Port Elphinstone Ground Frame
Location type
Names and dates
Port Elphinstone Mills Siding (1854-1882)Port Elphinstone Signal Box (1882-1969)
Port Elphinstone Ground Frame (1969-1995)
Opened on the Great North of Scotland Railway.
Description
This location is south of Inverurie. The Port Elphinstone Mills (1858-2009) were served with sidings after their opening.
The line between Kintore [1st] and Inveramsay was doubled in 1882 when a signal box opened here. It was located on the east side of the line. To the north west was a goods branch, Port Elphinstone Goods. The approach to this was moved further south with the doubling and converted to being via a headshunt with a trailing connection.
The works sidings, on the east side of the line and south from the box, were approached by reversing from the southbound line to a headshunt which had its buffer by the box. From here the siding ran south east on a curve to the southern part of the mills and a second connection, approached via a second headshunt to the south (reached from the first), ran north east to yet another headshunt from which the north part of the mills were reached.
Dyce to Inverurie was singled in 1969 and the signal box was replaced by a ground frame which was released from the Inverurie signal box.
Sidings remained in use into at least the 1990s. China Clay was delivered here from Burngallow.
Use of the sidings was awkward - the train blocked the section between Dyce and Inverurie. By heading first north to Inverurie and running round the train could reverse into the headshunt.
By then running forward and reversing again wagons could be placed in the northern part of the works.
The headshunt was equipped with a loop. By running round wagons could be placed in the southern headshunt, empties retrieved from the southern part of the works and deposited in the loop, the loaded wagons picked up and reversed into the now free southern part of the works and the locomotive return to the loop to pick up empties and run south out onto the main line.
The line has been returned to double track (2019) and sidings for Port Elphinstone Mills taken out.
Remarkably the base of the signal box survives, it has even survived the redoubling of the line.
Tags
Sidings signal box mills paper mill| Nearby stations Port Elphinstone Inverurie [1st] Inverurie Kintore Kintore [1st] Lethenty Kemnay Kinaldie Inveramsay Fingask Halt Oldmeldrum Pitcaple Pitmedden Monymusk Newmachar | Port Elphinstone Mills Inverurie Paper Mill Don Viaduct Port Elphinstone Goods Kintore Sand Pit Siding Forest Siding Tavelty? Saw Mill Inverurie Works Tom^s Forest Quarry Paradise Quarries Tourist/other Kinkell Church Bruce^s Camp Boat of Kintore Level Crossing Brandsbutt Stone East Aquhorthies Stone Circle |
| Location names in dark blue are on the same original line. | |
