The route
The line runs Aviemore, Boat of Garten, Broomhill, and the operator puts the journey at approximately 1 hour and 40 minutes (Strathspey Railway). Broomhill, it adds, “is very remote”. The Coronation carriage gives panoramic views of the Spey valley and the Cairngorm Mountains (same page).
Listed stations
Aviemore station is listed at Category A; its entry records a rebuild of 1892 by the Highland Railway (list entry). Boat of Garten is Category B, its listing covering a “range of single storey, timber and stone station buildings on down platform” with the stationmaster’s house, signal boxes and footbridge (list entry). The Highland Historic Environment Record dates Boat of Garten station to 5 November 1855, notes that it became the junction for the Craigellachie branch in 1866, and records its closure on 18 October 1965 (Highland HER).
The engines
The operator names locomotives including Black Five No. 5025, Caledonian Railway No. 828, Austerity No. 9 and Ivatt No. 46464, The Carmyllie Pilot, and warns that engine choice is an operational decision and may change at short notice (Strathspey Railway).
Access and the winter trains
The accessibility carriage has been adapted to take two wheelchairs (Strathspey Railway). In winter the railway runs Santa’s Elf Express and Mince Pie Specials; dogs are not permitted on any Santa’s Elf Express service (same page).
Glenbogle, 60B and the road to Grantown
If you watched Monarch of the Glen, you’ve seen Broomhill. It played Glenbogle station in the BBC series. The line itself is part of the old Inverness and Perth Junction Railway, later the Highland, which linked Aviemore with Forres. Its first steam passenger train in preservation ran on 22 July 1978, hauled by Ivatt No. 46464.
Look at the smokebox of an engine in traffic and you’ll see a 60B shedplate, the code the Aviemore shed carried in British Railways days. The big plan is to carry on from Broomhill to Grantown-on-Spey. The old Grantown West station is now on an industrial estate, so the idea is a new three-platform terminus on a greenfield site instead (Wikipedia).
Planning the day
An adult return was listed at £26.00, and parking is free of charge (Strathspey Railway). The standard operating season runs from March to November.
Photographing the line
The Strathspey doesn’t set out lineside rules online, as far as we could see, so stay on the platforms at Aviemore, Boat of Garten and Broomhill. The railway describes Broomhill as very remote, which is part of its charm for a photograph with the hills behind.
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