Birchfield
General information
LocationRothes, Moray
Scotland
Coordinates57°33′47″N 3°14′48″W / 57.5631°N 3.2468°W / 57.5631; -3.2468
Grid referenceNJ255532
Platforms1
Other information
StatusDisused
History
Original companyMorayshire Railway
Pre-groupingGreat North of Scotland Railway
Post-groupingLNER
Key dates
Circa 1871[1]Opened
7 May 1956Station closed[1]
6 May 1968Line closed to freight
Close to the site of Birchfield Platform in 1961

Birchfield Platform railway station, Birchfield Halt railway station or Birchfield Siding railway station[2] served the rural area near Glen of Rothes House, Moray, Scotland from 1871 to 1956 on the Morayshire Railway. 1884 is another suggested opening date however it contradicts the map evidence. This was an intermediate station on the Craigellachie-Elgin line of the former Great North of Scotland Railway that had originally been opened by the Morayshire Railway on 1 January 1862.[3]

History

Elgin's old GNoSR railway station

The station was opened circa 1871 as Birchfield Halt by the Great North of Scotland Railway.[1] It was situated north of Rothes and south of Longmorn and Coleburn stations that in turn led to the Great North of Scotland Railway station at Elgin East. The name Birchfield Halt was used from 1939.[4]

Infrastructure

In 1871 the station had a short ill-defined platform and was approached by a long drive that had a junction with the lane that crossed the level crossing. A single siding ran for a short distance south, parallel to the line. A building stood close to the level crossing and a signal was present.[2] By 1903 a shelter was located at the clearly marked platform, but the short siding had been lifted, a signal is no longer indicated and a small building, not marked as a signal box, stands near the site of the level crossing.[5]

The site today

The building first recorded in 1871 is still present in a much modified form and the trackbed is in use as a farmland access.

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 Butt 1995, p. 34.
  2. 1 2 "View: Elginshire XVIII.5 (Rothes) - Ordnance Survey 25 inch 1st edition, Scotland, 1855-1882". maps.nls.uk. Retrieved 6 November 2018.
  3. "Longmorn Station". Canmore. Retrieved 6 November 2018.
  4. "GO Line Codes: GNoS Railway | Signalling Record Society". s-r-s.org.uk. Retrieved 6 November 2018.
  5. "View: Elginshire XVIII.5 (Rothes) - Ordnance Survey 25 inch 2nd and later editions, Scotland, 1892-1949". maps.nls.uk. Retrieved 6 November 2018.

References

Preceding station Historical railways Following station
Coleburn
Line and station closed
  Morayshire Railway   Rothes
Line and station closed


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