Achnashellach railway station


Achnashellach railway station is a railway station serving Achnashellach on the Kyle of Lochalsh Line, in Wester Ross, Scotland. The station lies between Strathcarron and the Glen Carron platform.
The line was opened on 5 August 1870. The station is from, and has a single platform which is long enough for a three-coach train.

History

The station was opened by the Dingwall and Skye Railway, but operated from the outset by the Highland Railway. Taken into the London, Midland and Scottish Railway during the Grouping of 1923, the line then passed on to the Scottish Region of British Railways on nationalisation in 1948.
When Sectorisation was introduced by British Rail, the station became part of ScotRail until the Privatisation of British Railways.
In 1892, Achnashellach was the scene of a runaway train in which the brake in the brakevan had malfunctioned. Subsequently, this train moved off down the slope at considerable speed without a locomotive to keep it under control. Reaching the bottom of the slope, it had enough energy to proceed back uphill, before running down the slope once again. Unfortunately, another train was approaching Achnashellach in the opposite direction at that very moment, and the two trains collided at the bottom of the slope with great force, resulting in several injuries in what was a rare accident for the Highland Railway. The cause of the accident was thought to be a result of the HR's lack of using a continuous brake, and a habit of putting goods wagons at the front of mixed passenger and goods trains.

Service

Four trains each way call on weekdays/Saturdays and one each way all year on Sundays, plus a second from May to late September only.