Place Lochmaben Pre-grouping Caledonian Railway 19 May 1952 Closed | Area Dumfries and Galloway 1 September 1863 Opened Platforms in use 2 | |
Post-grouping London Midland and Scottish Railway Original company Dumfries, Lochmaben and Lockerbie Railway | ||
Lochmaben railway station was a station which served Lochmaben, in the Scottish county of Dumfries and Galloway. It was served by trains on a local line which ran between the Caledonian Main Line (now known as the West Coast Main Line) at Lockerbie and the Castle Douglas and Dumfries Railway at Dumfries.
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History
Opened by the a small local independent company as the Dumfries, Lochmaben and Lockerby (sic) Junction Railway on 1 September 1863. The line was operated by the Caledonian from the outset, until 1865 when the DL&LJR was amalgamated into the Caledonian Railway by Act of Parliament. It was then used by the Caledonian as a strategic link to access Nithsdale and the Portpatrick line by running powers over the Glasgow and South Western Railway (GSWR). Lochmaben station was the site of a passing loop, and a station building in the Scottish baronial style with crow steeped gables was built, along with a substantial stone goods shed and loading dock with crane and cattle pens,in the 1880s a road over bridge was built to replace the level crossing of the Beattock road north out of Lochmaben, and doubling of the line was proposed but never constructed.In 1923 the line became part of the London Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) following the Railways Grouping of 1923, since the LMS also took over the GSWR line to Dumfries via Annan the Dumfries to Lockerbie line lost its strategic importance, and a gradual decline set in. Lochmaben lost its signal box in the 1930s as an economy measure and subsequently the loop line was lifted. During the war years the station was served by elderly ex London and North western 2-4-2 tank engines working a push pull service between Lockerbie & Dumfries, then in the last few years the passenger trains were pulled by ex Caledonian locomotives, the last being ex CR"Jumbo"0-6-0 17504 on 19 May 1952. Goods facilities were retained at the station until the early 1960s, and a Scottish region camping coach was for several years situated at the end of the goods shed siding behind the platform in the late 1950s. All goods traffic along the line ceased in April 1966, and the line shut to all traffic on 18 November 1966. Subsequently the whole site has been cleared, the B7020 road to Beattock realigned across the site of the station and housing built over most of the goods yard.
The site today
The station building was demolished after closure of the line along with the road bridge, and houses have been built over the site of the goods yards and filling in the gap where the line to Dumfries passed through a line of houses. The only clues left are one or two fences posts at the Lockerbie end of the site, and some trees that were on the platform. The goods shed appears to have been demolished before the line itself closed.