North of Scotland Railway. W ...

Lumphanan Lumphanan ( ; gd, Lann Fhìonain) is a village in Aberdeenshire, Scotland located from Aberdeen and from Banchory. History Lumphanan is documented to be the site of the Battle of Lumphanan of 1057 AD, where Malcolm III of Scotland defeated ...

and elsewhere on the line. In 1865 the single siding was on the north-east side, approached from the east. By 1899 the line had been doubled, a stone station house was built, together with a wooden pedestrian overbridge and a signal box located on the eastbound platform with a simple wooden shelter. Two sidings, a loading dock and a weighing machine were present in the goods yard now located on the west side of the station with points and signals in the vicinity. In 1963 the station, closed since 1937, was on a single track section of line with the station house still standing together with the old station building and signal box.NJ8601-NJ8701 - AA - Surveyed/Revised: 1963, Published:1964
/ref>

Services

In 1928 the suburban railway, locally called the 'subbies' started additionally operating Sunday services to Culter however due to competition with the buses it was announced on 28 January 1937 that the service would cease altogether in April 1937, Sunday services having ceased in 1936.Doric Columns
/ref>

The site today

The much modified and enlarged stationmasters or agents house survives as a much enlarged private dwelling with one platform of Aberdeenshire granite remaining in situ, the eastbound. The

runs past the station however a diversion is now in place beyond the station due to a major new road, the Western Peripheral Route, and part of the old goods yard site has been lost. 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, ...

some distance down the line towards

References

Sources

* * Maxtone, Graham and Cooper, Mike (2018). ''Then and Now on the Great North. V.1.'' GNoSR Association. .

External links

Film of the station and the Deeside line.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Milltimber railway station Disused railway stations in Aberdeenshire Former Great North of Scotland Railway stations Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1854 Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1937