Keith Jones reveals the railway story behind the construction of a Harbour of Refuge, a project that included the use of hard labour at a prison yard and quarry and a passenger service for convicts.
A safe haven from the worst North Sea conditions, Keith Jones reveals the railway story behind the construction for a Harbour of Refuge, a 70-year project that included the use of hard labour at a prison yard and quarry, and a passenger service to take convicts between these two sites.
In the mid-19th century the east coast of Scotland was notorious for the large number of ships wrecked and the lives lost every year on its rocky coastline caused by storms that could arise with little warning but much ferocity. At the same time the Admiralty was concerned about the lack of shelter for Naval vessels, a Royal Commission was set up and in 1852 it recommended that a National Harbour of Refuge be built at Peterhead, a busy whaling and fishing port with ambitions to expand. Because of the massive costs, of which two-thirds would be sought from the local harbour board, the project did not proceed. Meanwhile, south of the border major public works were being undertaken using convict labour at locations such as Chatham Dockyard, Dartmoor, Portsmouth, and on the Isle of Portland in Dorset. Following the appointment of a new Board of Commissioners for Prisons in 1877, John Hill Burton, the Scottish representative, noted that although his country contributed to the costs of maintaining convicts, England had the entire benefit as over 600 Scottish prisoners were employed there. The proposal to build a Harbour of Refuge in eastern Scotland was accordingly revived and in 1882 another commission was set up to look at various potential locations from Eyemouth to Wick. Two years later it reiterated that Peterhead Bay would be the most suitable and a site was selected for a new prison to house the potential labour force, this being about 1½ miles south of the town centre. The Treasury gave the go-ahead for the project and the Admiralty appointed Sir John Coode as the first Engineer-in-Chief. The Peterhead Harbour of Refuge Act was approved by Parliament in 1886 and preparations began. According to the traditions of the time, the initial contractors built the first cell block for about 200 men, the perimeter wall and various extraneous buildings, and the inmates would subsequently be employed on completing the remaining two cell blocks and staff housing. On 7 August 1888 the first batch of 20 convicts, all sentenced to a lengthy term of penal servitude, arrived just before noon at Peterhead station. They were met by ‘an immense crowd of all sorts of people, crushing and pushing for a good place’ – a celebrity welcome! The men, accompanied by four warders, had travelled in the Caledonian Railway’s special prison carriage that had been attached to the 7.20am train from Perth to Aberdeen, where it was immediately added to the Great North of Scotland Railway’s 10.15am Buchan line train. Chained together in groups of five, the men, dressed in the standard coarse linen prison uniform of the day, marked with arrows, were taken to their new home by two horse-drawn buses flanked by local policemen and armed guards. This was to become a familiar sight in Peterhead over the ensuing months and years. The reporter for the local newspaper was able to look inside the prison carriage and gave a detailed account of the interior. ‘There was a space in the centre immediately fronting
the door reserved for the warders cushioned and comparatively nice, but at either end of the van where the convicts were stowed, the fixtures had a striking resemblance to a wild beast’s cage in a menagerie - only smaller. Each end has two compartments one on either side of the carriage with a passage in the centre. In each of these compartments five convicts are accommodated, all of course chained, and the chain being fixed to a staple in the centre of the apartment. The front of the compartment is solid wood panels up to the height of three feet after which there are bars to the top of the carriage.’ Incongruously he added the ‘atmosphere of the carriage was warm and comfortable.’ The vehicle dated from 1885 and was of similar dimensions to a Drummond fivecompartment third class carriage, 31ft 6in over buffers. It was dual-braked, steam-heated and, except for the external doors, was windowless. It could carry up to 24 prisoners, for whose convenience urinals were installed at the end of each corridor. In 1890 the North British Railway also built a new prison carriage particularly for convicts being moved to and from Edinburgh, and this too was a regular visitor to Peterhead. It was on a six-wheel chassis, 38ft 6in over buffers and dual-braked. The central doorways accessed two short corridors, one on each side and placed symmetrically, giving access through sliding doors to five narrow cells furnished with a wooden bench seat. The external windows to these cells were shuttered with a stout steel grille when in use. Painted in the standard NBR crimson lake livery, on its bodyside it carried the Royal cypher, originally VR. Upholstered seats for warders were provided at the entrance vestibule, and an additional folding seat in each corridor allowed close supervision if necessary. A small cast iron urinal was located at the diagonally opposite ends of each corridor. The Caledonian Railway’s carriage was upgraded in similar style in 1895, including small, enclosed WC compartments replacing the urinals. It was painted brown and again carried the Royal crown instead of the CR coat of arms. Both were withdrawn soon after the grouping to become service vehicles, after which normal stock would have been used. The Harbour of Refuge proposals entailed building massive breakwaters on each side of the bay, between Salthouse Head on the south and Keith Inch on the north, costing an estimated £750,000; completion was expected by 1920. Material for the works was sourced from Stirling Hill (nowadays Stirlinghill), a few miles away to the south, next to the village of Boddam where there were huge resources of the local pink granite. A railway would transfer the prisoners to and from the quarry, as well as the granite from there to the prison yard and onwards to the breakwater. Built to an extremely high standard, it was ready for use in 1890, by which time one locomotive – Hawthorn, Leslie & Co Ltd 0-6-0ST Victoria (Works No 2138 of 1889) – and 25 side-tipper wagons had been delivered, along with a couple of locally-built stone carriers.
