Keith and Dufftown Railway

The railway originated with the independent Keith and Dufftown Railway Company, which was authorised by Parliament on 27 July 1857 to construct a line between Keith and Dufftown.^[2] The company initially had considerable difficulty raising the capital required for construction, while the Great North of Scotland Railway (GNoSR) became increasingly interested in the scheme as a means of extending its network westwards from Keith.^[3] A second Act in 1860 permitted the company to abandon its original alignment and construct a revised route, allowing the project to proceed after several years of delay.^[4] The line opened on 21 February 1862 and was worked from the outset by the GNoSR.^[3] Stations on the route included Earlsmill (later renamed Keith Town), Botriphnie (later renamed Auchindachy), Drummuir and Dufftown.^[5] Its importance increased when the Strathspey Railway opened from Dufftown towards Craigellachie and the upper Spey valley in 1863, providing connections which formed part of the GNoSR's route towards Elgin and ultimately Boat of Garten.^[6] The independent Keith and Dufftown company was short-lived: under the Great North of Scotland Railway (Amalgamation) Act 1866 it was absorbed into the GNoSR, the amalgamation taking effect in August 1866.^[7]

The route subsequently passed to the London and North Eastern Railway in the Grouping of 1923 and became part of British Railways following nationalisation in 1948.^[8] Passenger services between Keith and Dufftown were withdrawn on 6 May 1968, although freight traffic survived, much of it associated with the agricultural and whisky industries around Dufftown.^[9] Dufftown remained a coal depot until 1971, while a bulk grain terminal established there in 1966 continued to generate railway traffic until the early 1980s.^[9] After ordinary goods traffic ceased, charter passenger excursions from Aberdeen to Dufftown were operated by Grampian Railtours under the Northern Belle name from 1984; these later ended and the remaining line was formally closed on 1 April 1991.^[9] Efforts to preserve the route as an historical attraction began soon afterwards, with the Keith & Dufftown Railway Association established in 1993 and most of the former railway subsequently transferred to the association in 1998.^[10] The preservation scheme received a statutory basis through the Keith and Dufftown Light Railway Order 1999, which came into force on 21 July of that year.^[11] Limited train operations began in 2000, and on 18 August 2001 the first preserved train ran over the full restored route between Keith Town and Dufftown.^[10] The line has since operated as a volunteer-run heritage railway, retaining the historic connection through the countryside between Keith and Dufftown.^[12]

Dufftown is the main centre of operation of the railway, and has a booking office, a waiting room and a café called the Sidings Café, which is open March to November. There are two headshunts and a loop. Work is being undertaken to install a new loop at Dufftown so that there can be two tracks going into the new engine shed. The railway maintains an engineering shed at Dufftown for the servicing and repair of its ageing diesel fleet, which was substantially extended by 2025.^[13]

At Keith Town station, there is a booking office and a shop which sells railway memorabilia and other gifts during the opening season.

At present there is no connection to the main line: there are two 60 ft (18 m) sections of track uplifted (these were removed in 1998 when the line was handed over). However, there are long-term plans to reconnect to the mainline; there were discussions about this between the K&DRA, the local MSP Richard Lochhead and Transport Scotland in the autumn of 2015.^[14]

In addition to its normal scheduled services, the association operates a programme of special trains and events, including whisky tasting services using its converted Class 108 Dram Tram, dining trains and other seasonal services.^[15][16]

Regular passenger services are principally operated by heritage British Rail Class 108 diesel multiple units, including the railway's Spirit of Speyside and Spirit of Banffshire sets; its collection also includes British Rail Class 144 unit 144022, which is used on some passenger services.^[17]

The railway also owns two BR Mk1 Coaches, Nos. 81295 and 975758, and a Mk2f TSO. The Mk2f arrived to replace the two Pullman coaches that were returned south.

The Keith and Dufftown also has three Canadian Sprinters which could be used to inspect the line. In addition, there are a variety of permanent way wagons, including two "Grampus" wagons, a "Dogfish" ballast wagon, a "Salmon" wagon and a guard's van.