Caledonian Railway back on track after 15 months of closure

One of the oldest railway stations in Scotland has reopened to the public after being closed for more than a year.

The 170-year-old Caledonian Railway, which runs between Brechin and Bridge of Dun, is welcoming back passengers for the first time since March 2020.

The station has two running steam engines, diesel locomotives and carriages dating back to the 1950’s, giving passengers a taste of travelling back in time.

A group of volunteers help preserve and run the classic engines and rolling stock on the route.

And the engines and carriages are being given the final once over before welcoming passengers back aboard on Saturday.

Caledonian Railway’s Andy Pegg is now looking forward to welcoming the public back.

He told STV News: “It’s fantastic to preserve a piece of history, the track is four miles long and goes up to the bridge of Dunn and is very scenic.

“The last 18 months for us have been really challenging, we have really struggled to keep the railway afloat.

“However, we have been really grateful and very thankful for the grant funding that we have received from the government.

‘Places like this are special because they teach younger generations about the local history, and it’s not everyday you can ride on a steam train.’
Andy Pegg

“We should be able to house around 100 people per train, we are still maintaining a limited number of people on the service, so we can manage this and ensure we align with Covid guidelines.

“Places like this are so special because they teach younger generations about the local history, and it’s not everyday you can ride on a steam train.”

The station was closed at the start of 2020 as the coronavirus pandemic was starting to take hold throughout the globe bringing closures and uncertainty to many businesses throughout the country.

But despite being closed for so long bringing obvious challenges, the time hasn’t been wasted at the Caledonian as Andy revealed work has been done to improve the site.

He said: “We’ve fitted a new canopy over the station and also created a new steam train storage unit up towards the Bridge of Dun.

“This station was set up in 1848, and stopped carrying passengers in 1948 before freight services stopped, then we took over.”

As restrictions ease, volunteers hope many people will come back to the station and help them preserve it for the next generation.

Andy continued: “My day job is being an engineer and that really was inspired by being here, I started coming when I was a toddler, it would be great if we could inspire more people.”