Back To Index

Cruden Bay (Viaduct & Station Sites)

Cruden Bay station was built mainly to serve the GNSR Hotel and Golf Course, hence the electric tramway between the station and hotel. For general use the station was a little far from the center of the village down a steep road. However, there are a number of small hamlets around that would have benefited from the railway. The tramway was the furthest north electric passenger service in the U.K. The station was situated in a valley and along with the tramway the three-arch viaduct added to the pictorial interest. The station area has been returned to nature with little but the cutting at the west end, the three arches of the viaduct remains with and with the the station house to indicate that a railway station and tram terminal ever stood at this spot. Between the cutting and the main road stood a large brick works that was linked to the railway.

Following in from my walk from Hatton in 2002 and climbing up the embankment from the demolished bridge, the embankment enters the cutting that opens up into the station site.

The station site is down station road with the valley on the right leading to the viaduct and the cutting.
The Brickworks is marked, close to the demolished bridge on the Peterhead/Fraserburgh road.
The tramway from the station to the Hotel is also indicated.

The following photos are reversed from the shooting order to follow through from the Hatton to Cruden Bay pages

Entering the cutting on the approach to Cruden Bay station. The view is blocked by the garden fence on the left.
The chimney and roof of the station house is seen in the background. Railway fencing remains top right.

A little further into the cutting towards the station, looking back towards Hatton and the gap
where the railway crossed the road

Still looking towards Hatton at the mouth of the station approach. The fence on the right beaks the
clear view through the cutting, where the railway crossed another road and onto Hatton.
 At this point the tracks fanned out behind me into the station and goods yard

Reverse view from the above. Again the fence and dumped equipment spoil the clear view. As described above,
the tracks  fanned out from the single line. The station lines to the left while the goods lines curved to the right.
Railway fencing can be seen top right. The station house gives layout scale

This must have been the northern entrance to the station, from the Nethermill road. The house that
partially blocks the cutting is to the left

Standing virtually center of the station trackbed. The Up platform to the left and the Down platform to the right
of me, with the two tracks running towards the cutting where the goods lines went off to the left hand
 side of the field. With so much demolished it is very difficult to imagine the scene.

From the leading points a goods line ran far right, up to the top end of the field where a short stub went into the goods platform bay. The single goods  line split into two and ran up to the Goods Shed, which was approximately to the left of the heap of soil in the distance right. One track stopping outside and the other inside. To the left of that the tramway came on a short curve just outside and past the front of the station house and ran between the goods line and Up platform, stopping by the west end of the platform but with a short run-round loop and a stub for the tram trailor van, up against the platform,  behind the signalbox, which was on the platform, central to the staion layout. The Up & down lines ran the length of the platforms becoming single again at the northern end of the platforms. The track then ran north on the embankment before crossing the Nethermill Road and across the feld onto the viaduct.

Approximately where the Goods platform stood. Looking towards the cutting coming in from Hatton. The goods shed
was to my right of the heap of soil with the two goods lines running up to the mainline points by the cutting. The
tram line and termnal ahead a little and to the right and terminating alongside the Up platform, which ran the
length of the area.

With the remains of the viaduct in the background, the north end of the station platforms were to the right on the embankment. When this photo was taken in 2002 I didn't realise it at the time that I was virtually on the
station site.

The station embankment. The bridge crossed over the Nethermill road, towards the viaduct, behind me

A side view with the railway embankment on the right, showing how the road bridge and embankment to the 
viaduct has been removed

The view from the station embankment shows the line towards the viaduct and proves that, along with the bridge,
just how much embankment has been romoved. Iit included the road bridge of which nothing remains.

The three arches with the cutting behind, which has been back-filled. The embankment from the station (behind)
has also been removed. I would not have been able to stand here or view this scene during the railway period

I wondered for the reason for filling  in the cutting but with so much flooding around  the site of the brick
works and deep water in quarry, it's a dangerous place to wander around. This view gives a good
example of the deep cutting beyond the viaduct and how much has been back-filled

The new housing estate creeps to the edge of the railway cutting. The arches are in very good
condition considering the 50 years since trains last used them.

I must be standing on, or very close to the old tram track as it ran past in front of the house, from the right

The station house is in excellent condition, albeit the GNSR colour has been changed.
The tram line passed to the left of the picture

Yes, a station once stood here! This was the main entrance to the station with the tram line to the left of the scene

The rear of Station House from the Nethermill road. The drop to, and the Station Master's garden
remains. However, the steps are gone. A modern house and drive way has been built on the right

The tramway had it's own right of way up through the fields to the main road where it crossed and entered the
Hotel grounds. A railway boundary post proves that the tracks ran between there and the new concrete base

The railway boundary post. A few of these posts still remain along the trackbed

The Police Station has been built over the tram trackbed as it climbed up to the main road

The tramline crossed the road around this point and the Hotel stood just behind the new houses, to the
 right a little way. As far as I know nothing remains of the Hotel. However, the Golf Course is still in operation

This view, from the remains of the viaduct give a good idea of the layout of the station and the missing
road bridge and link to the viaduct

Three pillars of the viaduct still stand. The viaduct joined an embankment that crossed the valley and the road. The
cutting can just be made out to the left of the house seen on the exctreme left, where the station lay. Again,
this photo shows the amount of earthwork that has been removed.

Another view showing the line of sight from the viaduct to the station and cutting. The station lay to the left of
the darker  line of growth running towards us, with the goods yard and tram terminal to the left of that. The
stationmaster's house is seen on the extreme left. The large house in the distance is blocking the view through
the cutting. The goods yard track was in the green field behind the station house. The electric tramway came
down behind the station master's house and curved towards the the left of the Up platform. The Nethermill road
bridge was probably where you see the lighter green patch by the road. The trackbed from the viaduct was on a
short curve to match up with the northern end of the station platforms.

The viaduct pillars as seen from the main road. The road alongside the new houses at the top of the hill is
called  'Station Road' which is completely misleading if you are looking for the old station site, which is to
the far left of the viaduct across the valley. Since taking this photo back in 2002, the view above can no
longer be seen as housing being built here blanks the view

Cruden Bay Station & Tram pictures

Back To Index