New diesel shed at Caledonian Railway
A NEW shed for diesel locomotives at the Caledonian Railway (CR) will also permit the line to keep its carriages under cover for the first time.
Currently nearing completion at the CR's Bridge of Dun terminus, it is 110 metres long with three roads, and is large enough to house 12 main line diesel locomotives.
Costing an estimated £380,000 by the time it is complete, it has been paid for by a combination of railway funds, donations, and support from the National Lottery Heritage Fund to reinstate locomotive lifting facilities.
It will allow the existing diesel storage shed to be repurposed for storing carriages and the maintenance shed to be used for permanent way vehicles, thus providing the first covered accommodation for the line's main carriage fleet.
“The new shed is wind and watertight,” said Jon Gill, chairman of Caledonian Railway Brechin Ltd, “but we're still doing the final structural work where the lifting jacks will go, and laying the last track.”
Also recently erected at Bridge of Dun is a timber station building on the island platform, which is complete but awaiting final signing-off by planning authorities.
It has cost £80,000, funded by a LEADER grant from the Rural Development Programme for England, together with the railway's own money and contributions from its supporting Brechin Railway Preservation Society.