THE DUNDEE & NEWTYLE RAILWAY
NEW LINE FROM NINEWELLS Jctn TO FAIRMUIR Jctn
(Upate Julyl 2011)
The Lochee branch came off the Dundee-Perth mainline at Ninewells
Junction. Stations en-route were Liff, Lochee West and Lochee.
This new line allowed the closure of the Incliner railway from Ward Street,
through the Law Hill Tunnel. A new junction was built at
Fairmuir where it met the old incline route to Downfield. A goods line went
eastwards to Muirfield Goods yard and terminating
at Maryfield Goods Yard.
Left: Ninewells Junction Signal box, with the Down Main signal
protection the Lochee connection. Right: The leading points off the D&N
The site of Ninewells Junction was just up ahead and on the right
side of the Perth mainline. The branch climbed steadily alongside
the mainline for almost a mile before curving northwards and on a long right
hand
curve to then run eastwards to Lochee Station.
The long steady climb made for an easier gradient to reach the same height
as the Incline railway reached to the north of Dundee.
Ninewells Junction in the 60's. From the same bridge as above.
(Ian Scrimgeour)
The over bridge seen from the rear of a brake van as a Fairmuir
Goods train heads for Dundee
Left: View from the train crossing the Dundee-Perth road. Right:
Dropping down off the branch at Ninewells Junction
Site Of Liff station. The track bed is indicated by the cycle
& walkway running east to west.
Left: The train standing at the Up platform at Liff. They are
probably waiting clearance at Ninewells Junction and to receive the single line
token from
the signalman.
Right: Liff signal box and the rather neglected platform and down station
building, The station had been closed for 10 years at this time.
Left: Liff Station from the brake van as the train leaves for Ninewells
Junction. Right: Liff Station in the 50's (Niall Ferguson Collection)
Lochee Linolium Works with the D&N track bed running towards
Liff Station and the work's spur, hidden
behind.
Looking towards Lochee West station. This would be the back of the Up distant
for Liff station. Excellent picture quality. (Author Unknown)
Site of Lochee West Station. The track bed from Lochee is seen
approx. 1/3rd up from the far right. The
station was back off the main road with a short lead into the goods shed, which
was on the north side
of the
station, backing up to the main toad.
Lochee West Station. A goods siding and shed is shown to the north side of
the station. As there were no signals in relation to the
station
the goods spur would have been opened and locked by the guard, using the key,
which was part of the single line token.
Lochee West Station was closed in January 1914. The building still
survived in the 60's, as seen
below. A goods train stands on the goods line behind the station. The goods
shed may still be
there but hidden by the station building. (Niall Ferguson Collection)
A train is obviously due as a member of staff has arrived by car
to close the crossing gates (Author Unknown)
The gate is closed for the train to arrive at the station
(Author Unknown)
Left: Remains of Lochee West Station. Right: Seen from the brake
van. The goods line is to the left of the station. It was linked by a short
spur
off the main line, which can just be made out.
The down distant signal for Lochee station. Between Lochee West
and Lochee.
The line from Lochee Station. It shows the Goods Siding
backing onto Loons Road and the Goods spur turning north into Cox's
Camperdown Linen Works.
An interesting point in regard to the works goods spur is that it was on a high
embankment,
with a viaduct running up to the works and it is difficult to
visualise
at what level the working area within in the works was at.
Site Of Lochee Station. Showing the gap of the demolished bridge
on High Street. On the right the mainline to Newtyle went straight
ahead, while a short goods line went off northwards and into Cox's Works. On the
south side of the two lines was the Goods sidings.
The down platform was on and right up to the north end of the bridge as was the
points for Cox's siding. The bridge was very much
part of the station layout
.
Site of Lochee Station and the demolished bridge over the High
Street. (April 2009).
Lochee Station building. In use by The Robert Burns Club
Left: Remains of the down
platform.
Right: The track bed looking towards Ninewells
Junction. You pass the sites of
both
Lochee West and Liff stations. No remains.
Lochee Station site. From the north side of the removed High
Street bridge.
