Wartle railway station

Wartle railway station was a railway station that served local farms and the nearby hamlet of Meikle Wartle, Aberdeenshire.[3][4] It was opened in 1857 by the Banff, Macduff and Turriff Junction Railway, later part of the Great North of Scotland Railway, then the LNER and finally British Railways, on the 29 ³⁄₄-mile (47.9 km) long[5] branchline from Inveramsay to Macduff. The station closed to regular passenger services in 1951 and to goods traffic in 1964.[2]

Wartle
Location	Wartle, Aberdeenshire Scotland
Grid reference	NJ720301
Platforms	1
Other information
Status	Disused
History
Original company	Banff, Macduff and Turriff Junction Railway
Pre-grouping	Great North of Scotland Railway
Key dates
5 September 1857[1]	Opened to passengers and goods
1 October 1951[1]	Closed to passengers
10 August 1964[2]	Closed to goods

History

The station was the first of the intermediate stations on the branch and lay 3 miles 48 chains (5.8 km) from the junction of the line at Inveramsay.[2] It was on the original 1857 section of the line, the line being extended to Macduff on 4 June 1860.[6] A post office stood nearby close to the level crossing.[7] It lay at 352 feet (107 m) above sea level.

Infrastructure

Wartle did not have a signal box, but photographs show that signals were present in later days. The single platform stood on the north-east side of the track and the line was single track. The station and station house were brick built in a 'U' shape with the front centre area covered at the front by a canopy. To the north-west of the station lay a level crossing. To the south-west was a goods yard with a goods shed approached from the south-east.[7][8] Several building stood in and close to the goods yard.[7] A loading dock lay parallel to one of the sidings.

Remains

The station may survive as a private house[8] however the buildings may have been demolished or greatly altered.[9]

Services

Fisherwives from 1863 paid only a single fare and half to any station on the line from Macduff, except for Wartle.[10] From 1926 Sunday excursion trains from Aberdeen were advertised and from 1938 they appeared in the timetables. One on 11 June 1927 ran on a Saturday and the return fare, Third Class, to Macduff was 3s. 0d.[11] In 1932 passenger trains stopped at all the stations with five a day in each direction.[12] Although regular passengers services ceased in 1951 a SLS/RCTS Joint Scottish Tour visited the branch and ran as far as Turriff on 13 June 1960 and another excursion ran in 1965. By 1948 four return trips a day were made as the coal supply situation had improved. Another severe coal shortage occurred in 1951 and the passenger service ceased despite protests.[13]

Preceding station		Disused railways		Following station
Inveramsay Line and Station closed		Great North of Scotland Railway Banff, Macduff and Turriff Junction Railway		Rothienorman Line and Station closed

References

Notes

1. Butt 1995, p. 241.
2. McLeish, p.79
3. British Railways Atlas.1947. p.38
4. RAILSCOT
5. McLeish, p.32
6. McLeish, p.30
7. Aberdeenshire XXXVI.14 (Chapel Of Garioch; Daviot; Rayne) Publication date:1901. Revised:1899.
8. RailScot - Wartle
9. Canmore Wartle Station and Station house.
10. McLeish, p.33
11. McLeish, p.60
12. McLeish, p.59
13. McLeish, p.63

Sources

• 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.
• RAILSCOT on Banff, Macduff and Turriff Junction Railway
• McLeish, Duncan (2014). Rails to Banff, Macduff and Oldmeldrum. Pub. GNoSRA. ISBN 978-0902343-26-9.