Brucklay Station

Grey Granite and Rufus drove to Brucklay (road) Bridge and decided to walk back towards Strichen to connect with the point at which they turned back when they approached Brucklay from the opposite direction. The track curves gently towards an old bridge over the line a few hundred yards away from Brucklay Station. This carries a minor road linking the splendidly named Rumbling Pots and World’s End with Nether Aucheoch. There are what Grey Granite presumes to be old sidings overgrown with rosebay willow herb, young willows, silver birches and raspberries. On the bed of the railway is an extensive area of red bartisia (Odontites verna) which Grey Granite has not seen elsewhere on the Line. Beyond the bridge are embankments, a fence made of old sleepers behind which is a plantation of young conifers.

It was almost possible to imagine a train steaming along this section of line. Grey Granite was delighted to hear and later see a pair of magnificent buzzards wheeling above the trees and occasionally perching on the highest tree tops. Smaller species visiting a bird feeder close to the line in the garden of Pine Lodge were indifferent to the raptors. Grey Granite caught a glimpse of a woodpecker opposite the station.

Brucklay Station originally served Brucklay Estate and New Pitsligo and  was the scene of a fatal accident on 25th July 1889. George Fowlie, an elderly crofter, was killed as he unloaded wood in the middle goods siding. The 2.40 p.m. train from Fraserburgh to Aberdeen was running slightly late and was inadvertently diverted from the through line to the siding where it hit a row of parked wagons which disintegrated on impact. The engine was derailed and most of the carriages were damaged, although fortunately the crew and most of the 30 to 40 passengers escaped injury.  A subsequent inquiry cited the financial difficulties of the GNSR resulting in outmoded and dangerous operating techniques and a signalling error for the accident. Plus ca change.