Drybridge Platform railway station

Drybridge Platform
Letterfourie
View from Drybridge or Letterfourie Platform
Location
Place	Drybridge
Area	Moray
Coordinates	57°38′57″N 2°56′57″W / 57.649298°N 2.94911°W / 57.649298; -2.94911Coordinates: 57°38′57″N 2°56′57″W / 57.649298°N 2.94911°W / 57.649298; -2.94911
Grid reference	NJ 434 625
Operations
Original company	Highland Railway
Pre-grouping	Highland Railway
Post-grouping	London, Midland and Scottish Railway
Platforms	1
History
1 April 1885	Station opens as 'Drybridge Platform'
7 August 1915	Station closes to passengers
1928	Station named 'Letterfourlie' by the LMS
Disused railway stations in the United Kingdom
Closed railway stations in Britain A B C D–F G H–J K–L M–O P–R S T–V W–Z

Drybridge Platform railway station or Drybridge railway station was a station which served the hamlet of that name in the parish of Rathven and in addition provided transport for the inhabitants of the Parish of Deskford,Scottish county of Moray. It was served by trains on the Buckie and Portessie Branch north of Keith.

The station was renamed Letterfourie station, the title of the nearby estate by the LMS and this name is used on the 1928 and the 1938 OS maps.

The station was not included in the tenders issued for the building of the stations even though Drybridge had been included in the list agreed upon on the 3 July 1883 by the Highland Railway Board. Following the delivery of a petition from the inhabitants of Drybridge village a station was opened by the Highland Railway on the 1st April 1885 at a cost of £210. It was located on the "up" side of the line and was reached via a gate at the roadside and a path through the field. }

In 1889 the inhabitants of Drybridge petitioned for a goods station however it was decided that the gradients were too steep and the request was declined. Seven years later a second attempt was made with the same result. In December 1906 it was decided to install a siding about one mile from Drybridge on the "Down" line facing Keith and lying towards Rathven for the delivery of clay and pipes required to construct a reservoir. By March 1909 the works had been completed and the siding was duly lifted.

In 1889 Drybridge was upgraded in status through the appointment of a station master, Alexander Dott, who had been a porter at Buckie and who was to be the only station master for Drybridge. The station did not prosper for it was decided that not all trains should stop at Drybridge and the station became a request stop.

The construction of the GNoSR Moray coast route "effectively doomed the Highland route. Westbound journeys were shorter via the GNSR, and although the route to Aberdeen was longer, the Moray Coast Railway had services that were faster, more frequent and more convenient, with through trains running from Elgin, along the coast and to Aberdeen. As a rather straggly branch line, the Highland route struggled to compete, and the population between Buckie and Keith was too sparse to provide much additional traffic."

Drybridge had a short life with services being suspended during World War I on 7 August 1915} and the rails south of Buckie removed for use at Inverness and Invergordon by the Admiralty, the station buildings being left intact as it was hoped to restart services after the war had ended.