The line was approximately 2½ miles long, laid with heavy flat-bottomed rail of 72lbs per yard and ballasted with granite. It was fully fenced and signalled, with trains worked on the block system from three cabins, one at each end and the third at a passing place, about ¾ mile before the quarry and where there was also a water tank. Emerging from a gate in the prison wall on to the main line connecting the breakwater and quarry, the railway immediately crossed a five-arch viaduct, 220ft long and constructed of granite masonry. It then passed the Glenugie distillery, perhaps reminding patrons of what they were missing in the outside world! There followed a steel girder bridge across the main road to Aberdeen, and there were also two substantial masonry overbridges. The first was north of the passing loop, and the second to its south, at the west end of Lendrum Terrace. Much of the route from then onwards entailed heavy cuttings or was on embankment. The average gradient from prison to quarry was 1 in 76, with a maximum of 1 in 40. There was no connection with the GNSR network, either at Peterhead or at Boddam. The system was referred to in The
Locomotive Magazine in 1900 as a ‘British State Railway’. Although many government establishments throughout Britain had internal railways this was probably the only one with a passenger-carrying operation at the time, built to near main line standards. Work necessary before the project could begin included the construction of a harbour for the barges needed to move rubble for the foundations of the new breakwater. Steam cranes were ordered from Messrs Stothert & Pitt at Bath, two Goliaths for the blockmaking yard and a massive Titan crane for working on the breakwater. The Titan had been tested with a load of 62 tons – it had an arm 100ft in length, counterbalanced by a tank containing 120 tons of concrete, and ran on 32 wheels but could be controlled by a single man in the cab. Delivered by rail to Peterhead station in 1889, in sections weighing less than 12 tons, it was operational three years later, in 1892, having taken 30 men six months to re-assemble. Several smaller steam cranes were also acquired – for the harbour, for breakwater work, and for the quarry. Twin-screw steam-powered hopper barge Thistle was delivered for the project from Messrs W B Thomson’s shipyard, Dundee in 1896 at a cost of £13,000. Inside the prison yard there was a secure compound containing workshops where prisoners would cut granite into suitable sizes for building purposes or assist in the manufacture of concrete blocks. There were 16 sidings here, a two-road engine shed and a station platform. Operation of the railway, construction work on the breakwaters and most of the skilled work was undertaken by civilians, of whom the squad of divers was regarded as the elite as they undertook many dangerous underwater tasks. Starting in October 1890, trains carrying convicts and their accompanying warders left the Admiralty station inside the prison yard at 7.15am and 1pm daily, except on Sundays when no work was carried out. Reflecting the Glaswegian origin of many residents, it was generally referred to as ‘Buchanan Street.’ For most of the year, departures from Stirling Hill were at 11am (known as ‘the diner’ to return inmates for lunch) and at 5pm; there was a later start and earlier finish in winter. Except for a bare platform, there were no facilities or even shelters provided at the stations. Passenger stock initially comprised four four-wheel carriages: a brake van and fifth carriage were added later. The wooden van-type body had central doors and a vestibule, on each side of which were three longitudinal compartments or cells all fitted with lockable
gates consisting of metal bars to nearly roof level. They could hold up to six standing prisoners, 36 per carriage, accompanied normally by two warders. Originally there were no windows in the compartments, only in the doorways, but small barred openings were later provided. There was no continuous brake and it was 1940 before two small fixed wooden stools were provided in each vehicle for staff accompanying the prisoners. This luxury was agreed only because the seats could be fitted at no cost! Trains usually consisted of a brake van and from three to five carriages, all connected by a pull-rope warning system for emergency use. The brake van was available for use by the occasional civilian.
