St Brides Crossing

Location type

Sidings

Name and dates

St Brides Crossing (1893-1951)

Opened on the Callander and Oban Railway.

Description

This was a passing loop, added in 1893 due to the increase in traffic. Little remains to be seen of the loop, the line itself is now a dirt road, except a bridge over a stream which clearly carried two tracks. John Anderson's proposal to open a public station here was rejected by the landowner.

The signal box here was unusual for the Caledonian in having a covered staircase (on its north side).

In the Second World War a down (northbound) side siding was added - indeed this was a wartime provision laid in for the Admiralty to provide further marshalling capacity on the line. The field to the west has been described as being full of sidings, sleepers remaining for years afterwards. The road to Stank farm was deviated to the west to vacate land for the new sidings. Further sidings were laid at Achaleven Sidings, Connel Ferry.

Switching out became available in 1921, useful on a line with light wintertime traffic. The box and loop closed in 1951.

The line remained open until 1965 when it closed due to the Glen Ogle Rockfall.

The location was named for a nearby Chapel, now ruined.

The trackbed is now a forestry road.

4 miles 21 chains from Callander and Oban Junction, Callander.

Tags

Loop crossing Second World War Admiralty

Aliases

St Bride^s Crossing


Chronology Dates

27/07/1893Callander and Oban Railway
St Brides Crossing opened between Callander Dreadnought and Strathyre.
  /05/1940Callander and Oban Railway
Wartime sidings laid out at St Brides Crossing.
  /03/1950Callander and Oban Railway
Wartime sidings at St Brides Crossing taken out.
23/09/1951Callander and Oban Railway
St Brides Crossing loop closed.

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

Caledonian Railway

Caledonian Routes 3: Stirling to Crianlarich - DVD - Oakwood Press

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

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

Iron Road to the Isles: A Travellers and Tourist Guide to the West Highland Lines

Iron Roads to the Isles: A Travellers and Tourists Souvenir Guide to the West Highland Lines

Oban 1898: Argyllshire Sheet 98.07 (Old Ordnance Survey Maps of Argyllshire)

On West Highland Lines

Railway World Special: West Highland Lines

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

Scottish Central Railway (Oakwood Library of Railway History)

The Birth and Death of a Highland Railway: Ballachulish Line

The Caledonian, Scotland's Imperial Railway: A History

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

Walks from the West Highland Railway (Cicerone Guide)