PITLURG STATION SITE
(Update April 2015)
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DEDICATED TO ANGUS McGOUGAN
It was with great sadness that I learned that Angus
died on the 7th of July 2015.
I only knew Angus a matter of months when he got in touch with me
after
finding this page about Pitlurg Station, of which he was the present
owner. He
kindly invited me to visit and gave myself and David Towsey a tour
of the
station site, in which this latest update would not have been
possible otherwise.
David I certainly enjoyed the visit and learning more about the site
and discovering
that the Goods loading platform was still there and also seeing the
1935 rail shoe
that Angus had found on the site.
It
was sad that Angus didn't get to see this update as he was very keen
on seeing
anything about the old station. Angus was a retired policeman.
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The
Sept. 2007 walk to Achmacoy was via Hillhead to the area called
Pitlurg. There is only a large house and ruined castle and no village
of any sort to see on the way. Then on past Nether Leask and the
Milltown Of Leask, which is a pleasant corner on a steep hill, with a
couple of farms. Then past the road junction (134) and on past North
Artrochie to the road junction that takes you into Achmacoy village,
or in my case, to the old Station, where I spent a few moments
looking around before walking into the eastern suburb of Ellon by the
main road.You can see my error of not taking the
secondary road by
Pitlurg station that would have crossed the track bed and rejoined
the main road south of Hillhead. However, on my 2007 visit I learned
that this is no longer a through road therefore I had made the right
decision not to wqalk to that spot as it would have been a long walk
back to the main road. This time the bicycle made short work of it.
In
September 2008 I had another visit to Pitlurg and following the
railway trackbed to Achmacoy. This time I got the loan of a mountain
bike from Dave Towsey, who lives in Ellon. Dave owned and ran
the group of Radio & TV shops 'Telemech' in Aberdeen and Ellon.
Dave kindly drove me to Pitlurg station where I was able to start the
bicycle & walk back to Ellon. I really appreciated this and
managed
to get to all the places that I wanted to, getting to the places that
I missed last year because they were too far to include while walking.
Starting
from Pitlurg station I was able this time to enter the site and have a
good look around. I went to the house to ask permission but no-one was
at home so I took the opportunity to look around
while not disturbing anything else. Sadly, there is nothing to see of
the station, unless there is something hidden in the heavy overgrowth.
However, I got a useful number of photos to add to this
article and learned more about the railway.
In
Sept. 2007 I had to walk the whole road to Achmacoy, which took me
away from the railway. I had to decide which way to take for Achmacoy.
Go back to the main road or take the country road down
through Pitlurg and Milltown Of Leask. Both routes completely miss the
railway as it cuts down country in between the two roads, which are
some way apart. I decided to take the quieter route via Mill Of Leask.
A good three miles hike via a narrow, winding road. However, it was a
very pleasant walk and thankfully made lighter by the heavier
gradients being in my favour. On the way I passed the ruins of
Pitlurg Castle, caught a few very pleasant views and passed farmers
working in their fields and heard gun shots a number of times, of
someone hunting, or perhaps, it was one of those automatic firing
machines that scare birds and animals off. The only community of any
size was at Mill Of Leask, which is no more than a handful of
dwellings. Thankfully this time around I was able to cycle the route
and
cover it in much quicker time as well as get to the places I missed
the previous year.
UPDATE APRIL 2015
On the 19th of April 2015 I was pleased to visit the
Pitlurg station site from the invitation by land ower Angus McGughan
and was also very pleased that David Towsey was also
David Towsey was also able to join us.We enjoyed a good look around
the complete station and goods yard site. You can still make out the
humps of the old Up & Down
platforms. From the south end by the remains of the old
overbridge you can easily see how the land widened out where the
single line split into two Goods
lines and where
the double track ran through the station. My thanks to Angus and his
wife for the kind invitation.
Showing
how the platform and goods lines spread out from the south end of the
station.
Pitlurg Station Layout. The diagram shows only one track
through the station but the footbridge indicates that there had to be
two tracks,
proved by the 'down' track just seen in the old photo below. Update
(April 2015): I found that the Goods yard loading
platform still stands
but there is no sign of the Goods Shed where it is shown in this
diagram. (NSLMaps).
Left:
Walking along the road from Bogbrae to Pitlurg you see the road
rising to curve around and over the site of the Ex over bridge at the
south end of Pitlurg station site. The track bed runs left
to
right across the scene toward the building on the far right. Right: from
the same spot looking north from the road you see the abondoned
over bridge and road to the north of Pitlurg station site.
The
track bed from the station site up to the bridge is in a cutting. (20th
April 2015).
