Balhousie Junction

Location type

Place

Name and dates

Balhousie Junction (1874-1962)

Opened on the Scottish Midland Junction Railway.
Opened on the Perth General Enlargement (Perth Station Committee (Caledonian Railway, North British Railway and Highland Railway)).

Description

This signal box, just south of the Crieff Road bridge in Perth, was located on the east side of the line. It was just under a mile north of Perth station. The box was east of the main lines with goods lines passing round its east.

The original box opened in 1874. It controlled the northern approaches to Perth General and access to the small former Scottish North Eastern Railway goods depot to the south. This depot was located on the east side of the line just north of the High Street bridge and was approached from the north.

The next box to the north was at Almond Valley Junction and to the south was Perth Middle Signal Box. This latter box became 'Balhouse South' while Balhousie became 'Balhousie North'.

During the major reconstruction of Perth General in in mid 1880s the principal Caledonian Railway goods station was relocated from east of the station (Perth Goods [CR] [1st]) to a new site at Perth Goods [CR]. This was built on the east side of the existing small SNER yard and on the west side of the main line (see Dovecotland Goods). The northern set of sidings at the east yard were known as Balhousie Yard. These new yards were approached from the north. In addition the new goods lines were laid which ran from Edinburgh Road Signal Box northwards up the west side of Perth General to Dovecotland Junction from where the northbound line continued north between Dovecotland Goods and the main line to Balhousie Junction.

With all the reconstruction Balhousie South box and Balhousie North box were replaced with a new Balhousie Box in 1886.

The box was closed by the 1962 Perth resignalling, replaced by Perth Power Box. The goods line was altered to become a double track line the entire way from Edinburgh Road Bridge Signal Box to Balhousie. By this time Dovecotland yard had become a Permanent Way depot.

The goods yards were cut back over many years with Dovecotland becoming an oil siding and Perth North Goods being slowly reduced in size until on the sidings on the west side remained. It closed in 1989 and the oil siding not long afterwards.

Today Balhousie is no longer a junction.

Tags

Signal box

External links

NLS Collection OS map of 1892-1914
NLS Collection OS map of 1944-67
NLS Map
06/08/2019


Books


A Regional History of the Railways of Great Britain: The North of Scotland v. 15 (Regional railway history series)

An Illustrated History of Tayside's Railways

Bradshaw's Guides Scotlands Railways West Coast - Carlisle to Inverness: 5

Tayside's Last Days of Steam
The Railways of Strathmore (Perth, Forfar and Brechin)