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This cache belongs to the SideTracked series. It is not designed to take you to a magical place with a breath taking view. It's a distraction for the weary traveller, but anyone else can go and find it too. More Information can be found on the SideTracked Series website at www.sidetrackedseries.info https://www.sidetrackedseries.info
Lockerbie railway station is a railway station serving the town of Lockerbie, on the West Coast Main Line, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. It is located 75 miles (121 kilometres) south of Glasgow Central and 324 miles (521 kilometres) north of London Euston. The station is owned by Network Rail.
The station was opened along with the first section of the Caledonian Railway's main line from Carlisle in September 1847. The line initially terminated at Beattock, but was completed through to Glasgow & Edinburgh early the following year. A branch line from here to Dumfries via Lochmaben was completed in September 1863 – this was constructed by the independent Dumfries, Lochmaben & Lockerbie Railway, but was absorbed by the Caledonian company two years later. Though this route allowed the Caledonian company to reach Dumfries and thus compete with the rival Glasgow and South Western Railway, it never developed beyond country branch status.
On 4 May 1882, an accident occurred when the branch service from Stranraer via the Dumfries, Lochmaben and Lockerbie Railway passed a signal and entered the station at 23:25. It collided at low speed, with a goods train already on the northbound line. This collision, though minor, forced carriages from the goods train onto the southbound line and into the path of the speeding Glasgow Express which smashed into the wreckage and derailed onto the station platform. Seven people were killed, including the driver and fireman of the express. The guard from the express ran down the line to warn another approaching train of the accident and prevented a further collision. There were 300 injuries. The driver of the first train, the Lockerbie station master and the local inspection regime were all criticised for their actions in the subsequent report on the crash.[2]
The branch to Dumfries was closed to passenger services by the British Transport Commission in May 1952. Goods traffic continued until 1966, when the line fell victim to the Beeching Axe. Except Lockerbie all other local stations on the main line between Carlisle and Carstairs closed during the 1960s. The first electrically operated passenger services operated by British Rail in May 1974 when the West Coast Main Line electrification project between Weaver Junction & Glasgow was completed.
Services northwards to Glasgow and Edinburgh were suspended in January 2016 and replaced by buses, whilst major repairs were carried out the River Clyde viaduct at Lamington that was damaged by Storm Frank. Trains resumed on 22 February 2016.[3]
Open access operator Grand Union Trains plans to serve the station with four trains a day on a Stirling to London Euston service to begin in June 2025.[4][5]