Dunrobin Castle railway station

Dunrobin Castle National Rail
Scottish Gaelic: Caisteal Dhùn Robain[1]
The station photographed in 1989
Location
Place Dunrobin Castle
Local authority Highland
Coordinates 57°59′09″N 3°56′49″W / 57.9859°N 3.9470°W / 57.9859; -3.9470Coordinates: 57°59′09″N 3°56′49″W / 57.9859°N 3.9470°W / 57.9859; -3.9470
Grid reference NC849012
Operations
Station code DNO
Managed by Abellio ScotRail
Number of platforms 1
Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections
from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage*
2012/13 Increase 628
2013/14 Increase 916
2014/15 Decrease 822
2015/16 Decrease 782
2016/17 Increase 882
History
Original company Duke of Sutherland's Railway
1 November 1870[2] Opened
19 June 1871[2] Closed
? Reopened
29 January 1965[2] Closed
30 June 1985[2] Reopened
National Rail – UK railway stations
* Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Dunrobin Castle from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.
UK Railways portal

Dunrobin Castle railway station is a railway station on the Far North Line in Scotland. It is open only during the summer when the castle that the station gets its name from is open. It is closed from late October to March every year.

It was originally a private station for the castle, the seat of the Duke of Sutherland. The Arts and Crafts style waiting room was constructed in 1902, and is a category B listed building.[3] Dunrobin Castle is situated near the village of Golspie.

It was described in the Railway Magazine:

The Duke of Sutherland has a beautiful private railway station. As is well-known, his Grace owns a large proportion of the North of Scotland, and his famous seat of Dunrobin Castle in that district has its own station for the Duke and his household, called after the Castle, "Dunrobin." The station is one of those on the line of the Highland Railway, and lies between Brora and Golspie, in Sutherlandshire. The Duke has had the place made not only serviceable, but very picturesque in its design and finish.

The general outline seems to be that of a Swiss chalet, and this appearance is not lessened by the surrounding hilly district. The windows are latticed, and look very cosy, whilst all the waiting-rooms and other necessary adjuncts to such a station are well fitted up. With true patriotism his lordship determined that Scotch pine should be used as far as possible in the construction of his station, so that he had it built of that wood. Thus it is extremely strongly made, as it needs to be to resist the ravages of snow and wind that sweep so terribly across the Sutherland moors in winter.

As a rule the platforms of private stations are very small, but this one at Dunrobin is an exception. It is very long, for often the family at the Castle will entertain three or four hundred guests at a time, when important fêtes or events are taking place there.[4]

The station is 86 miles 22 chains (138.8 km) from Inverness, and has a single platform which is long enough for a three-coach train.[5]

References

  1. ↑ Brailsford 2017, Gaelic/English Station Index.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Butt 1995, p. 86.
  3. ↑ "Dunrobin Castle Station Waiting Room, Listed Building Report". Historic Scotland. Retrieved 2013-12-15.
  4. ↑ George A Wade, "Private Railway Stations", Railway Magazine, November 1903
  5. ↑ Brailsford 2017, map 20B.

Sources

  • 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.
Preceding station National Rail Following station
Golspie   Abellio ScotRail
Far North Line		   Brora
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