Mineral trains ran as required – there was a large fleet of steel tipper wagons for carrying granite from the quarry to the construction site, and it seems that the bodies were demountable and could be used as a bucket or skip. They had inside bearings and were quite narrow for standard gauge vehicles: because of this the buffers on the locomotives and rolling stock were fitted inwards by about one foot compared with main line stock, and also a few inches lower. Eight-wheel flat wagons were provided to move the concrete blocks from the prison yard to the construction work site, and there were various ancillary wagons and trolleys of different styles. Five 0-6-0 tank locomotives were employed on the line, all carrying names honouring members of the Royal Family: Victoria was first used in 1890, Prince of Wales and Alexandra of 1892, and Duke of York of 1896, followed in 1905 by Edward VII. Victoria and Edward VII were Hawthorn, Leslie & Co Ltd saddle tanks, and the others were standard Hunslet Engine Co Ltd side tanks similar to The Lady Armaghdale that is preserved on the Severn Valley Railway. During World War I, Prince of Wales was sent to work in Orkney, and likewise in World War II Edward VII was transferred to the Admiralty dockyard at Rosyth in Fife. Victoria was scrapped during 1930 but the remainder of the fleet survived until completion of the project, only to be broken up thereafter. All engines except Edward VII had 3ft 4in wheels, 15in x 20in cylinders and weighed about 28½ tons. The 1905-built machine had 3ft 6in wheels and 14in x 22in cylinders. They appear to have been delivered by rail to Peterhead station. The locomotive livery was dark olive green with polished brass fittings, white and red lining and red-backed nameplates – a very smart fleet; carriages and wagons were painted grey. The quarry was at two levels, approximately 190ft and 350ft above sea level. Granite was transported from there, either to the prison yard or the harbour. At the former it was used as aggregate for the production of blocks, cast in wooden moulds using concrete from a continuous mixer; larger pieces of granite about 2ft 6in thick were dressed to provide external facing. At the harbour, rubble was tipped into the barge, which then deposited it along the line of the breakwater to provide the foundations for the concrete blockwork. From 1896 to 1911 an average of 75,000 tons of granite was extracted annually and moved by the railway. However, well over a million tons of granite would have been quarried during the lifetime of the project. Portland Cement for the project was delivered several times annually by rail to Peterhead station.
When finished, the South Breakwater was 2,850ft long, including an 80ft roundel at the end incorporating a lighthouse. In the deepest water, from the base of the foundations to the top the South Breakwater measured 77ft, of which 66ft lay below high-water. The concrete blocks used in its construction were 40-50 tons in weight, were shunted to the work site and then lifted into place using the Titan crane. Progress was slower than anticipated, averaging 130ft per year due to weather, including storm damage, and lack of both convict and civilian labour. As a result of lessons learned in the aftermath of stormy weather, the width of the breakwater was increased from 46ft to 56ft. Work was suspended during winter months, although quarrying and blockmaking continued. The South Breakwater was substantially complete by 1914, allowing resources to be concentrated on the North Breakwater – although shorter, at 1,500ft, this took over 40 years to complete. Preliminary work for the North Breakwater started in 1910 and a separate short and totally self-contained railway line was built to assist with moving the concrete blocks along the breakwater as it extended. One of the locomotives was based here and there were basic facilities, including an engine shed. Two 40-ton Titan cranes were erected here for lifting the concrete blocks. Materials were transferred across the bay by the Thistle, which in 1913 was converted for block carrying. As with many large government projects, the Harbour of Refuge scheme ran massively late and over-budget. Even in its early days the extravagance of the project drew criticism in Parliament, and in 1911 the Treasury withdrew support for the North Breakwater – by now the need for harbours of refuge had been superseded by modern steam-powered warships. This did not go down well in Scottish political circles and early the following year the Treasury was over-ruled and work continued. Geological conditions were different on the north side, and the water was deeper. Concrete foundations averaging 7ft deep were embedded directly into the seabed of rock and boulder-clay, on top of which was built a superstructure of up to 90ft. Although it had been expected that about 450 inmates would work on the project at any one time, numbers were consistently under half that total, with on average 180 free men and 209 prisoners employed, together with prison staff. Shortage of promised convict labour was a major contributory factor to the long-delayed completion, and work was suspended completely from spring 1917 to summer 1919, and construction again ceased for a period during World War II.
