Lochee by rail? Well you could once upon a time.
The top picture is Lochee Station, taken around 1970-ish.
It had been closed down for quite a while by then, but the station itself was saved and converted in 1972 into the Lochee Burns Club.
I really like the patchwork quilt stonework. You'd think Gaudi had paid a visit.
The other one, a bit further along the line, is Lochee West Station.
This outpost was flattened rather than rescued, but just before it disappeared it was filmed for posterity in the late 60's.
The footage below doesn't last long, but it lingers long enough to notice that it had separate waiting rooms for the Gentlemen and the Ladies!
Fab - our City Safari to Dundee last year made a special visit to Lochee to see the Station - and the Burns Blub
ReplyDeleteWhere about was the Lochee West Station?
ReplyDeleteLochee west was beside the 'lino' now tesco
DeleteIt was a bit further down the South Road, nearer Camperdown Manse
DeleteArchitect was James Gowans, 1860, according to archives. Don't know about the Gaudi link, but his family owned quarries, so that might explain the stonework. There's a lot of plans in the Scottish Archives on the Dundee-Newtyle line, but none seem to have been scanned yet.
ReplyDeleteAlso in the archive is a map of Lochee in 1865 showing two stations on the line running to the south of South Road - "Camperdown" (about where Elmwood Road is today) and "Liff" (near the Myrekirk Road junction). Neither had any building shown at the time, and the names seem to have followed modern airport practice, but I'd guess the Camperdown one is the more likely to have become "Lochee West".
http://www.scotlandsplaces.gov.uk/search_item/nls-viewer.php?id=1717
Jim
Anolium works was rail track stop in charelston south road dundee
DeleteI agree, dundee west on elmwood road, liff station was at myrekirk road. Track ran into linoleum works from Liff, station also had a loading bay for the farmers to load goods wagons.
DeleteI've got vague memories of rail line/station around south road and where arran drive is now.
ReplyDeleteI reckon the station was below where the Charley Bar is now, around bottom of Elmwood Rd. Have memories of sitting in my gran's house watching the trains go along by the side of South Rd, towards the Lino works.
ReplyDeleteLochee West Station is actually named on my 60's map of Dundee and it definitely was located near to the junction where Elmwood Road meets South Road.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, there is no Gaudi link (as far as I know), I just thought it looked kinda like his work.
My granny lived in Loons Road and I remember there being a big fire at something railway-ish at the junction of Balfield Road and Loons Road probably about 1969.
ReplyDeleteCan anyone shed any light on this for me?
It was roughly where Arnold Clark Fiat is now.
There was also a wee wooden shoppie on the corner too where we would take Irn Bru bottles to get the deposits back.
Ideas anyone???
I remember the station at the bottom of Elmwood Road on the left hand side. Infact, Elmwood road was more commonly refered to as Station Brae. I'm only 45 now so it must have been around until the early 70's.
ReplyDeleteThe patchwork stone walling is called "Random Rubble" (rubble pronounced as roobil). I was taught how to build this in the early 1980s. The Burns club is the only place in Dundee which has this. I was told you could build a Random Rubble wall in London in the 1980s for £10,000. I wish to hell I'd gone and done so.
ReplyDeleteThink the fire might have been at Lawside Foundry which was a subsidiary of TCK
ReplyDeleteNope, not the foundary. It was definitely something to do with the railway.
ReplyDeleteI noticed Google Earth now has an image of Dundee in December 1945 - it's low resolution, but you can make out the sun reflecting off the West station roof or glass canopy, just where the Historian said. (The street overlay isn't quite aligned to the photo). Everything around it is "just fields". [Fintry is the only scheme visible, and it was only just being started. There were a LOT of pre-fabs, though.]
ReplyDeleteBridie, the photo shows a branch line going into the jute works, but I can't see any rail yards in Balfield Road - just the factory.
[re-posted after edit]
Bridie, there were railway sidings half way along the west side of Balfield Road, where Arnold Clark is now. The railway closed in December 1967, but the recovery work would have taken some time and they used to burn everything in those days. A fire involving creosoted sleepers could get out of hand! It's just a guess.
ReplyDeleteAs for the wee shoppie, 2 Balfield Road appears in the Dundee Directory as a confectioner's (Dewar and Barnett, later Younger and Barclay) up to 1971.
