New 25-year lease signals a fresh start for Alford Valley
THE Alford Valley Community Railway have signed a new 25-year lease with Aberdeenshire Council on the 2ft gauge line, with the aim of reopening it after five years of closure.
The group now has the keys to station, engine shed, and 1.5-mile line next to Grampian Transport Museum and will pay rent of just £1 a year.
AVCR secretary Yvonne Buckingham said: “This is fantastic news and we can now start the hard work of physically bringing this much-loved and treasured attraction back to life. We would like to express our appreciation for the support received from Grampian Transport Museum Trust, Alford Golf Club, and Donside Community Council.”
The group announced that a benefactor has purchased the majority of the line’s rolling stock so Lister 4wDM No. 3198 of 1930 Hamewith, Alan Keef steam outline 0-4-0T No. 63 of 2001 James Gordon, and the carriages will be returned to service.
A second benefactor has bought former Seven Trent Water Simplex 28hp 0-4-0 diesel with renovated engine The Bra’Lass, which is now on permanent loan as a back-up for James Gordon.
Yvonne added: “AVCR is extremely grateful to these individuals for their ongoing support.
“Finally we would like to express our sincere gratitude to the community of Alford and the surrounding areas for their unshakable faith in the project.”
Months in the planning
An ownership transfer request to the council was approved in January after months of drawing up plans to renovate and reopen the station, engine shed, and turntable and to lay a new track up to the terminus at Haughton Park.
In July last year, the AVCR was one of 14 local projects aimed at improving communities and places across Aberdeenshire which shared more than £2 million in new funding to help drive economic recovery, improve town centres, and support regeneration activity.
In May, the railway was given £10,000 by the National Lottery Community Fund towards the refurbishment of the station building, which the group sees as its springboard project as it will pave the way for income generation for the first time since 2017.
Kate Still, the National Lottery Community Fund Scotland chairman, said: “This project delivered by Alford Valley Community Railway Ltd is a great example of community activity in action, showing just what can be achieved when people come together for a common cause or to help others.”
The original Alford Valley Railway opened in 1859 as the Great North of Scotland Railway’s 16-mile branch from Kintore. The line closed to passengers on December 31, 1949, and goods service ended exactly 16 years later, on December 31, 1965.
Local enthusiast James Gordon built the current line using salvaged equipment from the New Pitsligo peat moss railway and opened it in 1980. It originally ran for nearly two miles from Haughton Park station through Murray Park Woods, and in 1984, another line opened from Alford station to Haughton Park, after which the original Murray Park Woods line was closed.
Get involved
The current station building is on the site of the original granite structure which was demolished after BR closed the line. The passenger platform is the original, while the granite carriage shed of the original line is now used by the AVR.
The line closed in 2017, apparently permanently, due to concerns about the track’s condition. However, the AVCR was formed with the aim of reopening it as a local attraction.
➜ For details about future AVCR activities, events, membership and volunteering, visit www.avcr.org.uk