One must not forget the human story here. Thousands of men commuted to work on this railway during its 70 year history. Many of those who were incarcerated at Peterhead were victims of circumstance, poverty or greed, and some had gained notoriety through their actions. Work in the quarry was hard and discipline unrelenting, warders carried cutlasses, and three armed guards were deployed to discourage escape attempts. For major transgressions, solitary confinement and even the cat o’ nine tails were possible. Several residents were however, victims of miscarriage of justice – the most celebrated was the case of Oscar Slater, his death sentence for murder commuted to life imprisonment, after 18 years’ incarceration, much of it spent at Peterhead, he was eventually declared an innocent man. James Tinsley, the signalman blamed for the Quintinshill rail disaster of 1915 was sentenced to three years penal servitude, part of which was spent toiling at the Stirling Hill quarry face before he was granted early release, if not a formal pardon. Another legendary character was persistent safebreaker Johnny Ramenski, who escaped five times from outside work parties at Peterhead. His periods of freedom were invariably short, but on release in the early years of World War II he was recruited by the Commandos, where his bravery and skills in working with explosives led to him being demobbed as a hero. Regrettably, after the war he reverted to his previous profession, entailing a further spell at Peterhead. In 1932 George Kynoch, a native of nearby Strichen, serving seven years for armed robbery, made a one-way final journey on the line. Soon after alighting at the quarry station, he and two others attempted an escape – he was shot by one of the armed guards when 20ft up the quarry face and died at the scene. On 27 September 1956 the last block was ceremonially installed to complete the project, with Prince of Wales in attendance. It was 1958 before the railway, plant and equipment had been removed for scrap under the direction of the last resident engineer Lieutenant Colonel W M Littlejohn – 40 years late and millions of pounds more expensive than anticipated. The Harbour of Refuge was never used for its originally envisaged purpose as a naval base but it did immensely improve the prosperity of Peterhead as a
fishing harbour and general cargo port. Since the 1970s the South Breakwater has been used as an offshore oil service base and today both breakwaters are a lasting tribute to the skills and fortitude of all those who contributed to their construction. The carriage bodies were sold to local farmers, and remarkably several survive today. Restored and mounted on a suitable chassis, one is displayed at Maud Railway Museum; another carriage body is on show at Peterhead Prison Museum. When investigating the restoration of the carriage body now at Maud a vicious home-made weapon, a chib, a piece of metal roughly sharpened to a point and ready for use when an opportunity arose, was found concealed in the floor area. Messages and graffiti etched by prisoners on the internal planking were also found, including coincidentally the name ‘Tinsley’.
Looking out to sea, something of the magnitude of the Harbour of Refuge project is captured in this scene of the North Breakwater on 28 July 1950. This is less than half of the main project construction, ultimately 1,500ft in length compared to the South Breakwater’s 2,850ft. One of the Admiralty-owned Hunslet Engine Co-built 0-6-0Ts is at rest with three wagons near the breakwater’s 40 ton Titan crane; it is very likely Prince of Wales as during the 1950s it enjoyed a long spell on the self-contained railway of the North Breakwater. The load appears to be containers of Portland Cement used to stabilise the breakwater foundations prior to the laying of concrete blocks. Divers were employed in the dangerous work of positioning these underwater. The superstructure here extended down for 69ft below low water, with at least another seven feet of concrete foundation beneath that. Maud Railway Museum Collection
This scene is representative of one of the first views that arriving prisoners would have experienced upon reaching Peterhead, the inside of the trainshed of the Formatine & Buchan Railway terminus (GNSR from 1866), somewhat gloomy and uninviting. Except for a few additions, such as the canopy over the platform and another over the entrance, the station remained substantially as it was when opened in July 1862, with the first convicts arriving for hard labour in August 1888. This 10 July 1957 view includes a two-coach train ready to leave for Maud Junction behind a BR Standard ‘2MT’ 2-6-0. Hamish Stevenson Collection
An exterior view of Peterhead’s GNSR station, the journey from here for prisoners being little more than one mile by road to H M Convict Prison. The GNSR line from Maud Junction terminated on the northern fringe of Peterhead (although the site is now within the expanded town), while the prison was built on the other (south) side of Peterhead Bay. Prisoners were still arriving by rail in 1938 but by the early 1950s transfer by motor coach was the norm, perhaps with the occasional escorted exception, this picture dates from 5 June 1954. Peterhead station would lose its passenger service from 3 May 1965, with goods operations lasting until 7 September 1970. Hamish Stevenson Collection
