Murtle railway station, later Murtle Halt railway station served Murtle and Beaconhill Houses and estates, the Mill of Murtle, Milton of Murtle, the local farms and the inhabitants of this rural area within the parish of

Peterculter Peterculter , also known as Culter, is an outer suburb of Aberdeen, Scotland, about from the city centre. It lies on the north bank of the River Dee, Aberdeenshire, River Dee, at its confluence with the Culter Burn. Following the Local Governm ...

from 1853 to 1937 on the

Deeside Railway The Deeside Railway was a passenger and goods railway between Aberdeen and Ballater in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. Opening in 1853 to Banchory, an extension reached Aboyne in 1859. A separate company, the Aboyne & Braemar Railway, built an extensi ...

that ran from Aberdeen (Joint) to

Ballater Ballater (, ) is a village in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, on the River Dee, immediately east of the Cairngorm Mountains. Situated at an elevation of , Ballater is a centre for hikers and known for its spring water, once said to cure scrofula. ...

History

The station was opened on 8 September 1853 on the Deeside branch and at first its services were operated by the

. Later it became part of the GNoSR and at grouping merged with 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 ...

. Murtle became an unstaffed halt circa 1930 and was closed to passengers on 5 April 1937. It had served as the local post office in 1899. The station was unstaffed in around 1930 and became a halt with its goods services withdrawn. After closure in 1937 the line remained open until 1966. The line has been lifted and this sections forms part of the

Deeside Way The Deeside Way is a rail trail that follows, in part, the bed of the former Deeside Railway in Aberdeenshire. Forming part of the National Cycle Network (National Route 195) the trail leads from Aberdeen to Ballater. The route The pathway r ...

long-distance footpath. The station was host to a

LNER LNER or L.N.E.R. may refer to: *London and North Eastern Railway (1923–1947), a former railway company in the United Kingdom *London North Eastern Railway (2018–), a train operating company in the United Kingdom * Liquid neutral earthing resi ...

camping coach Camping coaches were holiday accommodation offered by many Rail transport, railway companies in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland from the 1930s. The Coach (rail), coaches were old passenger vehicles no longer suitable for use in tr ...

in 1935 and 1936 and possibly one for some of 1934, it was located in the old loading dock siding.

Infrastructure

The station had a stone built agent's house, with at first a single platform, a waiting room and ticket office building that was originally similar to those at

Torphins Torphins ( ; ) is a village in River Dee, Aberdeenshire, Royal Deeside, Aberdeenshire, Scotland which lies about west of Aberdeen. It is situated on the A980 road, A980, about north-west of Banchory, and was once served by the Great North of ...

Lumphanan Lumphanan ( ; ) is a village in Aberdeenshire, Scotland located from Aberdeen and from Banchory. History Lumphanan is documented to be the site of the Battle of Lumphanan of 1057 AD, where Malcolm III of Scotland defeated Macbeth of Sco ...

and elsewhere on the line. In 1865 the single siding was on the northern side, approached from the east. By 1899 the line had been doubled, a stone agent's house was built, together with a pedestrian overbridge and a signal box located on the westbound platform with a simple wooden shelter. A single siding and loading dock was present with several sets of points and signals in the vicinity. Murtle acquired some differences in its appearance, especially the small canopy after it was rebuilt following after a fire on 17 August 1909 that destroyed the original wooden main station building. In 1963 the station, closed since 1937, was on a single track section of line with the agent's house still standing together with the old station building.

Services

In 1928 the suburban railway, locally called the 'subbies' started additionally operating Sunday services to Culter however due to competition with the buses it was announced on 28 January 1937 that the service would cease altogether in April 1937, Sunday services having ceased in 1936.Doric Columns
/ref>

The site today

The much modified and enlarged station buildings survive as private dwellings with both platforms of Aberdeenshire granite remaining in situ, the eastbound being in better condition. The

runs past the station. The

Royal Deeside Railway The Royal Deeside Railway is a Scottish heritage railway located at Milton of Crathes railway station on a part of the original Deeside Railway. Original railway Originally constructed between 1853 and 1866, the Deeside Railway ran between ...

is located at

Milton of Crathes Milton of Crathes is a complex of restored 17th-century stone buildings,United Kingdom Ordnance Survey Map Landranger 45, Stonehaven and Banchory, 1:50,000 scale, 2004 associated with, and previously an outlier of, Crathes Castle in Aberdeenshir ...

some distance down the line towards

References

Sources

* * Maxtone, Graham and Cooper, Mike (2018). ''Then and Now on the Great North. V.1.'' GNoSR Association. . *

External links

Film of the station and the Deeside line.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Murtle railway station Disused railway stations in Aberdeenshire Former Great North of Scotland Railway stations Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1853 Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1937 1853 establishments in Scotland