Stracathro railway station

Stracathro railway station served the sparsely populated rural area around the villages of Stracathro and Inchbare as well as Dunlappie and other estates in Angus, Scotland from 1896 to 1964 on the Brechin and Edzell District Railway. The station was opened as Inchbare and then renamed Dunlappie before finally being named Stracathro.

Stracathro
Location	Stracathro, Angus Scotland
Coordinates	56.779°N 2.651°W
Grid reference	NO603655
Platforms	1
Other information
Status	Disused
History
Original company	Brechin and Edzell District Railway
Pre-grouping	Caledonian Railway
Post-grouping	London, Midland and Scottish Railway
Key dates
18 November 1863	Station opened[1]
1 October 1912	Renamed Dunlappie[1]
1 November 1912	Renamed Stracathro[2]
27 April 1931	Station closed temporarily[3]
4 July 1938	Station reopened[3]
27 September 1938	Station closed to passengers[3]
7 September 1964	Station and line closed completely[3]

History

The Edzell Branch

The station opened to goods on 1 June 1896 and to passengers on 8 June 1896 on the Brechin and Edzell District Railway as Inchbare.[1][4] It was the only intermediate stop on the line to Edzell that had been built by the Forfar and Brechin Railway(F&BR)company but operated by the Caledonian Railway. The F&BR remained independent until the 1923 grouping when it was incorporated into the London, Midland and Scottish Railway.

The station, along with the line, originally closed to passengers on 27 April 1931. A resumunption of train services was trialed on 4 July 1938 but ceased two months later, on 27 September 1938, due to lack of patronage by the London, Midland and Scottish Railway. The station and line finally closed to goods traffic on 7 September 1964.[5][6]

Infrastucture

The station had a single platform on the eastern side of the line. A level crossing stood to the north, just beyond the passing loop, with a gate box for the operator and a footbridge to the station for use when the level crossing was closed to road traffic. The signal box stood on the western side about half way along the passing loop. In 1921 the loop became a siding with part of the western lifted and the approach made from the south. A station workers house stood near the level crossing.[7][8] Several sidings lay on the eastern side with a weighing machine, a crane and goods yard buildings, although no apparent rail served goods shed is present. The ticket office and waiting room was fairly substantial and stood nearer to the northern end of the platform.[9]

The site today

Few signs remain of the trackbed however on the station footprint private houses now stand and parts of the station buildings may have been incorporated into one or two of them. The old station workers house next to the road remains, standing near to the Auchenreoch House entrance lodge.

Notes

1. Butt 1995, p. 127.
2. Butt 1995, p. 85.
3. Butt 1995, p. 222.
4. Wignal (1983), Page 62
5. "Edzell Station". Canmore. Retrieved 15 March 2018.
6. Simms, W. (1985). Railways of Brechin. Angus District Libraries and Museums.
7. Forfarshire XX.13. Edzell; Menmuir; Stracathro. Publication date: 1924. Revised: 1922. Levelled: 1901
8. RailScot - Stracathro
9. Forfarshire, 027.01, Surveyed: 1901, Published: 1902

References

• 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.

External links

Preceding station	Historical railways			Following station
Brechin		Caledonian Railway Brechin and Edzell District Railway		Edzell