The layout of the Caledonian Railway’s prison carriage after its modification in 1895. There are two lots of four narrow cells with wooden benches for prisoners, with more comfortable seating for warders in the central part of the vehicle. It was a regular visitor to Peterhead. The NBR carriage was similar in layout but being longer had ten cells rather than eight. Caledonian Railway Association
A plan of Peterhead and its Harbour of Refuge includes the Admiralty railway running south from Peterhead Bay to Stirling Hill quarry. The prison is just west of the South Breakwater and some trackwork is shown, but the rails of the North Breakwater are omitted. Of note is the proximity of the GNSR network at both ends of the system, but neither the Peterhead branch of 1862 (which even included a harbour branch beyond the terminus) nor the Ellon to Cruden Bay and Boddam line of 1897 were ever connected to the state-owned railway operated from the prison or its associated North Breakwater lines. GNSRA Collection This picture dates from 1889 and shows the extent of the line in the quarry area at that time, along with early preparatory and excavation work – to the lower right, narrow gauge skips are in use to remove top soil and deliver it to a loading dock and standard gauge tippler wagon, while the skyline is dominated by stone extraction, the huge crane’s counterbalance weights seen on this side. In addition, the mid-level on the left includes broken up stone, and for its onward journey a series of wooden planks line a chute that descends to the railway. There were several commercial quarries operating in this area as well as this quarry serving the Harbour of Refuge construction works. Early annual returns always showed at least one horse, sometimes two, on the list of assets employed. Presumably these were used to assist in moving wagons and materials at the quarry, the horse here is seen feeding contentedly. Maud Railway Museum Collection
The substantial nature of the railway viaduct over the river Ugie can be appreciated in this post-closure photograph. Looking north-east, the buildings on the left appear to be warehouses or stores for the distillery adjacent to the line, the Glenugie Distillery having origins in the 1830s and continuing in use until 1983. Beyond was the railway junction where the running line from the quarry either entered the prison yard (on the north side) or continued onwards to the breakwater. The main line was controlled by block signalling and a signal box was also located where the lines diverged. Maud Railway Museum Collection
Work on the South Breakwater in the early days, its Titan block-setting crane being built from a kit of parts on site, although manufactured in Bath by Stothert & Pitt, world leaders in the field; the company’s first block-setting crane dated from 1869. Specialist equipment, it was not a question of lifting loads up high but rather the ability to lift and position large, heavy blocks accurately at a distance of up to 100ft, the lifting capacity being 50 tons. Extending north-east from Salthouse Head, for the first few hundred feet of this breakwater a seaward side parapet wall was constructed, as waves could reach over 30ft in stormy weather. It helped to protect the barge harbour (under construction on the left), and shelters for workmen are seen built into the structure, while the set of rails on top to allow the Titan crane’s seaward side supporting wheels to run along the wall were extended as work proceeded. However, a rethink of 1897 saw the section of shelter wall discontinued, which led to a need to modify the base of the Titan crane so that all sets of wheels ran along the breakwater roadway. The lines in the left foreground are part of a triangle that in time linked to the barge harbour, the curving wall directly beneath the lifted block giving an indication of the future alignment. In the distance is Keith Inch on South Head, the future starting point of the North Breakwater. Maud Railway Museum Collection
Amongst the infrastructure to be purchased by the Admiralty were two 50 ton Goliath gantry cranes for the blockworks on the south side of the prison yard. They were erected at the neighbouring south and north blockmaking floors to lift the large cast concrete blocks (expected from the outset to be between 25 and 45 tons each) onto railway flat wagons – two of the twin-bogie block carrying wagons await their next load in the later years of the line. From here, the blocks travelled by rail either to the construction site on the South Breakwater or to the barge harbour, protected from the worst seas by the southern end of the South Breakwater, from where the blocks were loaded onto the dedicated barge, Thistle, for use on the North Breakwater scheme. Maud Railway Museum Collection
An official plan from the 1890s, confusingly drawn looking south-south-east, showing (to the far left) the South Breakwater, barge harbour and its triangle of lines, all immediately north-east of the work yard, with the prison itself unseen off the bottom of the map. A massive drawing in its original form, we can only hope to glean something of the scale of the operation. Across the top is the main running line from the South Breakwater that runs south and west around the perimeter of the walled site, under a footbridge and beneath the watch of sentries. Within the walls, and looking from top to bottom, are living quarters, an outside track skirting the Goliath gantry crane of the south blockmaking floor, and then an inside track. The blockmaking floor is next, followed by the path of the Goliath and then three more running lines. A similar pattern exists on the north blockmaking floor, and the floors’ collective