Lochee Station in the 1890's (Niall Ferguson Collection)
Sixty five years or so later and an enthusiast special runs to
Auchterhouse in the closing year of
the D&N (Sid Boag)
The High Street from the railway bridge, looking north. A much
later scene than below.
The gas lamps are replaced by electric ones.
Lochee railway bridge seen from the trams on the High Street.
Right: Note the water tank in the corner of Lochee Goods Siding. The
station is to the far left.
(Norman Hurford)
Opposite side of the bridge with a fuller view of the line
crossing Lochee Road
(Jim Ross or probably Norman Hurford)
Right: Looking towards the station from the eastern side of the
station bridge. The mainline was central, with the Goods Siding & Shed on the
left.
The works spur
turned off extreme right following the treeline. Right : The works spur where it is cut off from the viaduct prior to entering the works.
View from the north side of the removed High Street bridge
Left: Remains of track bed heading north towards Newtyle (Green
mounds). Taken
from the old Goods line track bed. Right: Cox's Stack and Ex work's
entrance
at Lochee. The goods line ran into the works in front of the stack.
The remaining works' buildings have been converted
into flats (right).
The building on the left is a supermarket, while the
central area is a large car park and local bus stop turning point. There were
numerous shops
on the site but only two remain open at the moment.
The works spur came in from behind the clock tower running in
front of the Stack and into a siding to the left.
Dinner time at Cox's works in the 50's
An over view of the works site, which was earmarked for a
shopping centere. (Author Unknown)
The site being cleared. The 'stack' remains as a reminder of what
once was. This
is now the large car park and bus stop. The shopping center was not a
success
and is virtually empty today. (Author Unknown)
Showing the track layout at Cox's Linen Works, Lochee, Dundee. There were two
loading platforms.
It would be interesting to learn what the track exiting the side
of the shed on the left was for! It appears to end as a loading
or dumping stump, or continues over the raised piers, which may have been for
possible hopper dropping.
I would appreciate hearing from anyone who knows.
Line of site of track bed coming directly from Lochee
station.
Left: Remains of bridge and the track bed running from Lochee
station towards Newtyle.
Right: Cox's Stack is seen to the left.
Left: Closer view as the track bed went northwards from Lochee
station. (Bill Reid). Right: Reverese view from the track side of the fenced
off bridge over
Wellbank Lane, with the line of sight to Lochee Station. (David Martin)
Right: The Goods spur over bridge on Wellbank Lane, where it entered
Cox's work site.
View from Wellbank Lane, leading into Burnside Street
A wide angle view from Wellbank Lane. The spur viaduct has been cut
off prior to the line running into
the works. The works building are now very nice flats.
Left: The old goods platform, which was on the north side of
Wellbank Lane Bridge and just before the line went into Cox's siding proper.
There were three
tracks at this point. Right: Looking along the old platform towards the works
siding. (Both by David Martin)
LOCHEE STATION FROM CINE FILM
Left: Approaching Lochee station, with it's tall signal box and
ornamated
station building. This was the biggest station on the line.
Right: The points going off to the right is the spur into Cox's Works. The loco is a
class 24.
Lochee Goods Shed and goods yard layout, from the brake van
Looking over the High Street road bridge, with the down starting
signal post. Looking over the train wagons from the brake van with the signal box
and
pillared canopy of the down platform building. The station had been closed
around ten years and the line is only months from total closure.
Left: The driver has the single line token ready for making the
exchange. Right: Signalman & Driver exchange tokens on the move.
The Token from Muirfield will have been caught by the signalman and the Token
for Liff Signal box received by the driver.
The 08 Shunting Loco & Brake van accelerate towards Ninewells
Junction
Left: Loco & Brake van heading for Liff
station. This bridge has been demolished. Right: This is the second bridge
in the background on the left.
Start of the footpath from Loons Road to Clepington Road. On the
left is the abandoned Kings
Cross Road, while on the right the D&N track bed ran over the High
Street into Lochee
Station.
Coxs' Stack and the site of the Linen Works. The works' branch
came in in front of the Clock
tower. Behind the fence was the site of the cooling tanks.
