Moniaive railway station
Encyclopedia
Moniaive .is the closed station terminus of the Cairn Valley Light Railway
Cairn Valley Light Railway
The Cairn Valley Light Railway was built under the regulations of the Light Railways Act 1896 and was opened on 1 March 1905. It connected the market town of Dumfries in south-west Scotland to the village of Moniaive in Dumfriesshire at the end of the Cairn Valley.- History :The line was long and...

 (CVR) branch, from Dumfries. It served the rural area of Moniaive
Moniaive
Moniaive is a village in the south of Scotland in Dumfries and Galloway, near Thornhill, on the A702 road and B729 road. Population 520 . The name is from Gaelic monadh-abh and means "Hill of Streams". It is situated at the northern end of the very scenic and tranquil Cairn Valley...

 in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland.

History

The official opening day was 28 February 1905, accompanied by much local celebration, the first train of six corridor coach
Corridor coach
A corridor coach is a type of railway passenger coach divided into compartments and having a corridor down one side of the coach to allow free movement along the train and between compartments....

es being hauled by a Manson 4-4-0, Number 190. The journey to Dumfries took an hour and cost 2s. 6d. return fare. Archibald Wilkie from Kirkconnel station
Kirkconnel railway station
Kirkconnel railway station is a railway station in the town of Kirkconnel, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. The station is unstaffed, is managed by First ScotRail.- History :...

 was Moniaive's first station master, replaced by George MacDonald whose last charge had been Ruthwell station
Ruthwell railway station
Ruthwell railway station was a railway station in Dumfries and Galloway south of Dumfries, serving the village of Ruthwell with its famous 8th century carved cross; a rural community within the Parish of Ruthwell, lying a half-mile north of Clarencefield and 1¼ miles south southwest of...

.

From 1906 to 1907 a bus ran from Thornhill to Moniaive to cater for prospective passengers, however it was not a success.
The CVR was nominally independent, but was in reality controlled by the Glasgow and South Western Railway. The line was closed to passengers on 3 May 1943, during WW2 and to freight in 1949 on 4 July, and the track lifted in 1953. 1947 is also quoted as a date of complete closure. Moniaive had been one of the last places in Scotland to be connected to the railway network.

Home and starting banner signals were used, electrically controlled, for each direction.
Trains were, at that time uniquely, controlled by a development of the Syke's 'lock and block' system whereby the trains operated treadles on the single line to interact with the block instruments.

The station building was extended to provide the station master with his own office in October 1916.

During WW2 large numbers of Norwegian troops travelled to and from Moniaive whilst encamped nearby.

In 1921 the Moniaive engine shed was closed and from that point the first train of the day ran from Dumfries.

Other stations

  • Irongray
  • Newtonaird
  • Stepford
  • Dunscore
    Dunscore
    Dunscore is a small village which lies northwest of Dumfries, in Dumfries and Galloway, southwest Scotland. It has a population of about 150 people....

  • Crossford
    Crossford railway station
    Crossford is a closed station of the Cairn Valley Light Railway branch, from Dumfries. It served the rural area of Crossford in Dumfries and Galloway The line was closed to passengers during WW2.- History :...

  • Kirkland
  • Moniaive

Sources

  • Kirkpatrick, Ian (2000). The Cairn Valley Light Railway. Usk : The Oakwood Press. ISBN 0-85361-567-5
  • Sanders, Keith and Hodgins, Douglas (1995). British Railways. Past and Present South West Scotland. No. 19. ISBN 1-85895-074-0.
  • Thomas, David St John & Whitehouse, Patrick (1993). The Romance of Scotlands Railways. Newton Abbot : David St John Thomas. ISBN 0-946537-89-5.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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