Grey Granite paid a fascinating visit to Maud railway museum this afternoon. Maud was the junction at which trains to Peterhead and Fraserburgh split, there was also a cattle mart.
There is an excellent display of memorabilia. Notable were the pouch which was necessary for trains to travel on the single line track, a sign, unique to Buchan Railways which was attached to the last wagon on goods trains to inform the loaders that another train was following. This was used on account of the erratic nature of fish catches, some days when the catch was good another train was put in to service to carry the fish. Grey Granite learned, from talking to the guide, that the wooden huts she and Rufus find alongside the track were officially 'plate layers huts' used by gangs of maintenance workers. Grey Granite was also interested to discover that, in the 1960's when the line closed, disused carriages were sold off at the price of £1-5sh (£1.25) per linear foot, the average cost of goods carriage being £22-15sh (£22.75). Carriages were used on farms for a multiplicity of purposes, most commonly hen keeping. Grey Granite remembers a passenger carriage on her Uncle's croft at Latch of Cook which was used for hens and as an outside loo. Also of note were orders of service for memorial services for railway workers who died as a result of the enemy's 'foul actions' during the Great War.
On the way home M suddenly remembered that when St Fergus Power Station was being built large pieces of construction equipment arrived in Fraserburgh by sea and were transported by road to St Fergus. Some loads were too large to fit under the bridge at Lonmay so the solution was to jack up the entire bridge, including track to allow the loads to pass underneath.
There is an excellent display of memorabilia. Notable were the pouch which was necessary for trains to travel on the single line track, a sign, unique to Buchan Railways which was attached to the last wagon on goods trains to inform the loaders that another train was following. This was used on account of the erratic nature of fish catches, some days when the catch was good another train was put in to service to carry the fish. Grey Granite learned, from talking to the guide, that the wooden huts she and Rufus find alongside the track were officially 'plate layers huts' used by gangs of maintenance workers. Grey Granite was also interested to discover that, in the 1960's when the line closed, disused carriages were sold off at the price of £1-5sh (£1.25) per linear foot, the average cost of goods carriage being £22-15sh (£22.75). Carriages were used on farms for a multiplicity of purposes, most commonly hen keeping. Grey Granite remembers a passenger carriage on her Uncle's croft at Latch of Cook which was used for hens and as an outside loo. Also of note were orders of service for memorial services for railway workers who died as a result of the enemy's 'foul actions' during the Great War.
On the way home M suddenly remembered that when St Fergus Power Station was being built large pieces of construction equipment arrived in Fraserburgh by sea and were transported by road to St Fergus. Some loads were too large to fit under the bridge at Lonmay so the solution was to jack up the entire bridge, including track to allow the loads to pass underneath.
Railway Bridge, with WW2 pill box on the right, close to Maud Station
This seems like a really interesting visit. Remember George Boardman may have information on the Buchan Line with his interests in trains and railways.
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