Kinnaber Junction
Location type
JunctionName and dates
Kinnaber Junction (1881-1981)Opened on the Aberdeen Railway.
Opened on the North British, Arbroath and Montrose Railway.
Description
This is the famous location where the East Coast Main Line and West Coast Main Line routes met until the late 1960s.
There was only one route forward to Aberdeen and this gave rise to the railway races of 1895 - the first train to reach this point also being the first to Aberdeen. The companies which constituted the two routes would contribute to the running of the train over their section as it raced from London to Aberdeen.
This was the junction between the Caledonian Railway Strathmore main line from Perth to Aberdeen (via Forfar [2nd]) and the North British Railway main line (the North British, Arbroath and Montrose Railway) to Aberdeen (via Dundee and the Tay Bridge). The line north was owned by the Caledonian Railway as well as the approach from Forfar [2nd].
The Caledonian route was the original Aberdeen Railway. The former Caledonian route west has been closed and lifted. It remained as a single track as far as Bridge of Dun until the Brechin branch closed. The signal box was located between the two main lines and faced out over the North British line. It opened in 1880 to assist with opening the North British route. The box was paid for by the North British but the staff worked for the Caledonian.
In Caledonian Railway days there was a slight reverse "S" bend on the North British Railway route, the track alignment favouring the Caledonian route in terms of speed. The NB line had a 15 mph speed restriction and it had single sidings on both the northbound and southbound sides making trailing connections.
The North British exercised running powers over the Caledonian route to Aberdeen, not having their own route. This was instituted by the Government to prevent the Caledonian from having a monopoly of the Aberdeen traffic.
Later the North British route was realigned to allow faster running.
The main line to Forfar [2nd] closed in 1967, but the portion as far as Bridge of Dun remained for access to Brechin until 1981. Having ceased to be a junction the box closed in 1982, its last duty being the siding at Hillside [NB].
The former Caledonian route is in a deep cutting and is slowly reverting to nature. About a mile of the line, in Hillside going towards Dubton, has been obliterated.
Tags
JunctionExternal links
Canmore site recordNLS Collection OS map of 1892-1914
NLS Collection OS map of 1944-67
NLS Map
| Nearby stations Hillside [NB] North Water Bridge Halt Dubton Broomfield Craigo Montrose St Cyrus Montrose [CR] Bridge of Dun Lauriston Marykirk Johnshaven Laurencekirk Lunan Bay Farnell Road | Hillside Distillery North Water Bridge Viaduct Broomfield Junction Puggieston Siding Puggieston Brick and Tile Works Montrose North Junction Montrose Shed [NBR] Montrose [CR] Timber Yard Dronner^s Dyke Montrose West Quay Montrose Shed [CR] South Esk Viaduct Montrose Grain Store Tourist/other Broomfield Aerodrome House of Dun |
| Location names in dark blue are on the same original line. | |
Chronology Dates
| /08/1895 | 'Railway Races' Trains race from London to Aberdeen Joint. The West Coast group of companies win with a timing of 512 minutes (the East Coast was 518 minutes). The effective finishing post was at Kinnaber Junction, 38 miles south of Aberdeen Joint, with whichever train reached Kinnaber first being given the route to Aberdeen. |
| 04/09/1967 | Scottish Midland Junction Railway
Aberdeen Railway Perth (Stanley Junction) to Laurencekirk (Kinnaber Junction) closed to passengers. |
| 04/09/1967 | Scottish Midland Junction Railway Newtyle and Coupar Angus Railway Newtyle and Glammis Railway Arbroath and Forfar Railway Aberdeen Railway Stanley Junction to Kinnaber Junction closed to passengers. Coupar Angus, Alyth Junction, Forfar and Bridge of Dun stations closed. |
| 04/05/1981 | Aberdeen Railway Brechin to Kinnaber Junction (excluded) closed. |
