Balquhidder was a

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

around two miles south of Lochearnhead,

Stirling (district) The Stirling council area (; ) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, and has an estimated population of (). It was created in 1975 as a lower-tier district within the Central region. The district covered parts of the historic counties ...

. It was where the

Callander and Oban Railway The Callander and Oban Railway company was established with the intention of linking the sea port of Oban to the railway network. This involved a long line from Callander through wild and thinly populated terrain, and shortage of money meant that ...

was joined by the Comrie, St Fillans & Lochearnhead Railway from

Crieff Crieff (; , meaning "tree") is a Scottish market town in Perth and Kinross on the A85 road between Perth, Scotland, Perth and Crianlarich, and the A822 road, A822 between Greenloaning and Aberfeldy, Scotland, Aberfeldy. The A822 road, A822 joins ...

History

Opening and development

When opened as part of the

on 1 June 1870,Butt (1995) Balquhidder station was called Lochearnhead. The station was laid out with two platforms, one on either side of a

crossing loop A passing loop (UK usage) or passing siding (North America) (also called a crossing loop, crossing place, refuge loop or, colloquially, a hole) is a place on a single line railway or tramway, often located at or near a station, where trains o ...

. There were sidings on the east side of the station. The station was renamed as Balquhidder on 1 July 1904. To the north was a goods yard, which opened before the station in 1868 and on the southbound platform was the station building. It also had a signal box, which opened in 1890. Balquhidder station was relocated slightly further south on 18 December 1904 in preparation for it becoming a junction with the Comrie, St Fillans & Lochearnhead Railway. Upon the opening of the junction on 1 May 1905, the station boasted two

signal box A signal is both the process and the result of transmission of data over some media accomplished by embedding some variation. Signals are important in multiple subject fields including signal processing, information theory and biology. In ...

es and an engine shed.

Closure

When the line to Crieff closed on 1 October 1951, the station ceased to be a junction. The crossing loop was taken out of use on 21 March 1965. This station was closed with the Callander and Oban line on 28 September 1965, six weeks before the scheduled closure on 1 November 1965 due to a

landslide Landslides, also known as landslips, rockslips or rockslides, are several forms of mass wasting that may include a wide range of ground movements, such as rockfalls, mudflows, shallow or deep-seated slope failures and debris flows. Landslides ...

Glen Ogle Glen Ogle (Scottish Gaelic: Gleann Ogail) extends 7 miles north westwards from Lochearnhead to Lix Toll, where it opens into Glen Dochart. The Ogle Burn flows within the steep sides of the glen, from the Lochan Lairig Cheile at the glen's hea ...

Routes

Current status

The site is now a holiday park with log cabins, caravans, camping etc. Recently the station steps were repainted and repairs were undertaken to the crumbling wall of the remains of the waiting room. The pedestrian tunnel can still be accessed though is blocked half way through. Across the road, the old post office is now the site of the Golden Larches Restaurant. Only portions of the platforms and the goods yard remain.

References

Notes

Sources

* * * {{Jowett-Nationalised Disused railway stations in Stirling (council area) Beeching closures in Scotland Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1870 Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1965 Former Caledonian Railway stations