ELLON TO DYCE RLWY WALKS
(30th Sept 2014)
NEW MACHAR TO DYCE STATION
Leaving New Machar station site and heading southwards to my destination for this particular day's walk. The station was a good bit away from
the village center, which was on the Aberdeen - Turrif and McDuff and Banff road. The distance to Dyce station was five and a half miles.
Looking
north westwards from the track bed just south of the station site and
heading for Dyce. New Machar is seen in the
background.. In the right hand photo Benachie is seen in the background.
As the highest point in
the County it is seen
from long way around.
The
southern outskirts of New Machar.
Ex
Farm level crossing at Hillbrae Way, New Machar.
Left:
Direction sign by Hillbrae Farm
crossing.
Right: Remaining farm crossing gate post. Up side.
Left:
Farm crossing, looking
northwards.
Right: The B947 bridge. North side, looking southwards.
Over
bridge at Hillbrae Way. The B947 above. Left: Towards Dyce. Right:
Towards New Machar.
Left:
The seat appeared quite welcoming after a long spell of walking but time
was marching on and I kept on going.
Right:
A little further on and another barrier on the track bed.
Left:
Barrier to stop cyclist/motorcyclists or even car drivers getting onto
the high embankment.
Ex
Farm Crossing. North of the New Machar Embankment, heading
southwards.
Left:
The start of the long, high embankment that runs as far as Kingseat,
near Parkhill.
Looking
back towards New Machar.
The
New Machar Embankment.. A high, long curving embankment. Towards
Parkhill.
Views
westwards from the embankment.
A
18mm wide angle view from the embankment, looking westward.
Left:
Looking southwards towards the Pipe storage
plant.
Right: Looking south, a path leads in, rising from the western edge of
Kingseat Village.
Left:
The bridge over the country road from Kingseat to the
B979. Right:
Horses in field from the road bridge.
Horses
in field with watering trough. West side of track bed.
Heading
south with the bend on the embankment that runs alongside the pipe
plant.
Left:
Modern houses at Kingseat. East side of track
bed.
Right: Pipe storage site at Kingseat.
It
was hoped that the Oil & Gas business would save the railway but it
didn't do anything.
Looking
north along the high embankment from the southern end towards New
Machar.
Reaching
the southern end of the high embankment and into a short cutting towards
Parkhill. There is
a gate leading into the Pipe Storage point up on the left and
I wondered if this site, in the past,
may have had a railway connection!
Heading
south into the short cutting.
Left:
The gate into the Pipe storage point. Right: I enjoyed a short chat with
the chap walking his Dog. He was an Austrian, working in the oil
business but was due to return home very soon. He was very
interested
in
the old railway.
His
old Dog just walked at it's own pace and eventually caught up with his
Master once
again. The
houses in the background are in Kingseat.
The
road bridge carries the B997. Left The north face of the bridge, looking
southwards.
Right: The south face, looking northwards.
The
gap of the demolished bridge that crossed the B979. One mile south of
Newmachar.
A
long straight track bed towards Parkhill.
Left:
New Machar in the
distance.
Right: Within the long straight track bed, looking towards New
Machar.
Near
New Macher Services and the Coach House. The cutting below reminds
you very much of a possible railway having been there but is merely a
farm access road.
Left:
Gate to the old farm that is now New Machar
Services.
Right: Towards New Machar.
Left:
Towards
Dyce.
Right: Towards New Machar.
Towards
Dyce.
Left:
The track bed heading south towards Parkhill. Buildings at Aberdeen
start to be made out away in the left distance, a good 10 miles away.
Right: The bridge crosses another farm access road.
This
bridge crosses an access road from a farm onto the A947.
A
burn over bridge.
The
small burn that runs below the track bed.
A
large bridge but still just a farm access road. Left: Towards
Parkhill.
Right: Towards New Machar.
This
was the sand pits where a spur ran in from New Machar Goods Yard.
The
north end of the Parkhill Goods Yard.
