Banavie Pier railway station was the terminus of a short branch and was at first known as Banvie, opened by the

North British Railway The North British Railway was one of the two biggest of the five major Scottish railway companies prior to the 1923 Grouping. It was established in 1844, with the intention of linking with English railways at Berwick. The line opened in 1846, ...

in 1895. The station's location was just above the impressive flight of locks on the

Caledonian Canal The Caledonian Canal connects the Scottish east coast at Inverness with the west coast at Corpach near Fort William in Scotland. The canal was constructed in the early nineteenth century by Scottish engineer Thomas Telford. Route The can ...

known as " Neptune's Staircase",

Banavie Banavie (; ) is a small settlement near Fort William in the Highland Council Area of Scotland. One of the closest villages to Ben Nevis, it is about 4 kilometres ( miles) northeast of Fort William town centre, next to Caol and Corpach. It h ...

Highland Highlands or uplands are areas of high elevation such as a mountainous region, elevated mountainous plateau or high hills. Generally, ''upland'' refers to a range of hills, typically from up to , while ''highland'' is usually reserved for range ...

council area,

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. A new station named

was opened on the

Mallaig Extension Railway The Mallaig Extension Railway is a railway line in Highland, Scotland. It runs from Banavie Junction (New) on the Banavie Pier branch of the West Highland Railway to Mallaig. The previous "Banavie Junction" closer to Fort William was rename ...

in 1901, still operational and now the location of the

radio electronic token block Radio Electronic Token Block is a system of railway signalling used in the United Kingdom. It is a development of the physical token system for controlling traffic on single lines. The system is slightly similar to North American direct traffi ...

(RETB) control centre for the

West Highland Railway The West Highland Railway was a railway company that constructed a railway line from Craigendoran (on the River Clyde west of Glasgow, Scotland) to Fort William, Highland, Fort William and Mallaig. The line was built through remote and difficul ...

system throughout, except for the Fort William station area. The original pier station became "Banavie Pier" and served the paddle steamers on the canal that ran to

Inverness Inverness (; ; from the , meaning "Mouth of the River Ness") is a city in the Scottish Highlands, having been granted city status in 2000. It is the administrative centre for The Highland Council and is regarded as the capital of the Highland ...

and the location avoided the time-consuming passage through the eight locks of the 'staircase'.

History

The

opened the Fort William line to passengers on 7 August 1894; operated by the

, until in 1923 it became part of the

London and North Eastern Railway The London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) was the second largest (after London, Midland and Scottish Railway, LMS) of the "Big Four (British railway companies), Big Four" railway companies created by the Railways Act 1921 in Britain. It ope ...

. In 1948 the line became part of the

Scottish Region of British Railways The Scottish Region (ScR) was one of the six regions created on British Railways (BR) and consisted of ex-London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) and ex-London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) lines in Scotland. It existed from the creation ...

following

nationalisation Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization contrasts with priv ...

. The "Banavie Extension" was opened by the

in 1895. The opening of the pier station resulted in a considerable increase in the passenger traffic on the

, the

having their own wharf above the locks. The branch was a useful link between steamers arriving at Fort William from Oban who wished to travel on the Caledonian Canal. Some freight traffic for the branch was generated from the canal in carrying grain for the distilleries that had been grown in the Black Isle and Moray and had been transported to Banavie from Inverness. The official closure date for the passenger service was 4 September 1939 however the last train actually ran on 15 September. Freight services ceased on 6 August 1951.

The Banavie Junctions

The first "Banavie Junction" was located on the

around one mile east of

Fort William railway station Fort William railway station serves the town of Fort William, in the Highland region of Scotland. It is on the West Highland line, between Spean Bridge and Banavie, measured from Craigendoran Junction, at the southern end of the line near Hele ...

and was opened on 1 June 1895 when the branch line to Banavie Pier was opened. When the

opened on 30 March 1901 the junction was renamed "Mallaig Junction" however a second 'new' "Banavie Junction" then existed off the Mallaig line near the new

Banavie railway station Banavie railway station is a railway station on the West Highland Line serving the village of Banavie, although it is much closer to Caol, Scotland. It is sited between Corpach and Fort William, from Banavie Junction, just north of Fort Wil ...

, going out of use in 1951. To eliminate confusion in radio communication "Mallaig Junction" was renamed "

Fort William Junction Fort William railway station serves the town of Fort William, in the Highland region of Scotland. It is on the West Highland line, between Spean Bridge and Banavie, measured from Craigendoran Junction, at the southern end of the line near Helen ...

" on 27 March 1988.

Infrastructure

The station building was constructed in the standard "chalet" style. The 1899

OS map The Ordnance Survey (OS) is the national mapping agency for Great Britain. The agency's name indicates its original military purpose (see ordnance and surveying), which was to map Scotland in the wake of the Jacobite rising of 1745. The ...

records the station and goods yard next to the canal and shows a signal box at the then "Banavie Junction". The station building and stationmaster's house stood on the northern side of the line and the goods yard with a single siding and a weighing machine on the eastern side. A passing loop was present at the station and a siding ran off northwards parallel to the canal and a spur ran back to lie close to the steamers landing stage. The station building and stationmaster's house survive as private dwellings as does the platform. The stationmaster's house had been set back from the platform so as not to offend First Class passengers making their way to the steamers. A crane was positioned at the canal side to serve the railway goods traffic in WWII. The Railway Inspectorate noted that the branch had been laid by the contractors Lucas and Aird using used rails.

Services

Trains for Glasgow were advertised as terminating and originating at Banavie when the branch first opened. After the Mallaig Extension was opened the services to Banavie Pier were adapted to serve the steamer traffic on the

with a summer service extending into early autumn and trains running every day at times, although a pattern was established of one train a day on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays to Banavie Pier from Fort William and one on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays from Banavie Pier to Fort William. The line had no signalling and was worked on a one engine in steam basis by staff and key. A temporary wooden shelter had been obtained for the signalman at the junction.

References

Notes

Sources

* * * *

External links

Video of the West Highland Line. Mallaig to Fort WilliamBanavie Station and radio control centre

{{DEFAULTSORT:Banavie Pier railway station Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1895 Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1939 Former North British Railway stations Disused railway stations in Highland (council area)