Ballachulish Ferry

Location type

Station

Name and dates

Ballachulish Ferry (1903-1966)

Opened on the Ballachulish Branch (Callander and Oban Railway).

Description

This was a single platform station west of Ballachulish. The station was around half a mile south of the ferry slip, the ferry crossing now being replaced by the Ballachulish Bridge.

The platform was on the north side of the line, the side of the ferry. The concrete platform of this station remains today and the trackbed is now a foot/cycle path.

The waiting room was an unusual timber building.

A lattice signal post stood in a garden near St John's Scottish Episcopalian Church on the A82 to the east of the station for many years, but disappeared around 2018.

Tags

Station footpath

External links

Canmore site record
NLS Collection OS map of 1892-1914
NLS Collection OS map of 1944-67


Nearby stations
Ballachulish (Glencoe)
Kentallen
Duror
Fort William [1st]
Fort William
Creagan
Appin
Corpach
Banavie
Loch Eil Outward Bound
Banavie Pier
Barcaldine Halt
Locheilside
Benderloch
Glenfinnan
Ballachulish Bridge
West Laroch Siding
Ardsheal Quarry
Ballachulish Shed
Ardsheal Quarry Siding
Ballachulish Slate Quarries
Tourist/other
South Ballachulish Slip
North Ballachulish Slip
Ballachulish House
Ballachulish Pier
Ballachulish St John^s Church
Laroch Harbour
Sgorr Bhan
Sgorr Dearg
Beinn a^Bheithir - Sgorr Dhonuill
Location names in dark blue are on the same original line.


Ferry and Bridge


The ferry was replaced with the Ballachulish Bridge. Due to its appearance it was known to some as 'the railway bridge', (it has never carried a line).

One of the ferries lives on, the
MV Glenachulish, now operating the Glenelg-Skye Ferry . The deck of this ferry rotates.


Chronology Dates

24/08/1903Ballachulish Branch (Callander and Oban Railway)
Line opened to passengers and goods. Stations opened at Benderloch, Creagan, Appin, Duror, Kentallen, Ballachulish Ferry, Ballachulish. For the opening Connel Ferry and Oban stations were rebuilt. Two large bridges were required Connel Ferry Bridge and Creagan Viaduct.
26/03/1966Ballachulish Branch (Callander and Oban Railway)
Line closed completely between Connel Ferry and Ballachulish (Glencoe). North Connel, Benderloch, Barcaldine Halt, Creagan, Appin, Duror, Kentallen, Ballachulish Ferry, Ballachulish (Glencoe) closed.
  /  /1979Ballachulish Branch (Callander and Oban Railway)
Completion of A82 improvements with partial realignment onto the course of the line east of Ballachulish Ferry through to Ballachulish.

Books


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

Birth and Death of a Highland Railway: Ballachulish Line

Callander & Oban Railway Through Time

Callander and Oban Railway (Library of Railway History)

History of the Railways of the Scottish Highlands: Callander and Oban Railway v. 4

Scotland’s Lost Branch Lines: Where Beeching Got It Wrong

The Birth and Death of a Highland Railway: Ballachulish Line

Trossachs and West Highlands: Exploring the Lost Railways (Local History Series)