of eight lines converge to the headshunt at the lookout, beyond the officers’ mess and near the two 6in naval guns overseeing the harbour. Separate sand, cement and coal stores are immediately above the convicts’ shelter shed and the adjacent stone dressing shed, while the general stores is to the left of the carpenter’s shop, fitting shop, and smith’s shop. The incoming railway from the top right ends at the Admiralty platform, which includes a run-round, the last spur before this leading to the two-road engine shed. Inside the shed are three locomotives, and these are part of a supporting list of ‘assets’ uniting them and the cranes – six dotted circles note their reach within the yard, the 100ft length of the Titan on the South Breakwater overshadowing the rail-mounted cranes generally used in the nearby yard. Maud Railway Museum Collection
A commercial postcard of Peterhead convict prison – perhaps not a case of ‘Wish you were here’ – with the 160ft end-to-end length of the Titan crane on the South Breakwater seen the background, and the site of the barge harbour evident between the crane and the prison. The sheds forming the workshop and Admiralty station area are to the far right. Built in 1888 and initially intended to house 208 prisoners, the evolved prison later held well over 400, while in 2012, with hard labour long since a thing of the past, Peterhead prison could officially accommodate 142 prisoners. It closed the following year, the former works yard having been adopted as the site for Her Majesty’s Prison Grampian, a new facility with a capacity of about 500, including men and women, and young offenders. The old prison is now a museum. Author’s Collection
Shortly after exiting the Admiralty yard, joining the main line and crossing the viaduct, this well-known view is often noted as being Duke of York, and it is rare in that it includes one of the route’s semaphore signals, the three boxes being interlinked by block signalling. Duke of York was the fourth engine to arrive – Hunslet Engine Co Works No 644 of 1896; the third from that Leeds concern. Seemingly, these 0-6-0Ts were known hereabouts as ‘Jazzers’, this example heading a three-carriage train of convicts but with the addition of a gentleman sitting on the open wagon that is being propelled. This was possibly provided for civilians before an enclosed brake van was acquired – only wardens and convicts used the carriages. The picture dates from the late 1890s, so the 0-6-0T will be resplendent in green livery with white and red lining, and the brass of its dome and safety valve cover are shining bright – such a glorious appearance would not grace these locomotive in their later years. GNSRA Collection
At the featureless Admiralty station within the prison yard we find R & W Hawthorne, Leslie & Co 0-6-0ST Edward VII waiting with a train of three of the line’s four-wheel carriages and the brake van as a large group of men board for work at the Stirling Hill quarries in the early 1950s, with two prison warders bringing up the rear. The angle of the shadows suggest that this is the 1pm train returning inmates to the quarry after their lunch break. Five locomotives were purchased for the Admiralty railway, all new, that pictured being the largest and also the last, in 1905. June 1941 had seen Edward VII sent to Rosyth dockyard on the north side of the River Forth, and it did not return home until March 1946, with its scrapping ultimately undertaken in 1957. Maud Railway Museum Collection
Outside the corrugated iron engine shed at the prison on 22 September 1949 is Hawthorn, Leslie-built outside cylinder saddle tank No 2614 of 1905, which received the name Edward VII. He had previously been represented by one of the Hunslet 0-6-0Ts – Prince of Wales – but since 9 November 1901 his son George Frederick Ernest Albert (later King George V) inherited that title. The 1890s map suggests that, as built, the pictured two-road shed could accommodate four locomotives, but that the single-road extension on the north side was already in place, presumably to give covered work space. Only between 1905 and circa 1912 were five locomotives on site, thereafter one was at the North Breakwater, and then the prison shed was home to just three locomotives once Victoria was scrapped in 1930 and through to 1957, or perhaps two between 1941-46. Unseen beyond the bank to the left is the prison. Note the spacing of the buffers is narrower than on a main line railway system, the stock being similarly matched. GNSRA Collection
The only photograph we have traced of Victoria – R & W Hawthorn, Leslie & Co Works No 2138 of 1889 – the first locomotive to be delivered, and the first to be scrapped, in about 1930. The outside cylinder saddle tank is shown while working on the North Breakwater project during the 1920s, which involved it being outstationed at a satellite engine shed. Maud Railway Museum Collection
Outside the main two-road engine shed within Peterhead prison’s work yard on Thursday, 7 August 1952 is Alexandra, the first of the three Hunslet Engine Co inside cylinder 0-6-0Ts to operate on the Admiralty line. Works No 548 of 1891. This tank engine proved to be the longest-serving of the fleet, as it was only preceded by Hawthorn, Leslie-built Victoria by two years but out-lived that saddle tank by 28 years, at least in terms of final disposal, its demise coming with Prince of Wales in 1958. The smokebox, chimney and dome have a careworn appearance, and the cab steps have a tale to tell! At the time of its naming, Alexandra of Denmark was the wife of Albert Edward, the Prince of Wales – they married on 10 March 1863 and on 9 August 1902 the couple became King Edward VII and Queen consort. GNSRA Collection