Left:
The old entrance into Pitlurg Goods Yard from the
road. Right:
The Goods Yard entrance looking out onto the road.
On the
Pitlurg road. The station site is to our left running paralell with
the road. The road climbes then curve over the railway on the
usual style
of GNR bridge over the railway. The track bed came in from the
south (right) from Auchmacoy. The building on the right stands on the
track bed.
(20th April 2015).
View
over the north side of the Ex road bridge site.Not much to see but this
is looking down on where the line split to go off to the
right into the Goods Sidings and the double track through the station.
Both
photos from the Ex road bridge with the track bed heading
directly towards Auchmacoy and Ellon. An uncompleted buildings stands
on the track bed up
ahead. This was a failed attempt at building a Winery on the site. A
few hundred trees were planted on the track bed beyond the house. The
track bed is closed off
to the public for a good half mile southwards. You have to walk the
far track seen on the right down to the farm where there is still
an over bridge standing where you
can get onto the track bed. (19th April 2015).
Found reently on Ebay. The
photo is for sale without the water mark. Taken from the same spot on
the road bridge as in the photo
above left, in 1904. A train from Boddam to Aberdeen is about to depart.
An excellent over-view of the station and Goods Siding layout.
The station drive way, looking towards the
entrance on Pitlurg Road. The
station house is
on the right.
Two
gate posts are still standing within the station drive way. Left: A
smaller gate, while Right: a much larger gate post which suggests this
was the main gate for locking
up the
station when closed.
Pitlurg
Station House, with modern extension. The station to the right.
The
over bridge was through the line of trees but was demolished in the 80's
and filled-in to road level. This is where the tracks spread out for the
two lines through
the
station and the two tracks into the Goods Yard.
This
wooden building is standing on the mound of what was the Up
Platform. The trees on the left are growing on the the Up track site.
This
is looking northwards towards Boddam. The next station was
at Hatton. The station forecourt would have been on the right.
Pitlurg
Station & Staff. c.1920's on the the Up Platform. From the
photos above and below it is simply impossible to imagine that such a
station stood
at
this site today. It appears that most the stations on the branch were of
the same design. N.B. The down platform track is just seen at the bottom
far
left of the photo.
This
is about as close as I could get to the 1920's photo above. Taken
from the road. level with the station site. The station building stood,
on the
Up
platform, where the shed stands today and the footbridge and
signalbox were on the far left by the trees. (20th April 2015).
Angus
& David on the remains of the Up platform.
Left:
From the middle of the Goods Yard tooking south towards the Ex station
bridge.
Right: The station site to the left from the same position.
Left:
The signalbox and the station footbridge would have been by the trees.
This is looking from the old Down platform to the Up platform.
Right:
From the down platform site with the Up platform site across the double
track site.
Left:
Looking north from the end of the two platforms with the track bed
running into the cutting that ran up to the old road bridge. Seen
in the background.
Right:
Looking south along the track bed between the Up & Down platforms.
David
& Angus on the Down Platform remains near the north end of the Goods
Siding with the station track bed heading north towards Hatton. The line
ran into a short
cutting
before going under a bridge on the main road then heading for Hatton.
This overbridge and old road stands abandoned due to a new road
being built on the north side.
This
is also where the platforms ended and the double track emerged into
single line ono Hatton.
South
end of the The Goods loading platform.
The
loading platform remains in place. One track ran along in front of the
platform, while another ran closer to the camera
as
a dead-end siding towards the Goods Shed off to the right.
The
Goods Siding site, with the loading platform on the right. The Goods
Shed would have stood between the gate and the
Yellow Broom. The station platforms would have been seen to the far
left, running within the tree line.
Ditto.
You can follow the curve where the two Goods lines would have come off
the man line this side of the trees in the background.
Where
the road bridge was.
Right:
Overlooking the Ex Up Platform from the Down Platform.
Left:
David and Angus on the remains of the Down Platform with the Goods
siding to the right. Looking southwards.
North
end of the station, heading into the cutting and onto Hatton.
This rail shoe
was found partly buried near the Goods Siding. It is a 1935 GNSR
rail shoe. Having
lifted the shoe out of the ground it could be seen that it had
obviously been in use as it still has the three
screws that fixed it to the railway sleeper. If unused there would
have just been the three holes. After rubbing some of the dirt away it
was possible to make out the 1935 date (on the right). The
branch just made it i nto BR days just to be closed in 1948
and demolished by 1950. I suggested to Angus that it should go to a
museum. He also said that he would consider having a metal detector
scan to see what else may be hidden on the site.
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