Month: March 2024

Two miles north-east of Gleneagles station on the route between Stirling and Perth, stands the 1895-vintage Auchterarder Signal Box, the third of four outposts of semaphore signalling on 20-miles of Scottish main line from remote Greenloaning near Dunblane, via Blackford and Auchterarder to Hilton Junction, just south of Perth.

While Gleneagles has long been the railhead for citizens of Auchterarder, and despite being some distance from the town, Auchterarder Signal Box is easy to find from the town’s lengthy High Street as there are prominent signs pointing the way to “Auchterarder Station” despite the station having closed in 1956!

Continue reading “HSTs and semaphores at Auchterarder”

SCOTLAND can boast many attractive railway locations where it is still possible to see 40+ year old HSTs passing historic semaphore signals and impressive signal boxes, but a place that stands out for me is Kingussie, one of two locations on the Highland Main Line with a listed and working signal box, as well as a listed station building.

Paying my first return to this pleasant small town, 11¾ miles south-west of Aviemore, for almost two and a half years (October 2021), my aim on 11/12 March 2024 was to photograph trains pausing and passing the listed station, its unusual signal box, six semaphores and a spectacular mountain backdrop.

Continue reading “Return to Kingussie”