Buckie and Portessie Branch
The Buckie and Portessie Branch was a railway branch line in Scotland, built by the Highland Railway to serve an important fishing harbour at Buckie, in Banffshire. It connected with the rival Great North of Scotland Railway at Portessie.
| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Locale | Scotland |
| Dates of operation | 1 August 1884–31 December 1922 |
| Successor | London Midland and Scottish Railway |
| Technical | |
| Track gauge | 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) |
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The line opened from Keith, in 1884, and it was 13 miles in length. The fish traffic was significant, but there was little intermediate agricultural business; whisky distilleries were established from 1897 and provided useful business for the line.
In 1915 the Government had the line closed to release the track, which was requisitioned for use in Admiralty sidings elsewhere. After 1919 consideration was given to reopening the entire line to all traffic, but this was never done, and only short lengths at each end operated to serve industrial premises. The entire line closed in 1966.