Bridge of Orchy

Location type

Station

Name and dates

Bridge of Orchy (1894-)

Station code: BRO National Rail ScotRail
Where: Argyll and Bute, Scotland
Opened on the West Highland Railway.
Open on the West Highland Line.

Description

This is an island platform station in the West Highland Swiss Chalet style. At the south end of the platform is the disused signal box, closed 1985, which is 'B' listed. The station master's house and railwaymen's cottage also survive. Entry to the station is by a subway.

The goods yard also remains on the east side. It is accessed from the south and is at at a slightly higher level. The sidings remain in use as a permanent way depot.

Going north Bridge of Orchy is the last station before the line heads into Rannoch Moor, taking a route which is not shadowed by a parallel road as it heads north east across the moorland to Rannoch station.

The stationmaster's house and a railway cottage remain standing, in use as private houses.

West Highland Way Sleeper bunkhouse is based in the station building.

A former railway cottage provides self catering accommodation. Taransay Cottage

Local

Just to the west of the station is Bridge of Orchy Hotel .

The West Highland Way passes close by the station. This can be followed north to Kinlochleven and Fort William. The route makes use of a former coach road. To the south the route reaches Tyndrum close to Tyndrum Lower.

Tags

Station West Highland Way

External links

Canmore site record
NLS Collection OS map of 1892-1914
NLS Collection OS map of 1944-67

Facilities

Gaelic name: Drochaid Urchaidh
Listing: B




Nearby stations
Tyndrum [1st]
Tyndrum Lower
Upper Tyndrum
Gorton [WHR]
Crianlarich Lower
Crianlarich
Loch Dochart [Private]
Dalmally
Glen Falloch Platform
Luib
Loch Awe
Rannoch
Ardlui
Killin Junction
Falls of Cruachan
Lineside Cottage
Horseshoe Viaduct
Achallader Viaduct
Lineside Cottage
Achallader Lineside Cottage
Gleann Viaduct
Tourist/other
Rob Roy^s Putting Stone
Beinn Dorain
Inveroran Inn
Beinn an Dothaidh
Loch Tulla
Duncan Ban MacIntyre Monument [Inveroran]
Beinn Achaladair South Peak
Easan Dubha [Glen Orchy]
Achallader Castle
Location names in dark blue are on the same original line.


Bridge over the River Orchy


The bridge over the River Orchy is west of Bridge of Orchy station, over the A82, on the course of the Military Way built around 1751 by soldiers under the command of Major Caulfeild. This military road connected Tyndrum to Fort William.

The bridge has a single arch over the river.

It no longer carries a main road, the route having been moved to the east in the 1930s. This has left the road from Bridge of Orchy to Inveroran as a dead end, the route on to the north via the Black Mount and Ba Bridge to be used by the West Highland Way.


Chronology Dates

31/07/1894West Highland Railway
Helensburgh Upper, Shandon, Garelochhead, Glen Douglas, Arrochar and Tarbet, Ardlui, Crianlarich, Tyndrum [WHR], Bridge of Orchy, Gorton, Rannoch, Corrour, Inverlair, Roy Bridge, Spean Bridge signal boxes opened.
07/08/1894West Highland Railway
Public opening from Fort William to Craigendoran. Stations opened at Craigendoran Upper, Helensburgh Upper, Row, Shandon, Garelochhead, Arrochar and Tarbet, Ardlui, Crianlarich, Tyndrum [WHR], Bridge of Orchy, Gortan (private), Rannoch, Corrour (private), Inverlair, Roy Bridge, Spean Bridge and Fort William [1st].
17/04/1954West Highland Railway
Collision at Bridge of Orchy.
13/08/1967West Highland Railway
Switching out provided at Bridge of Orchy,, Gorton signal boxes.
10/08/1985West Highland Railway
Switching out removed from Tyndrum Upper, Bridge of Orchy signal boxes.
29/05/1988West Highland Railway
Tyndrum Upper, Bridge of Orchy, Rannoch, Corrour, Tulloch, Spean Bridge block posts eliminated by RETB.
  /06/2002West Highland Railway
Bridge of Orchy station building renovated.
26/02/2010West Highland Railway
Avalanches block the line between Upper Tyndrum and Bridge of Orchy. (Re-opened on 8th of March.)

News items

15/11/2023Walk in the footsteps of explorers with West Highland Line audio drama [Community Rail Network]
04/04/2022£7m improvement project completed on the West Highland Line [Network Rail]
06/09/2021 Development opportunity as former Bridge of Orchy school for sale [Scottish Housing News]
16/09/2020Old Military Road reopens as section of West Highland Railway is reinstated [Press and Journal]
15/09/2020Climate proofed? Landslips on two iconic Scots routes lead to new concerns over transport resilience [HeraldScotland]
14/09/2020Highlands rail line closed following landslip [Press and Journal]
14/09/2020Travel disruption after landslip closes West Highland Line [BBC News]
21/06/2002New Bunkhouse at Bridge of Orchy

Books

All Stations to Mallaig!: West Highland Line Since Nationalisation
Argyll and the Highlands Last Days of Steam

Argyll and the Highlands' Lost Railways

Ben Nevis and Fort William, The Mamores and The Grey Corries, Kinlochleven and Spean Bridge (OS Explorer Map)

History of the Railways of the Scottish Highlands: West Highland Railway v. 1

History of the Railways of the Scottish Highlands: West Highland Railway v. 1

Iron Road to the Isles: A Travellers and Tourist Guide to the West Highland Lines

Iron Roads to the Isles: A Travellers and Tourists Souvenir Guide to the West Highland Lines

Mountain Moor and Loch on the Route of the West Highland Railway

On West Highland Lines

Railway World Special: West Highland Lines

Rannan Rathad Iarainn nan Eilean =: The West Highland Line

Road To The Isles Dvd: Part One The West Highland Line Between Crianlarich to Fort William, From the Drivers Cab Of A Class 37, With The Caledonian Sleeper
The Mallaig Railway: The West Highland Extension 1897-1901 (RCAHMS Broadsheet)
The New Railway: The Earliest Years of the West Highland Line

The Story of the West Highland

The Story of the West Highland: The 1940s LNER Guide to the Line

The West Highland Railway

The West Highland Railway (Railways of the Scottish Highlands)

The West Highland Railway 120 Years

Trossachs and West Highlands: Exploring the Lost Railways (Local History Series)

Victorian Travel on the West Highland Line: By Mountain, Moor and Loch in 1894

Walks from the West Highland Railway (Cicerone Guide)

West Highland Line: Great Railway Journeys Through Time

West Highland Railway
West Highland Railway (History of the Railways of the Scottish Highlands v. 1): West Highland Railway v. 1
West Highland Railway: Plans, Poltics and People