Don't
know what these stumps were part of but this was the site of the Goods
Yard that was on
the west side of the main line and the long siding into a sand pit.
Left:
An equally interesting farm crossing gate. Made to slow down whoever is
using the crossing and remind them
to take care and not rush across. Right:
There was a safety barrier on the other side too.
A
close-up of the Up side level crossing safety barrier.
Someone's
little joke!. Interesting to find an old railway wagon that appears to
belong to the farm
on the opposite (Down side) of the track bed.
The
farm on the down side of the track bed. This is private grounds.
Interesting cars.
Towards
Dyce.
Left:
Two more lots of
stumps.
Right: Looking back across the Ex farm crossing, towards New Machar.
Southward
with the hills behind Dyce Airport in the back ground.
Heading
southwards.
East
side of the track bed, heading southwards.
Approaching
Parkhill Station Site.
Park
Station Layout. The Goods Yard lead off the north end of the
station, which also had a long siding into a sand pit. (NSLMaps).
Park station only had the one platform, which was on the up side of the track..
Left:
Platform edge, towards
Dyce.
Right: Up platform edge. Towards New Machar.
Left:
The old station entrance to the right, with the south end of the
platform. towards
Dyce.
Right: The platform remains, towards Dyce.
The
Buhcan Way Board and the raised track bed and footbridge at the south
end of the station site.
Left:
The old entrance into the station from the west side of the station. Off
the
A947.
Right: The Platform, towards New Machar.
Southern
end of the station. Towards New Mmachar.
The
old bridge replacement foot bridge rises to give additional head room
for the road below. Towards Dyce.
Traffic
from the B977 joining the A947 coming north from Dyce. Left: East side.
Right: West side.
Road
junction of the B977 and the A947. From the newer Footbridge that
replaced the railway bridge. West side. The bus from Aberdeen is heading
for Elgin via Fyvie, Turrif, McDuff, Banff and the coast.
Moments
from landing at Dyce Airport.
Left:
Heading south from the south end of the
Footbridge.
Right: A National Cycle Network Trail sign.
The
river Don from the west side of the track bed.
Views
to the west and East, respectfully.
A
rope pully over the River Don. Don't expect it get used any more! Right:
Being in the outskirts of Dyce more people and even pets are passed on
the track bed.
Two
views looking southwards on the Parkhill Viaduct.
Views
from the Parkhill Viaduct. Left:
Westwards.
Right: Eastwards with the A947 Parkhill Bridge.
The
Parkhill Viaduct as seen from the A947, looking westwards. (Google
Earth). Opposite view from the photo above, right. (Dyce Viaduct Google)
Looking
northwards over the Parkhill Viaduct.
Only
3 quarters of a mile to go.
The
red bridge over Dyce Drive.
The
red bridge. Left: Looking southwards to
Dyce.
Right: Looking northwards to New Machar.
Getting
nearer to my destination. Right: Approaching the bridge over Lawson
Drive. This new road takes it's name from Lawson's Sausage & Pie
factory that stood near by for many years and a major source of
employment
for Dyce.
The
Lawson Drive over bridge. First towards Dyce station then back towards
New Machar.
The
final quarter of a mile to Dyce station.
Left:
The fence divides the Buchan track bed from the main
line.
Right: I had not seen the two lift towers over the main line platforms
before.
End
of my walk, well timed, by chance, to catch a train booked to arrive in
four minutes for Aberdeen at 16.28. Just under seven hours since leaving
Ellon. In the 60's
you
could well have a two hour wait. The people are walking on what
would have been between the Up & Down platforms of the Buchan
branch. The building on the
left
(A Chip Shop) is built on the site of the Up branch platform. The
branch continued forward joining the Up Main behind the left hand side
of the signal box.
Dyce
Station. (NLS Maps). Shows the Buchan branch coming in from the north
alongside the mainline. The main GNSR Carriage Shed
is
seen at the south end. The shed remained in use up until passenger
closure in the mid 1960's I
remember shunting (as asecond man)
the the works at the north end of the main line..
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