Dundee and Newtyle Railway

The original Dundee station on Ward road

The Dundee and Newtyle Railway opened in 1831 and was the first railway in the north of Scotland. It was built to carry goods from Strathmore to the port of Dundee and was chartered with an Act of Parliament that received royal assent in 26 May 1826 and opened in 1831.^[1] The railway originally ran between Dundee and Newtyle.

[v · Scotland
Dates of operation	26 May 1826 – 28 July 1863
Successor line	Scottish Central Railway
Track gauge
Length	11 miles (18 km)

Legend

		Alyth Railway
Ardler Junction		Alyth Junction
Scottish Midland
Junction Railway
Newtyle (New)		Newtyle (Old)
		Hatton Incline
		Hatton
Auchterhouse (New)		Auchterhouse (Old)
Dronley		Balbeuchly Incline
		Rosemill Goods
		Baldragon
		Baldovan
		Maryfield Goods
Lochee		Fleet at Back of Law
Lochee West		Law Tunnel
Liff		Law Incline
		Dundee Ward Road
Dundee and		Dundee and
Perth Railway		Arbroath Railway
Dundee West		Dundee East
		Dundee Tay Bridge
Tay Bridge		Dundee Harbour
North British Railway

Overview

The line was originally 10+¹⁄₂ miles (16.9 km) long and of 4 ft 6 ¹⁄₂ in (1,384 mm) rail gauge.^[2] Construction costs were obtained from a capital of £140,000 in shares and £30,000 in loans. In 1846, the railway was leased in perpetuity to the Dundee and Perth Company.^[3]

The route included three rope-worked inclined planes, with stationary steam engines to pull the trains uphill. There was a tunnel under Dundee Law.^[1]

The Dundee station was originally on Ward Road but was later extended to the harbour in 1842 and was also extended to Lochee.^[3] A small part of the original station at Newtyle still exists and the site of Ward Road station is occupied by a BT call centre.

Halts on the original line were at the back of Law tunnel, Baldovan, Baldragon, Auchterhouse, Balbeuchly Foot, Balbeuchly Incline, Balbeuchly Top, Auchterhouse, Hatton and Newtyle. In February 1867 the line was extended to Dundee Harbour at the Earl Grey Dock. The later Lochee Deviation stopped at Ninewells Junction, Liff, Lochee West, Lochee, Fairmuir Goods and Maryfield Goods near Stobswell.

Locomotives

One of the steam locomotives used on the Dundee and Newtyle Railway was Earl of Airlie, a 0-2-4 built by J & C Carmichael of Dundee in 1833. This had a horizontal boiler but the cylinders were vertical and drove the front wheels through bell cranks. It was one of the earliest engines in Britain to be fitted with a bogie.

References

Notes

1. ^ ^{a b} "Dundee and Newtyle Railway". RailScot. http://www.railscot.co.uk/Dundee_and_Newtyle_Railway/frame.htm. Retrieved 2006-06-08. 
2. ^ Ferguson, pp. 8–9.
3. ^ ^{a b} Francis H. Groome (1892-1896). "Dundee and Newtyle Railway". Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland 2: 426. http://www.electricscotland.com/history/gazetteer/vol2page426.htm. 

Sources

• Awdry, Christopher (1990). Encyclopaedia of British Railway Companies. Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 1-8526-0049-7. OCLC 19514063. 
• Butt, R. V. J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations: details every public and private passenger station, halt, platform and stopping place, past and present (1st ed.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 1-8526-0508-1. OCLC 60251199. 
• Jowett, Alan (March 1989). Jowett's Railway Atlas of Great Britain and Ireland: From Pre-Grouping to the Present Day (1st ed.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 1-8526-0086-1. OCLC 22311137. 
• Ferguson, Dr N (October 1995) [1995] (Hardcover). Dundee and Newtyle Railway Including the Alyth and Blairgowrie Branches (Oakwood Library of Railway History). The Oakwood Press. ISBN 0-85361-476-8. 

External links

• RAILSCOT on Dundee and Newtyle Railway
• Archives Hub
• 1843 Timetable from Bradshaw's Railway Monthly.
• Information on the inclines