Spooky person in a duffle top pic, unless its just me !
ReplyDeleteAnonymous said...
ReplyDeleteI've got vague memories of rail line/station around south road and where arran drive is now.
Thanks for reminding me, Anonymous. I remember (in the early 1970s) the tracks running along South Road beside Arran Drive -- and alongside some old factory in front of Charleston Primary School -- and to Myrekirk Road (the street I lived on). When I attended Charleston Primary (1970-73), we used to play on the tracks and in the old factory.
Great blog!
Seem to remember Lochee West referred to as Victoria Station
ReplyDeleteJust been doing some research on Sir James Gowan, who designed the building in the top photo. He was an architect/stonemason/engineer and quarry owner/boss. A busy man indeed! He actually also built a number of railways, and although I'm not 100% sure of which ones he worked on, the "Lochee Deviation" was built in 1861, and prompted the build of this station.
ReplyDeleteIf you like this then have a google of "Rockville Edinburgh" (now demolished) or "Lammerburn Edinburgh" to see his most amazing works build in 1858-59.
My faither was involved with the lochee burns club at the time they took over the station building.
ReplyDeleteThe story about the type of stone that was used in the building of the station was that the stone was used as ballast in a ship that had docked in dundee.
it was also said that there were only 2 other buildings built with the same stone in scotland
I served an apprenticeship with Sidlaw Industries mainly in Cox's in Lochee and remember seeing the old railway sidings and platform. I also remember the old air raid shelter near the stack and the ones built into the side of the hill behind their mill at the bottom of Court St.
ReplyDeleteThe line came down from the "Miley" at Balfield, over the Lochee bridge (passports, please), past Lochee Station then gradually down the hill until parallel but 20 yards south of South Road at about where Perrie Street is. It then ran down the back of Brands factory/warehouse/workshops, over Elmwood Road past the west station, then slowly disappeared below the embankment near the junction of where Arran Drive is today before re-emerging opposite number 581 South Road. From there it ran straight down the road, over a wee bridge opposite the school, past the Linoleum factory (now Tesco's) and on to a very small station approximately where South Road curls up towards Spey Drive today. I know this so well as my friends and I jogged up the rails and back from St. Mary's Lochee every school day for years. I lived at 593 South Road and when they ripped up the line, we built multi-storey dens with the sleepers. I mention these places a lot in a book I've written and will let you know if I ever find a publisher.
ReplyDeleteRemember Lochee West station well. Used to play in it as a kid often. stayed at 593 South Rd in middle on opposite side from George Burton (want to read this book). We were able to get in the roof space of the station by climbing the wall of the Gents toilet where the wood cladding had been taken off. Didn't do any damage, but wish I knew then the prices old station signs sell for nowadays. There were a few of them, but you didn't think that way back then. Many happy days playing on the railway, between trains. Health and Safety would have a fit to-day!!
ReplyDeleteI was the last passenger, albeit illegally, who travelled on this line. In my teens I used to throw my bike onto the coal tender and hitch a lift on the up goods train then cycling home.
ReplyDeleteI remember the plate layer throwing a detonator into the chimney at lochee because the signalmen would not let him into the box for a heat, the grate was blown out and that was never put into the box log! He was later hit by a train and died as a result of his injuries.
Visited all the signal boxes on this line, note that one picture credited to a mr boag, he might have been the signalman at magdalen yard, forget box name.
Remember holding the token for the up going goods train at liff which was travelling quite slow, different matter on down train with the gradient. Remember climbing all the signals to change the paraffin lamp (at 14 years old) would not do it now! Health and safety not invented in 1961.
Romeo4......was this on the south road line that he was hit by a train?
DeleteRomeo4......was this on the south road line that he was hit by a train?
ReplyDeleteIf my memory is correct I think he was hit on the section from nine wells to Liff, not sure exact location. He was the plate layer on the line
ReplyDeleteThe box at magdalen yard was Buckingham junction, maintenance depot was nearby too, you had to walk over the lines into the sheds to get to the signalbox
ReplyDeleteI remember the station and the railway line, which ran at the foot of Ancrum Gardens in Lochee. I remember what I believe was an old Caledenion steam engine hauling a single-coach train south in 1953 (I am now 75 years of age). The station then was in beautiful condition. Happy memories!
ReplyDelete