Alford Valley Railway (GNoSR)
| Locale | Scotland |
|---|---|
| Dates of operation | 23 March 1859–30 July 1866 |
| Successor | Great North of Scotland Railway |
| Track gauge | 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) |
The Alford Valley Railway is a historic railway in Scotland that ran between Alford and Kintore. The company was formed in 1856, the line was opened in 1859, and it was absorbed by the Great North of Scotland Railway in 1866.
The construction of the Alford Valley Railway began in 1856 and the line opened in 1859. It ran in a westerly direction from Kintore, a station on the line from Aberdeen to Inverness. The line served Kemnay Quarry and three other granite quarries in the area. The summit of the line is just west of Tillyfourie at 618 feet (188 m) where a mile-long cutting 30 feet (9.1 m) deep required cutting through particularly hard granite. The train took just over an hour for the 16 mile journey and until 1883 by law the third class fare on one train a day could not be more than a penny per mile.
On 30 July 1866, the GNoSR obtained an Act of Parliament authorising it to amalgamate with several associated railways, including the Alford Valley Railway, Keith and Dufftown Railway, and the Strathspey Railway; this took place on 1 August 1866. Two unadvertised halts were later opened for workmen at Paradise Siding and Ratchill (or Ratch-Hill) Siding between Kenmay and Kintore but both were closed in the late 1930s. In 1923 GNoSR was incorporated into the London and North Eastern Railway and in 1948 became part of the Scottish Region of British Railways. The line closed to passengers in 1950 and to goods in 1966.
Apart from a short section at Alford which has been reopened as the narrow gauge Alford Valley Railway, the remainder of the line, including the junction station at Kintore, has been dismantled.
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