Alford Valley Railway (GNoSR)

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Alford Valley Railway (GNoSR)
Overview
LocaleScotland
Dates of operation23 March 1859–30 July 1866
SuccessorGreat North of Scotland Railway
Technical
Track gauge1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in)
  • v
  • t
Alford Valley
Railway
Legend
 Alford Alford Valley Railway
Alford Valley Railway
Whitehouse
summit
 Tillyfourie
Monymusk
Kemnay
Paradise siding
Ratchill siding
Aberdeen–Inverness line
to Inverness
Kintore
Aberdeen–Inverness line
to Aberdeen

The Alford Valley Railway is a historic railway in Scotland that ran between Alford and Kintore. The company was formed in 1856, the line was opened in 1859, and it was absorbed by the Great North of Scotland Railway in 1866. It was closed to passengers in 1949 and to goods in 1965.

History[]

The construction of the Alford Valley Railway began in 1856 and the line opened in 1859. It ran in a westerly direction from Kintore, a station on the line from Aberdeen to Inverness. The line served Kemnay Quarry and three other granite quarries in the area. The summit of the line is just west of Tillyfourie at 618 feet (188 m) where a mile-long cutting 30 feet (9.1 m) deep required cutting through particularly hard granite. The train took just over an hour for the 16 mile journey and until 1883 by law the third class fare on one train a day could not be more than a penny per mile.[1]

On 30 July 1866, the GNoSR obtained an Act of Parliament authorising it to amalgamate with several associated railways, including the Alford Valley Railway, Keith and Dufftown Railway, and the Strathspey Railway; this took place on 1 August 1866.[2][3]

Two unadvertised halts were later opened for workmen at Paradise Siding and Ratchill (or Ratch-Hill) Siding between Kenmay and Kintore but both were closed in the late 1930s.[4] In 1923 GNoSR was incorporated into the London and North Eastern Railway and in 1948 became part of the Scottish Region of British Railways. The line closed to passengers on 31 December 1949 [5] and to goods on 31 December 1965.[6]

Current operations[]

Main article: Alford Valley Railway

Apart from a short section at Alford which has been reopened as the narrow gauge Alford Valley Railway, the remainder of the line has been dismantled.

Connections to other lines[]

References[]

Notes[]

  1. ^ Jackson, D. (2006). Rails to Alford. Great North of Scotland Railway Association. p. 33. ISBN 978 0902343191.
  2. ^ Awdry 1990, p. 140.
  3. ^ Vallance 1991, p. 65.
  4. ^ Private and Untimetabled Railway Stations by G.Croughton and others ISBN 0 85361 281 1
  5. ^ "The Press and Journal". 3 January 1950: 6. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  6. ^ "The Press and Journal". 3 January 1966: 7. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)

Sources[]

  • Awdry, Christopher (1990). Encyclopaedia of British Railway Companies. Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 1-8526-0049-7. OCLC 19514063. CN 8983.
  • 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. ISBN 978-1-85260-508-7. OCLC 60251199.
  • Jowett, Alan (March 1989). Jowett's Railway Atlas of Great Britain and Ireland: From Pre-Grouping to the Present Day (1st ed.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 978-1-85260-086-0. OCLC 22311137.
  • Vallance, H.A. (1991) [1965]. The Great North of Scotland Railway. Nairn: David St John Thomas. ISBN 0-946537-60-7.
  • Jackson, Dick (2006). Rails to Alford. Great North of Scotland Railway Association. ISBN 0-902343-14-9.
  • "RAILSCOT on Alford Valley Railway". Retrieved 7 June 2011.
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