KEITH TO DUFFTOWN RAILWAY
September 2008
Page Three of Four
A grand view on the approach to Glenfiddich Distillery
Glenfiddich a famous name in Whisky
The large Bondage Stores, where millions of barrels of "Uisge
Beath" "The Water Of Life" lies maturing
The typical design of a Scottish distillery, set in the fine
Speyside countryside
The Unit comes off Glenfiddich viaduct. The branch crossed the
river Fiddich
many times from Keith to Craigellachie and beyond towards Aviemore
Left: Glenfiddich viaduct with the distillery on the
left.
Right: Approaching Dufftown
Balvenie Distillery on the approaches to Dufftown station. The
Bondage stores are on the right
Approaching Dufftown goods yard
Left: The Ex Canadian National Ganger's Trolly.
Right: Entering Dufftown Station
Dufftown Station. An Ex Southern Railway third rail electric
Pullman Driving Coach stands at the Craigellachie end of the platform
Passengers alighting from the DMU with the restaurant coaches on
the right
The DMU makes a nice picture at Dufftown and reminds me of what
it was like when working over the line, except of course
that the 'up' platform and track are no longer in use
The rebuilt station building is exactly like the original one
that was destroyed by fire during the closure years
The Ex Southern Railway third-rail Pullman unit makes an
interesting photo but is completely out of character on the Ex GNSR branch
Another photo that brings memories of working over the line. The
unused 'up'platform looks very sad. The signalbox stood in
the space on the right between where I am standing and the trees
Another Diesel Unit well out of character for the banch. An Ex
B.R. Class 140 diesel unit. These were the first of the cheap and nasty
bus-bodied units that were due to take over ourt railways. Thankfully some
considerable improvement to the design and quality today
makes them a little more acceptable, but only for short runs of up to an hour.
Sadly, they are used for some quite long runs.
This unit is in a terroible state and it is very doubtful if it
will ever run under it's own power again. Thank goodness, says I.
The end of the line! Or is it! The private company still has aims
of pushing on to Craigellachie, which would be nice to see coming reality
The station looks quite isolated in the countryside, which it is as Dufftown is
almost a mile from the station
"NOW" Balvanie Distillery as it is today
"THEN" Going back in time, 45 years in fact! A photo that I
snapped from
the locomotive cab window while we stood
at Dufftown station, on an
Aberdeen to Elgin service. The sign on the 'up' platform tells us that we are
483ft above sea
level and the name Balvanie is
seen on the Distillery building, with the Bondage stores on the right.
This
photo is from my web site "Kittybrewster
Memories"
The DMU stands ready for the 2pm departure to Keith Town station,
with the restaurant coaches on the right