I've loved railways ever since I first saw a train: but my first conscious memory of travel on one, is from when I was aged probably 4 (rail travel for me might have happened at an even younger age; but if so, no memory of it). "First recalled such", must I think have happened in 1952 or '53. We lived in Spalding: journey was a family day trip to Hunstanton, via Sutton Bridge and King's Lynn. My memories are "for sure", but few and fragmentary -- have an inkling that the family including myself, might have done this thing twice, in successive years: if so, then my memories might be a combination from both journeys -- or, from just one.
A thing I know for certain re the above, is that it involved a special Spalding -- Hunstanton and return excursion train, on a Sunday, when there were no normal scheduled passenger workings on the ex-Midland & Great Northern Joint line Spalding -- South Lynn -- King's Lynn. Motive power was, obviously, steam: beyond that -- my rail interest has anyway, always been "aesthetic" rather than "rivet-counting"; and aged four or five, I had barely any inkling of different loco types. From data generally known, it would seem probable that haulage at least between Spalding and King's Lynn, would have been Ivatt Class 4 2-6-0; whether the same loco worked through to / from Hunstanton, or whether there was a loco change at King's Lynn, is totally unknown to me.
I remember that it was a beautiful sunny summer's day; and remember on the outward run, a scene of some slight trouble and tension at a small station at which we stopped, somewhere west of Sutton Bridge -- have a feeling that it could well have been Fleet -- involving a minor mishap with the single-line token which, when all went well, was automatically picked up by apparatus on the loco: recall railwaymen running about in pursuit of the errant token. Also, that our party included an uncle of mine who was staying with us at the time, and who was rather a wag: we stopped for passengers at many if not all of the intermediate stations, and at each station called at, he made up a comical rhyme based on its name. I remember actually being at Hunstanton; but nothing whatever, about the part of the journey on the ex-GER King's Lynn -- Hunstanton line (though I travelled on that line a fair number of times in later years).
Ellon had not long lost it's branch line to Boddam and was just a normal through station. The Boddam branch became a fixture with me that I have been fascinated with ever since. A little while after that we started visiting Boddam twice a year but of course, went by bus. From Ellon the bus followed the old branch line much of the way. I recall on one trip seeing and hearing gangers picking up the track on an over bridge between Ellon and Auchmacoy. The bus stopped at Hatton Hotel that over looked the old station site and I recall seeing the platform and station buildings while they were still in quite good condition. The over bridge still stood and you looked down on the station when going over it on departing from the Hotel. The old GNSR Goods Shed remained in situ up into the 2000's. It has since been dismantled and remains in cover somewhere waiting for someone to finally get it rebuilt elsewhere. A mile or so north of Hatton the viaduct over the river Cruden still remains in isolation. The two viaducts at Cruden Bay were demolished soon after the branch closed in 1948 and the line fully picked up in 1950.
The Hatton service missed Cruden Bay and you passed the last station site at Longhaven before following the branch down the deep cutting into Boddam. You didn't see Cruden Bay station from the bus service either as the station was down a hill to the north of the village.
In 1963 I joined the railway at Kittybreswter depot in Aberdeen and worked over the Peterhead and Fraserburgh route as a second man on the diesel trains . Ellon always fascinated me and you could still see where the Boddam line branched off from the goods yard. The sidings were still quite busy then too and we shunted there numerous times. The final half mile or so was used to park old wagons right into the 60's. I always wished that I could have worked over the branch. I have walked most of the track bed over the years and visited all the station sites and have learned much about it since. You can check out my web pages at:
Ellon To Boddam Railway Walks
The cluster of ex-GNSR lines due north of Aberdeen, has always fascinated me -- overwhelmingly on a theoretical-only level, alas. I tend mentally to home-in particularly on the Boddam branch, in part no doubt, because of its early demise (passenger service withdrawn 1932; freight, as you
@Bill EWS mention, a decade-and-some later). Also part of the general spell which this part of the rail system holds over me, is (as I have written of in another thread in this sub-forum) what seems the slightly crazy situation of two branches -- Ellon to Boddam and Maud to Peterhead -- terminating within about three miles of each other; with (icing on cake) geographically in between them, the short Peterhead Prison Railway, also standard-gauge; but with no physical connection between any of these lines in the Peterhead / Boddam area. I would imagine that the GNSR or its antecedents, had at least entertained thoughts and plans re making a connection within this small area; but that, with the way things panned out, it somehow never happened.