Gollanfield Junction railway station

Gollanfield Junction was a railway station located at Gollanfield, to the west of Nairn, Scotland, (now in the Highland Council Area). Opened in 1855 by the Inverness and Nairn Railway, it was initially named Fort George after the military base nearby.[1]

Gollanfield Junction
LocationGollanfield, Highland
Scotland
Platforms2
Other information
StatusDisused
History
Original companyInverness and Nairn Railway
Pre-groupingHighland Railway
Post-groupingLondon, Midland and Scottish Railway
Key dates
7 November 1855Opened as Fort George
1 July 1899Renamed Gollanfield Junction
March 1959Renamed Gollanfield
3 May 1965Closed

In July 1899 the Highland Railway opened a direct branch to Fort George (which was actually sited in the village of Ardersier). With the opening of the branch, the station was renamed Gollanfield Junction. Passenger services on the branch were withdrawn in 1943 and it closed to all traffic in August 1958.[2] The following year, the station was renamed Gollanfield by British Railways.[1]

Goods traffic at the station ceased in May 1964 and it was closed to passenger traffic on 3 May 1965 (along with all the other remaining stations between Nairn & Inverness) as a result of the Beeching Axe.[1]

Most of the buildings were subsequently demolished after closure, but the station house remain standing and is used as a private residence. A single line remains in use by passenger trains between Inverness, Elgin and Aberdeen.[3]

Accident

In 1953, a head-on collision between an eastbound Inverness to Keith passenger train and a westbound freight train just west of the station resulted in the deaths of three train crew (both drivers and the passenger train fireman) and injuries to three passengers & the goods train fireman.[4] The driver of the freight train was held culpable for the accident for failing to regulate the speed of his train on approach to the station, though the station signalman was also censured for lowering the home signal prematurely and thus misleading the driver into thinking the starting signal ahead would also be clear.

References
  1. "Disused Stations - Gollanfield"Disused Stations Site Record; Retrieved 17 August 2016
  2. "Railscot - Fort George Branch". www.railbrit.co.uk. Retrieved 17 August 2016.
  3. "Gollanfield Junction railway station (site), Highland" Thompson, Nigel Geograph.org; Retrieved 17 August 2016
  4. "Report on the Collision which occurred on 9th June 1953 near Gollanfield Junction in the Scottish Region, British Railways" The Railways Archive; Retrieved 17 August 2016
Preceding station Historical railways Following station
Nairn
Line and station open		   Highland Railway
Inverness and Nairn Railway		   Dalcross
Line open; station closed
Disused railways
Terminus   Highland Railway
Fort George branch line		   Fort George
Line and station closed


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