HST and semaphores in NE Scotland

43125/148 pause at Keith with 1A16 from Inverness (12.39) to Aberdeen

Two days after my visit to Montrose and Craigo and the offer of a bargain-priced £19.00 ScotRail Club 50 flat-fare tempts me to max-out the opportunity and pay my first visit for more than six years to Keith Junction – a 380-mile round trip from Edinburgh, and with the first 130½ miles to Aberdeen happily being aboard another Inter7City HST set.

For the past nine years Keith Junction has been the UK’s most northerly outpost of mechanical signalling, an honour it acquired when the signal boxes at Elgin West and Forres were eliminated in October 2017, while the 2019 closure of Inverurie Signal Box has left just three other mechanically-signalled locations along the Inverness-Aberdeen route – at Huntly, Kennethmont and Insch.

43125/148 pass Keith Junction Signal Box with 1A16 from Inverness (12.39) to Aberdeen

Keith Junction Signal Box is an attractive 1905-vintage Great North of Scotland Railway design, with a 40-lever frame, that stands some 200 yards east of the station and controls a total of 11 semaphore arms, all located to the east of the single operational station platform, and controlling entry and exit to and from a long bi-directionally-signalled passing loop.

43125/148 approach up section signal KJ37 with 1A16 from Inverness (12.39) to Aberdeen

This loop extends a fair distance south-east of the station, beyond an over-bridge carrying the B9116 road. From the over-bridge, which is a brisk 10 minute walk from the station and past a large Chivas Regal bonded warehouse (No.2), there is a great vantage point from which you can see all of the semaphore signals.

170433 approaches Keith with 1H61 from Aberdeen (13.41) to Inverness

A considerable amount of investment has gone in to the 108¼-mile Aberdeen-Inverness route over recent years, including the re-signalling projects at Elgin/Forres and Inverurie, which included the re-siting of Forres station, opening of two new stations at Inverness Airport and Kintore, and doubling of the Inverurie-Aberdeen section to allow the launch of regular local services.

170433 approaches down home signal KJ5, which looks remarkably new

The current weekday timetable comprises a total of 11 through trains a day in each direction, four of which are diagrammed for operation by HSTs, along with the regular local services between Aberdeen and Inverurie at the southern end of the route and seven short journeys at the western end of the line between Inverness and Elgin.

170433 passes Keith Junction Signal Box with 1H61 from Aberdeen (13.41) to Inverness

Assuming that services ran as diagrammed, the 2½ hours I was spending at Keith on 11 March 2026 would hopefully allow me to photograph two HST-operated services, with 1A16 from Inverness (12.39) to Aberdeen at 13.46, then just over an hour later 1H61, scheduled to pass at 14.53 working from Aberdeen (13.41) to Inverness.

A view of the disused Dufftown branch platform with the signal box beyond

My luck was in when the weather proved a good deal brighter and drier than it had been in Montrose two days earlier, and 43125/148 (set HA16) passed on schedule at 13.46, but there was disappointment to follow when a 3-car Class 170 unit (170433) appeared working 1H61 in place of the booked HST.

A view from the station platform of Keith Junction signal box and signals KJ38/KJ34 and KJ35

Besides the single platform at Keith used by Aberdeen-Inverness services there is also a second platform protected by an up home signal (KJ35) that is currently fenced off, but can see use by any train or excursion terminating here, and might one day be served by heritage services of the Keith and Dufftown Railway, whose trains from the famous distillery town are currently curtailed at Keith Town, just south of the main station.