With the day’s labour complete at Stirling Hill quarry, prisoners join their train for the return journey to the prison yard – Edward VII simmers at the head of the train. The quarry face, crane and an array of sidings are in the background, and two rakes of loaded tippler wagons are in view, one of these in the foreground. They carry granite for crushing and for using in the manufacture of concrete blocks at the work yard near the prison. Flat-bottom rail is in use, spiked to sleepers and, on the line skirting the nearside of the platform, unusually there is a check-rail of sorts on the inside of the curve, whereas the outside rail is shored up too, which suggests that the rails have spread at some time. The platform is wooden-faced and then in-filled. The leading vehicle in the train is the brake van, which was also used by any civilians travelling on the line, followed by the carriages for the inmates. After dismantling of the railway, the carriage bodies found further use on local farms as stores or animal shelters. GNSRA Collection
The 1890s Admiralty plan of the work yard already shown had this separate portion covering Stirling Hill quarry. Likewise, it looks south-south-east, and once again the reach of cranes is shown, although presumably this is simply to give a picture of regular practice as most photographs show rail-mounted cranes in use. Such is the nature of operations that any quarry trackplan can only be regarded as a ‘moment in time’, with sections of railway transient as work on certain quarry faces is completed and other areas opened up. However, it is interesting to note that there is no run-round facility at the station, so either there was an element of hand/horse or gravity shunting employed or a second locomotive was always expected to be on hand. Maud Railway Museum Collection
Much-evolved, in terms of size, this official photograph shows Stirling Hill quarry on a working day – the guard keeping watch from high ground is armed with a Lee-Enfield rifle over his right shoulder, and with a bayonet too. Work was carried out on two distinct areas, as seen, with activity at this time concentrated on the lower floor. Using sledgehammers, prisoners reduced the granite to an approximately consistent size for transporting to the work sites, a growing pile being seen centre left. Note the excavator on the lower level, along with a rail-mounted crane, but most of the railway in view is at the higher level, the means of lifting the rock to the higher level being just out of view to the right of the prison officer. ‘Hard Labour’ as a sentence was discontinued in 1948, and perhaps the photographer is on hand around that time when a some mechanisation was introduced for some of the jobs undertaken by convicts. Maud Railway Museum Collection
Early days at the north end of the North Breakwater scheme, probably pre-1914, with a small steam crane assisting in the movement of material and rocks in preparation for the main construction work to begin. The pointwork trailing in from the left is from the Harbour of Refuge Works (North Depot), which claimed new ground beside Pleasure Walk and rounded the southern side of North Inch to a point near the south pier of Peterhead harbour. In 1910 it was decided to conclude the South Breakwater at 2,850ft (rather than the envisaged 3,250ft) and use the surplus rubble as foundation for an 80ft roundel that would house a lighthouse. In due course the plans for the North Breakwater were also changed, a new alignment offering greater shelter and use of a rocky outcrop. Also, rubble was not used – the South Breakwater was observed suffering subsidence – and so instead the rocky base of the North Breakwater was given a solid concrete foundation, and shear checks were also deemed necessary. Maud Railway Museum Collection
One of the trio of Hunslet 0-6-0Ts, Alexandra judging by the short nameplate, is seen at the barge harbour on the leeward side of the South Breakwater as a steam crane manoeuvres a skip from one of the tippler wagons into position above the Admiralty’s barge, Thistle. Its contents will be used to build up the foundations of the breakwater as work on construction proceeded. The first 950ft of the South Breakwater had a rocky outcrop as part of its foundations but beyond there it was largely sand, so Thistle took out some 357,000 tons of rough stone to form a firm foundation, which was built up to 30ft in places. Upon that levelled foundation the Titan crane then placed the concrete blocks, a stockpile of these being seen to the left of the locomotive. The 40 ton blocks were cast in moulds in the Admiralty yard over the winter months when breakwater construction work was suspended. Maud Railway Museum Collection
The same crane perhaps 20 years later with the work still ongoing. A civilian workforce of at least 18 men is on hand, their presence accentuating the size of the Titan block-setting crane, its 115ft jib seen in the course of placing yet another block. On average, for the North Breakwater over 70ft depth of blockwork was being laid below sea level and the maximum width was 62ft, so it is hardly surprising that progress on the 1,500ft-long structure averaged about 40ft per year! A similar block sits on the railway wagon immediately behind the crane – it must have seemed an endless job, especially given that the work was stopped during the two world wars.
