Dalwhinnie railway station

Dalwhinnie railway station is a railway station serving the village of Dalwhinnie, Highland, Scotland. The station is managed by ScotRail and is on the Highland Main Line, 58 miles 47 chains (94.3 km) from Perth, between Blair Atholl and Newtonmore, at an elevation of 1,174 feet (358 m).[3]

Dalwhinnie

Scottish Gaelic: Dail Chuinnidh[1]
The footbridge and station buildings at Dalwhinnie
General information
LocationDalwhinnie, Highland
Scotland
Coordinates56.9351°N 4.2463°W / 56.9351; -4.2463
Grid referenceNN634848
Managed byScotRail
Platforms2
Other information
Station codeDLW
History
Original companyInverness and Perth Junction Railway
Pre-groupingHighland Railway
Post-groupingLMS
Key dates
9 September 1863[2]Opened
Passengers
2016/17 3,188
2017/18 3,372
2018/19 3,368
2019/20 3,226
2020/21 614
Notes
Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

History

The station opened in 1863. The station buildings were completed in 1864 by Joseph Mitchell & Company.[4]

Stationmasters
  • William Forbes until 1876[5] (afterwards station master at Grantown)
  • Donald Mackenzie 1876 – 1877[6] (formerly station master at Strathpeffer, afterwards station master at Scotscalder)
  • Mr. Sinclair from 1877 (formerly station master at Scotscalder)
  • Colin Mackay until 1888[7] (afterwards station master at Grantown)
  • Murdoch Mackay 1888 – 1897[8] (formerly station master at Altnabreac, afterwards station master at Wick)
  • John Macrae 1897[9] – 1922 (formerly station master at Allangrange)
  • William Maclaren 1922 – 1927[10]
  • Mr Mackenzie ca. 1944

Accidents and incidents

In early March 1881 during a severe snow storm a passenger train was stranded for 20 hours two miles from Dalwhinnie. Employees of the railway company were dispatched to the Dalwhinnie Hotel to procure food and refreshments for the passengers, but the gale and drift were so severe that the effort failed. In the darkness the employees failed to reach the hotel. Eventually the employees escorted the 15 passengers in daylight two miles to the hotel but it took them two hours. Some passengers chose to remain on the train but as there was no relief in the weather, and the train being completely covered by snow by the next day, they too were escorted to the hotel.[11]

On 4 July 1927 the body of the station master, William Maclaren was found in the burned out station buildings. He had sustained a bullet wound to the head.[10]

In 1938, John Ross joined a train from Dalwhinnie. He leaned out of the window and waved to friends on the platform. He failed to observe a water tank at the side of the line and the protruding hose hanging from the tank struck him and he was pulled out of the carriage window and fell onto the line. He suffered a fractured leg and other injuries and was treated at the Royal Northern Infirmary.[12]

On 10 April 2021, an HST derailed near Dalwhinnie. The line between Aviemore and Pitlochry was closed.[13][14]

Facilities

Dalwhinnie has very basic facilities, being a small car park and bike racks adjacent to platform 1, benches on both platforms and a waiting shelter (within which there is also a payphone) on platform 1. There is step-free access to platform 1 only: platform 2 can only be accessed from the footbridge.[15] As there are no facilities to purchase tickets, passengers must buy one in advance, or from the guard on the train.

Platform layout

It has a passing loop 35 chains (700 m) long, flanked by two platforms. Platform 1 on the southbound line can accommodate trains having five coaches, whereas platform 2 on the northbound line can hold nine. The passing loop continues south towards Blair Atholl as double-track line.[16]

Passenger volume
Passenger Volume at Dalwhinnie[17]
  2002-03 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17 2017-18 2018-19 2019-20 2020-21
Entries and exits 2,066 1,619 2,013 1,774 1,975 2,296 2,208 1,894 1,984 2,172 2,472 2,460 2,392 3,188 3,372 3,368 3,226 614

The statistics cover twelve month periods that start in April.

Services

There are seven daily departures in each direction on weekdays and Saturdays to Inverness, and 4 southbound (2 to Perth, 1 to Edinburgh and 2 to Glasgow Queen Street). The Caledonian Sleeper between Inverness and London Euston also calls here (set down only northbound, pickup only southbound). On Sundays, there are only 3 trains northbound to Inverness, and 2 south to Edinburgh.[18]

Preceding station National Rail Following station
Blair Atholl or
Pitlochry		   ScotRail
Highland Main Line		   Newtonmore or
Kingussie
Blair Atholl   Caledonian Sleeper
Highland Caledonian Sleeper		   Newtonmore
  Historical railways  
Dalnaspidal
Line open; station closed		   Highland Railway
Inverness and Perth Junction Railway		   Newtonmore
Line and station open

References
  1. Brailsford 2017, Gaelic/English Station Index.
  2. Butt 1995, p. 76.
  3. Brailsford 2017, map 19C.
  4. The Buildings of Scotland, Highland and Islands. John Gifford. Yale University Press. 1992. ISBN 0-300-09625-9
  5. "Railway Appointments". Saturday Inverness Advertiser. Scotland. 13 May 1876. Retrieved 13 November 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  6. "Railway Station Appointments". John o’Groat Journal. Scotland. 25 October 1877. Retrieved 13 November 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  7. "Dalwhinnie. Presentation". Inverness Courier. Scotland. 25 December 1888. Retrieved 13 November 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  8. "Public gifts to a Railway Official". Elgin Courant, and Morayshire Advertiser. Scotland. 3 December 1897. Retrieved 13 November 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  9. "Allangrange. Presentation". Highland News. Scotland. 5 June 1897. Retrieved 13 November 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  10. "Highland Fire Discoveries". Dundee Courier. Scotland. 5 July 1927. Retrieved 13 November 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  11. "The Storm". Northern Chronicle and General Advertiser for the North of Scotland. Scotland. 9 March 1881. Retrieved 21 November 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  12. "Unusual Railway Accident". The Scotsman. Scotland. 15 June 1938. Retrieved 21 November 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  13. Mitchell, Jenness. "Railway line closed after train derails during testing". STV. Retrieved 10 April 2021.
  14. Rail Accident Investigation Branch [@raibgovuk] (10 April 2021). "RAIB is deploying inspectors to gather evidence following the #derailment of a test train at #Dalwhinnie on the Highland Line in Scotland. The train consisted of a short-form HST that was travelling south when the last two vehicles derailed in proximity to points" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  15. "National Rail Enquiries -". www.nationalrail.co.uk. Retrieved 12 April 2022.
  16. Bridge, Mike, ed. (2017). TRACKatlas of Mainland Britain: A Comprehensive Geographic Atlas Showing the Rail Network of Great Britain (3rd ed.). Sheffield: Platform 5 Publishing Ltd. p. 94. ISBN 978 1909431 26 3.
  17. "Estimates of station usage | ORR Data Portal". dataportal.orr.gov.uk. Retrieved 12 April 2022.
  18. eNRT December 2021 Edition, Tables 213, 220

Bibliography
  • Brailsford, Martyn, ed. (December 2017) [1987]. Railway Track Diagrams 1: Scotland & Isle of Man (6th ed.). Frome: Trackmaps. ISBN 978-0-9549866-9-8.
  • Butt, R. V. J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations: details every public and private passenger station, halt, platform and stopping place, past and present (1st ed.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 978-1-85260-508-7. OCLC 60251199.
  • Jowett, Alan (March 1989). Jowett's Railway Atlas of Great Britain and Ireland: From Pre-Grouping to the Present Day (1st ed.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 978-1-85260-086-0. OCLC 22311137.
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