Deeside Section
The
first
part
of
the
Deeside
Line
was
from
Ferryhill
Junction
to
Banchory
and
opened
on
8/9/1853
(goods/passengers).
The Deeside Line closed on
28/2/1966 (passengers),
18/7/1966 (goods west of
Culter), 2/1/1967 (remainder)
The
second
part
of
the
Deeside
Line
was
from
Banchory
to
Aboyne
and
opened
on
2/12/1859
(goods/passengers).
The
third
part
of
the
Deeside
Line
(the
“Aboyne
and
Braemar”
Railway)
was
from
Aboyne
only
to
Ballater
and
opened
on
17/10/1866
(goods/passengers).
As
this
was
after
the
Lease
came
into
effect,
GNSR
ran
the Ballater trains from the start.
The
fact
that
Prince
Albert
of
Saxe-Coburg
and
Gotha
and
his
wife
had,
in
1852,
bought
what
later
became
Balmoral
Castle
may
-
or
may
not
-
have
anything
to
do
with
the
fact
that
the
Deeside
Line
never
extended
beyond
Bridge
of
Gairn
(a
mile
west
of Ballater).
The
Deeside
Railway
-
attempting
to
get
better
terms
from
Scottish
North
Eastern
Railway
(SNER)
for
the
latter’s
proposed
Scottish
Northern
Junction
Railway,
from
Stonehaven
to
Kintore
(which
would
cross
the
Deeside
at
Culter)
offered
to
lease
itself
to
GNSR.
This
idea
was
seized
upon
by
GNSR,
as
a
way
of
obstructing
the
SNER.
The
Lease
was
for
999
years
from 1/9/1866.
Further
information
about
the
Deeside
Line
may
be
found
in
this
article
on
the
Doric
Columns website.