Although breakwater work on the north side of Peterhead Bay was underway from around 1910, the work ceased for more than two years in the latter part of World War I, so progress, restarted from summer 1919, had been interrupted. This Ordnance Survey map dates from 1926 and shows the isolated railway running from the depot yard via a headshunt and reversal and then along the progressing North Breakwater. Of note is the proximity of the town, as are the rails of the Titan crane on the breakwater and the similar arrangement within the works yard to unload Thistle at a harbour area, and also to place the huge blocks onto trains that would work via the headshunt to the second Titan crane on the breakwater. The works yard was built on what was known as Ellen Skellyis, an area of broken rock that previously went nearly unseen at high water. Crown Copyright
A busy scene on the North Breakwater, possibly in the 1930s, dominated by the 32 wheel Titan block-setting crane, which ran on four rails, but with two smaller cranes ably assisting and additional materials brought in by train. Near the end of the headshunt is a rake of wagons and a Hunslet 0-6-0T, probably Prince of Wales, the engine usually based here. Blocks stockpiled over the winter when conditions were deemed too dangerous for divers are seen to the right, they were approximately 13ft x 7ft 6in x 6ft 6in and were cast from a combination of crushed granite, sand and Portland Cement. The two 40 ton Titan cranes of the North Breakwater project were a distance apart, that seen being the one that ran along the breakwater, gradually moving south as the building work progressed, and the other in the block stack works yard out of view to the left. Maud Railway Museum Collection
This undated map, again looking south-south-east, shows the Harbour of Refuge scheme after the post 1910 re-alignment plan for the North Breakwater – the South and North breakwaters were initially planned to be in line with each other. The depth of the water has been revealed by soundings and is shown in feet at low water; a fathom is 6ft. After 70 years of construction the sailing fleet in use when the scheme began proved to be a world away from the ships operating when the scheme was completed, with a reduction in the size of the fishing fleet also empowering the scheme’s sceptics – but only until the North Sea oil and gas boom, which gave new life to Peterhead thanks to its Harbour of Refuge. Maud Railway Museum Collection
Almost 40 years after the original estimated date of completion, the ‘last block’ of the North Breakwater is readied for lifting from a bogie flat wagon and swung into position on 27 September 1956, a small ceremony ensuing. In 1952 the stone required to complete the project was estimated at 22,700 tons, which was achieved by the end of that year, and by that stage a mechanical crusher and grading riddles aided the ongoing creation of the block. The 100 then needed were complete by the end of April 1953, but 2½ years then elapsed before the slow process of placing these was complete, as seen, and it was to be another two years before all work was finished – complete with granite ashlar blocks as facing stone, and setts in the roadway – and the railway then removed, its job done. Once again, Prince of Wales is the motive power, the operation being watched over by various officials on what seems to be a typically cold day. Maud Railway Museum Collection
The neat outline of Hunslet Engine Co No 559 Prince of Wales of 1892 can be appreciated from this Thursday, 22 September 1949 view recorded at the North Breakwater yard. This locomotive was transferred across Peterhead Bay to the isolated engine shed of the North Breakwater scheme in 1912. Four of the locomotives were still on the books at 1957, but only Prince of Wales and Alexandra are credited with survival into 1958, when they were both scrapped. GNSRA Collection