Rafford railway station

Rafford railway station at Rafford was opened with the Inverness and Perth Junction Railway in 1863.

A full layout was provided (with a goods yard). The station was closed after only 2 years in operation.

Station location

The station was located in a sparsely populated area, about a mile from the village of Rafford. The station was not a success and closed very early in the I&PJ history, in 1865.^[1]^[2]

It was also the place where the curve and incline to eventually meet with a gradient of 1-in-70, as the trains began to climb to Dava Muir. Locomotives often reversed before re-attempting at speed.

After closure

The wooden station building was moved south, down the line to the I&PJ station at Aberfeldy. This was eventually replaced by a permanent structure and the Rafford building was lost. Aberfeldy was completely demolished after closure in 1965.

Remains

There are no remains of the buildings/structures at the location of Rafford station. Some earthworks can be seen that indicate the layout of the platforms and goods loading platform. The path up to the station still exists and is used to access The Dava Way.

Over the road to Rafford, south of the station, an overbridge still exists with a Highland Railway fence post nearby. The embankments become very steep here, indicating the steady gradient, after leaving Rafford station.

References

^ Thomas, John; Turnock, David (1989). A Regional History of the Railways of Great Britain. Volume 15 North of Scotland. David St John Thomas. p. 235. ISBN 0946537038.
^ Quick, M. E. (2002). Railway passenger stations in England, Scotland and Wales – a chronology. Richmond: Railway and Canal Historical Society. p. 357. OCLC 931112387.

Sources

'The Highland Railway' - H.A Vallance
Highland Railway: People and Places - From the Inverness and Nairn Railway to ScotRail - Neil T. Sinclair
http://www.davaway.org.uk/maps/northern.html - link to the section of The Dava Way containing Rafford station site.

Preceding station	Historical railways			Following station
Forres Line open; Connection to Inverness and Aberdeen Junction Railway closed		Inverness and Perth Junction Railway		Dunphail Line and Station closed

57°35′01″N 3°35′38″W / 57.5837°N 3.5939°W / 57.5837; -3.5939

[1] Thomas, John; Turnock, David (1989). A Regional History of the Railways of Great Britain. Volume 15 North of Scotland. David St John Thomas. p. 235. ISBN 0946537038.

[2] Quick, M. E. (2002). Railway passenger stations in England, Scotland and Wales – a chronology. Richmond: Railway and Canal Historical Society. p. 357. OCLC 931112387.

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