CORROUR STATION

[glencairn]

A few week ago Lady G booked me in to stay at an old converted signal box at Corrour on the West Highland Line. The W.H.L. was built by the North British Railway, a line from Glasgow to Fort William. Corrour Station is the highest station on the rail network. Originally built for the workers on Corrour Estate with a short platform no bigger than a carriage length.

Due to resignalling the line the signal box fell into disuse. Corrour Estate bought the signal box and rebuilt the Station Building into a cafe - restaurant.. The signal box was converted into three rooms with a communal room where the signal levers were. Now people can stay and sleep in the signal box.

Lady G booked me in for two nights, bliss.

The Station House cafe, restaurant

Corrour Signal Box

Corrour Waiting Room

The station is a busy one with walkers going to the local hostel and a starting point for walkers taking the trail to Fort William.

There are trains travelling from Glasgow to Fort William and Mallaig. Also the up and down Caledonian Sleeper stops at Corrour. The short platform is a shock to passengers wanting to alight there.

Glencairn

[Lancastrian]

An interesting topic 'G' thanks. Any chance of a model of it turning up on your layout one day?

[glencairn]

An interesting topic 'G' thanks. Any chance of a model of it turning up on your layout one day?

I doubt it, but you never know.

It would make a simple layout. Trains to pass plus a siding.
Suit nearly all eras for types of trains. As mentioned earlier, even the Caledonian Sleeper stops there. A bit of a rush down the train to get off at the short platform.
When I was there, the large numbers of walkers getting off each train (both directions) was amazing. A good number going to the hostel; most walking the moor.
The Station House cafe/restaurant was always busy throughout the day. Even people from Rannoch took the train 'for lunch'.

Glencairn

[glencairn]

When I arrived at Corrour the weather was sunny. A lovely two days of this would be fantastic, I thought. I even said so to the young, charming lassie checking me in. She gave the knowing smile of 'fat chance'. It rained from then on. Loved the experience though.

Did I mention the short platform.

The platform is an island. The old footbridge over the tracks was removed and taken to Loch Rannoch Station. Now passengers take the path between the lines and cross right to the Station House and Loch Ossian Hostel. Turn left to walk the moor or to Fort William.

Loch Ossian Picture taken from outside Station House.

Glencairn

[Mountain]

I remember Sugarloaf, and thre usual practice there was to just open one door of the class 153 (153's are single car trains), though if I had a good driver, he could get the two doors lined up to catch the slopes of the platform ramps at either end of the platform, so we could use both doors for those rare exceptionally busy moments when two people wanted to use the platform at the same time! (If the driver got it right, either end would not be too far down the slope so the actual step down was not too bad).
Once while working the last train on a winters evening we came out of the climb through the long Sugarloaf tunnel and the driver gave me the "One", so I got ready to open the doors and there in front of me was a young man with a tablecloth carefully laid out on the platform complete with a 3 course meal for two which had fine cutlery and polished candlesticks complete with lit candles. When we stopped the train he admitted he didn't want to get on but was waiting to surprize his girlfriend. When we came back down which was not all that much time later, the entire lot had been cleared leaving no evidence any of it had ever been there!

[glencairn]

CORROUR STATION

Did I mention that the trains are too long for the platform?
Fort William to London Euston Caledonian Sleeper

The Siding.. I doubt it sees much use these days. The path on the left leads up to the Station House

Glencairn

[Mountain]

There is a station up here when travelling down to Harlech that is around half a coach in length but at the correct height.

The interesting stations are the half height ones such as Llangennech in South Wales that were built half height to save costs. (I had assumed the line had been raised but when I looked into it, it had always been that low!)

[Phred]

Love that signal box.

Mountain wrote:
those rare exceptionally busy moments when two people wanted to use the platform at the same time!

Rush hour!

[glencairn]

Corrour Station is the beginning of walks along the moor and beyond

Cross the line and open the gate. Straight ahead takes you over the moor. Turn right for Fort William

Looking South

I posted pictures earlier of looking north and east.

Glencairn

[Mountain]

Love that signal box.

Mountain wrote:
those rare exceptionally busy moments when two people wanted to use the platform at the same time!

Rush hour!

Think I had about ten passengers a year?

I remember one guy. Up there the line was heavily subsidized to keep it open and most of the subsidy was used in offsetting the price of the tickets.
This farmer joined the train at Sugar Loaf Half to go to Llanwrtyd Wells to collect his car. I told him the price (65p... Was around 2003?) and he starts to create a fuss about the price. Now he was going a good number of miles on that price so I looked at him puzzled! The equivalent to travel on the main line with a similar distance was £3.20 in those days between Llanelli to Swansea, so to me, 65p didn't seem worthy to complain about, and as he was getting more wound up (I offered him a complaint form but he said he was going to see his MP, and I did tell him that the complaint form went direct to th Stations Manager (I gentleman I knew well as he worked from a little office at the same station my depot was), as the MP would have to relay his complaint to the same man... But as I knew the prices had not changed since I first worked the line back in 1998, so I asked him when he ladt came on the line. He said about a couple of years ago. I said "And the rest as I started in 1998 and they had not gone up since then"..
And just before he left the train at Llanwrtyd I asked him.how much he paid the last time? He said 60 pence! (All that fuss over five pence! Fair enough if one does not have fivd pence, but guaranteed his car is going to cost more than that to have it fixed! Poor man!)

[glencairn]

Corrour Station and Loch Ossian

Corrour Station in the Evening

Hogwarts Train at Corrour Station.

Glencairn