END OF THE LINE

As I bring the recent railway theme to a halt, I'm going to end it with the same topic I started it off with - the Lochee line.

The map section I scanned in shows Lochee West Station & Lochee Station, with the line then continuing up towards Downfield.

Before it reaches the Kingsway, another line branches off East to Fair Muir and Maryfield goods stations.

The aerial photo is from around the mid 60's and it too has the Lochee line visible on it.

The easiest way to spot it is - you see that small dark square clump of trees near the bottom right of the picture, well the thin grey track brushing passed it is the Lochee line, and in fact that is where Lochee West Station was located.

You can follow the line on the photo all the way along it's swooping curve through Lochee and up beside the Kingsway Ice Rink.

You'd probably be best to save the large versions onto your own computer and go back & forward between the 2 to match them up.

And just in case the obvious escapes you - the left side of the map corresponds to the bottom of the photo, so you'll need to twist the images around in your mind!

2 BRITISH RAIL ADS - 1979/84

The top ad from 1979 has quite a lot of well known, but now long gone, BR services on display - Railfreight, Motorail, Red Star, Sealink etc - all of which have either been sold off, re-branded or closed down!

The 2nd one is a Dundee based ad for ScotRail dating from 1984.

The ScotRail name is still on the go - but minus the BR logo.

LOCAL RAIL TICKETS - 1980'S

Here's a nice wee collection of old BR tickets that were on the go in the mid 80's.
The large red & white ticket was probably the most common one in use back then for everyday city to city travel. Not only is the ticket a Dundee one, the machines that dispensed them were local too - the equipment being manufactured by NCR.
The white Excess/Travel slips were dished out by on-train staff in the days before they were given portable ticket machines for the job.
The wee pink ones were called Edmondson tickets and were issued at Broughty Ferry up until the station became unmanned in March 1985.
Big thanks to Neale Elder.

THE BROUGHTY FERRY TRAIN

There doesn't appear to be much of a difference with the view along Douglas Terrace nowadays and when the above photo was taken - the mid 70's.

This is one of my brothers snaps and you should be able to notice he managed to catch the moment a train went whizzing past Royal Tay Yacht Club.

So just for a bit of fun, I thought I'd accompany the image with this piece of film below - the same scene, but from the train drivers viewpoint.

The footage is from inside the drivers cab, and is the full, uninterrupted trip from Dundee Station to Broughty Ferry Station, passing places such as the Docks, Stannergate, Grassy Beach and of course this stretch here in the snap.

Duration? - 4 minutes.

"ALL ABOARD!"

BROUGHTY FERRY STATION - 1980'S

Well I've passed it often enough, but I've never actually had any reason to use Broughty Ferry Station - so for those of you who were Ferry passengers, this batch of photos from the mid 80's will take you back.

Top one is of the level crossing & signal box at Gray Street and was taken in July 1985.

The signal box and footbridge were later dismantled and is currently in storage, perhaps to be reassembled sometime in the future.

Middle shot is a view from the other side of the structure as seen from the platform. Picture is dated February 1984.

The last image is a look inside at the station's ticket office. If you zoom into the large version you'll find plenty of BR paraphernalia to read. This was snapped in September 1984, and then a year later it became unstaffed.

The station is now operated by mission control in Dundee.

Photos by Neale Elder.

RAIL STATION & GOODS STATION - 1983

The top photo is a nice reminder of how Tay Bridge Station looked before it became the design it is today. The one on top being a basic shoe box design - functional rather than eye-catching.

This is exactly how I remember the area when I lived in Dundee.

At the time the picture was taken (21st December 1983) the larger building next to it, the goods station, was being demolished, although obviously all the work was being done at the rear.

If you view the large version, you can see the rail station's Christmas tree.

The close-up image of the Dundee West Goods Station sign was taken on 22nd December 1983, and as you can see it was the depot of National Carriers.

Another relic from the past that's in the bottom shot is the guy wearing a Kestrel Marine jacket!

Photos by Neale Elder.