The Ex Kings Cross Road bridge. Left: Looking south. Right:
Looking north
Both views from the over bridge on Harefield Road. On the right
is where the bus depot stood. Left: The line
coming up from Lochee Station, with the works site
on the right.
Right: On the northern side of the road bridge the line runs in a cutting up to
Clepington Road. This section is a foot path.
The Harefield Road bridge from the north side, with the steps
down from the road onto the track bed
Left: Strathmore Road/Harefield Road bridge from the brake van. (Cinerail) Right: April 2010
Left: Today this is a footpath from
Lochee to Clepington Road. On the northern side of Harefield
Road there is a gate on the right with a footpath to trackbed
level.
You can make out the
original
bridge and the new top that that was
added to strengthen the bridge. The bridge has
been widened and strengthened
for
modern day traffic. (Bill Reid). Right: The strengthened tunnel seen from the south end of the bridge. (David
Martin).
Looking south towards Lochee from Clepington Road. The junction
for Kingsway sidings was just behind the trees on the right.
Site of the branch into the Kingsway West Sidings (Ministry of
Works)
Clepington Road Bridge. End of the footpath from Harefield Road.
On this side of the bridge the track bed has been
partly in-filled and a gentle graded path allows you to gain access to the
footpath. However, the view through the
bridge is now impossible as it has been filled in Fairmuir Junction area on the
northern side of the railway is under
an industrial estate. The back-facing signal on the right is the Muirfield
junction Up Starting signal protecting the
single line too and from Lochee station.
Left: The site where the new line crossed the Clepington Road.
Right: From virtually the same spot. The telegraph pole on the left still stands
today. The signal post
is seen in the photo above center. An 08 Shunting loco
is approaching Fairmuir Junction. This is part of the present
day footpath.
Interesting that the sheds on the
right have been replaced with modern ones of
similar design. (Cinerail)
Clepington Road End. Reminder of the D&N at the Miley.
(David Martin)
Left: The way is blocked by the Industrial Estate on the north side of
Clepington Road. Had the railway still been here you would have been looking down on
Fairmuir Junction. Right: The signal box stood in the 'v' of the mainline and the
Maryfield branch.
Fairmuir Junction around 1960. From Clepington
Road looking north. Newtyle to the left and Fairmuir
& Maryfield Goods
yards to the right. The incline railway ran left to right behind Brown
& Tawse Ltd. Timber Merchants.
(D. C. Thompson).
The incline track bed at Fairmuir as it ran south towards
Crossroads Station. It was used as the driveway into Brown & Tawse Ltd.
The overhead Crane spanned over both old & new track beds. Taken from the
track bed of the new line on the south side of the
Ex Kingsway over bridge. (Elliot Simpson).
FAIRMUIR JUNCTION TO MARYFIELD GOODS Back to D&N Index
Links & Reading:
The Dundee & Newtyle Railway by Niall Ferguson. Still available from some books shops and on the Internet.
The Dundee & Newtyle (A history by Elliot Simpson)
http://www.auchterhouse.com/history/railway.htm (Includes and excellent map of the railway)
http://www.geograph.org.uk/search.php?i=7762615 Excellent 'remains' photos including the Law Tunnel, Balbeuchley Incline and Dronley
http://www.hows.org.uk/personal/rail/incline/dund.htm Explains the inclines but sketches are very poor quality and almost useless.
Video Screen grabs from the The Railways Of Scotland Volume 8 "Dundee". An excellent video available on DVD, from Cinerail at: http://www.cinerail.com/cinerail/railways-of-scotland.html There are many great archive scenes of almost every Scottish route you can think of. Well worth a look.
The Cromford & High Peak Incline railway in Derbyshire has been luckier in having much of it's buildings, including an Engine House preserved. This is what could have happened, indeed, should have happened with at least one of the D&N inclines. However, the C&H gives an excellent comparison of what the D&N would have looked like.
http://www.hows.org.uk/personal/rail/incline/hop.htm
Boddam To Ellon Branch (Walks) By Bill Reid.
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