Area Aberdeenshire Platforms in use 1 | Grid reference NO747963 | |
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Place Banchory, Royal Deeside Managed by Royal Deeside Railway Preservation Society 28 February 1966 Line Closed by British Railways 2003 First track laid on site by Royal Deeside Railway Similar Crathes Castle, Banchory railway station, Dee Street Halt railway st, Scolty Hill, Ballater railway station | ||
Milton of Crathes railway station is located at Milton of Crathes, three miles east of Banchory, Royal Deeside, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, United Kingdom.
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Crathes (Castle) Station
Crathes Castle station, located 1/4 mile to the east of Milton of Crathes (57.0575°N 2.4163°W / 57.0575; -2.4163 (Crathes station (Deeside Railway))), was opened by the Deeside Railway in 1853 for the private use of the Laird of Crathes. In 1863 Crathes Castle was renamed Crathes and became a public railway station, a role it retained until the closure of the railway in 1966. Crathes station building is now privately owned and features a replica of the original signalbox, whilst the trackbed is owned by the local estate. The Royal Deeside Railway has no plans to re-use the old station which is in a less convenient position for today's tourist market and which is separated from the heritage railway by the entrance road to the Milton of Crathes site, a missing overbridge, and an embankment.
Milton of Crathes Station
Milton of Crathes station is the headquarters of the Royal Deeside Railway Preservation Society. The station is the start of the rebuilt Royal Deeside Railway which will eventually run for over two miles west into the town of Banchory. The station itself consists of a single platform and two tracks (which form a locomotive run-round loop and headshunts). At the east end of the station, the former Oldmeldrum station building is being re-erected and restored by the volunteers of the Royal Deeside Railway Preservation Society.
Passenger services are operated using a selection of rolling stock including British Rail Class 03 diesel shunters, a pair of British Rail Mark 2 coaches in BR Crimson and Cream livery and the carriages which form the British Rail BEMU "Gemini" Battery Railcar.
Other rolling stock includes a Class 14 diesel locomotive D9551, Barclay 415 (an 0-4-0 diesel shunter), a Dogfish ballast hopper wagon, a LMS General Utility Van (GUV) used for storing permanent way tools, a BR Lomac well wagon, a tube wagon, a Wickham trolley and a Smith-Rodley Diesel Rail Crane.
Milton of Crathes is also home to the former Aberdeen Gas Works steam locomotive: 0-4-0 "Bon Accord", which is stopped for repair.
Attractions: Crathes Castle (opposite), various heritage rolling stock items.