Bridge of Orchy railway station

Bridge of Orchy railway station is a railway station in the village of Bridge of Orchy in the west of Scotland. This station is on the West Highland Line. Being an island platform, access is via a subway.

Bridge of Orchy Scottish Gaelic: Drochaid Urchaidh[1]
Location	Bridge of Orchy, Argyll and Bute Scotland
Coordinates	56.5162°N 4.7642°W
Grid reference	NN300394
Managed by	Abellio ScotRail
Platforms	2
Other information
Station code	BRO
History
Original company	West Highland Railway
Pre-grouping	North British Railway
Post-grouping	LNER
Key dates
7 August 1894	Opened
Passengers
2015/16	5,880
2016/17	5,680
2017/18	6,032
2018/19	6,490
2019/20	5,906
Listed Building – Category B
Designated	15 November 1979
Reference no.	LB13072[2]
Notes
Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

History

Bridge of Orchy station in the 1980s

This station opened by the West Highland Railway on 7 August 1894.[3]

The station was laid out with a crossing loop around an island platform and sidings on the east side of the station.

The station was host to a LNER camping coach from 1935 to 1939 and possibly one for some of 1934.[4]

On 1 February 1987, the crossing loop was altered to right-hand running. The original Down platform has thus become the Up platform, and vice versa. The change was made in order to simplify shunting at this station, by removing the need to hand-pump the train-operated loop points to access the sidings.

Signalling

The signal box, which had 16 levers, was situated at the south end of the island platform. From the time of its opening in 1894, the West Highland Railway was worked throughout by the electric token system.

In 1967, the method of working between Crianlarich and Rannoch was changed to the Scottish Region Tokenless block system. The Up loop at Bridge of Orchy was signalled for running in either direction and the signal box was able to 'switch out' when not required.

In August 1985, the method of working between Crianlarich and Rannoch reverted to the electric token block system. The semaphore signals were removed on 24 November 1985 in preparation for the introduction of Radio Electronic Token Block (RETB).

The RETB system was commissioned by British Rail between Upper Tyndrum and Fort William Junction on 29 May 1988. This resulted in the closure of Bridge of Orchy signal box (amongst others). The RETB is controlled from a Signalling Centre at Banavie railway station.

The Train Protection & Warning System was installed in 2003.

Station building

The station building is now used as a bunkhouse for those walking the West Highland Way.

Services

Monday to Saturday, northbound, Bridge of Orchy has three services to Mallaig and one service to Fort William (the Highland Caledonian Sleeper). Southbound, there are three services to Glasgow Queen Street and one service to London Euston (Highland Caledonian Sleeper, Saturdays excepted).

On Sundays, there is just one service northbound to Mallaig all year, with a second in the summer months only (May to late October), one service southbound to Glasgow Queen Street (two in summer) and one service (the Highland Caledonian Sleeper) to London Euston. This can also be used by regular travellers to both Glasgow Queen Street (L.L) and Edinburgh Waverley on all evenings that it runs, as it is booked to set down at both stations and carries seating coaches as far as Edinburgh.[5]

Locality

The Bridge of Orchy Hotel is opposite the end of the road down from the station.

References

Notes

1. Brailsford 2017, Gaelic/English Station Index.
2. Historic Environment Scotland. "BRIDGE OF ORCHY STATION INCLUDING SIGNAL BOX, SUBWAY AND RAILINGS (LB13072)". Retrieved 15 April 2019.
3. Butt (1995), page 43
4. McRae (1997), page 11
5. Table 227 National Rail timetable, May 2016

Sources

• Brailsford, Martyn, ed. (December 2017) [1987]. Railway Track Diagrams 1: Scotland & Isle of Man (6th ed.). Frome: Trackmaps. ISBN 978-0-9549866-9-8.
• 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.
• McRae, Andrew (1997). British Railway Camping Coach Holidays: The 1930s & British Railways (London Midland Region). Scenes from the Past: 30 (Part One). Foxline. ISBN 1-870119-48-7.

Further reading

• 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.