It has been nearly 60 years since trains last stopped at the old Elgin East railway station, but so much of its heritage remains to this day.
Drivers will be familiar with the grand station buildings that date from 1898 and still stand proudly opposite the Laichmoray hotel.
But what many will not know is that significant details of the Great North of Scotland Railway Company’s heritage are still in place today.
While most platforms have been ripped up and are long gone, one still remains with the cavernous former canopy above, ticket office windows appear ready to accept bookings, the old newspaper stand is still intact and the space where the clock once stood for passengers can still be seen.
The Press and Journal went inside the old Elgin railway station, which is now home to offices, to see how much remains.
What happened to old Elgin railway station?
The old railway station, which was known as Elgin East to differentiate itself from Elgin West which is the surviving station, was originally on the very southern edge of the town when it was built.
It once welcomed passengers heading north to Lossiemouth, east towards Buckie and Cullen and south towards Craigellachie and Speyside.
However, the lines were shut through the 1960s as part of the Beeching cuts that restructured the UK’s rail network and led to 55% of all stations closings.
By the late 1960s, some of the smaller platforms and buildings were ripped up to make way for a freight yard, which remained in use until recently.
After that, the platforms lay dormant until the grand station building was converted into offices during the late 1980s.
Stunning old Elgin ticket hall remains
From the main road, you can still see clues of the B-listed building’s history as a railway station.
There’s the canopy over the entrance, the striking architecture and the horseshoe nature of the car park.
For anyone still in doubt though, that immediately disappears when you walk into the ornate ticket hall.
Wooden fixtures and stained glass hint at what was once a building of high significance, but the ticket office windows give away its identity as a former station.
Art deco finishings in dark wood have been preserved to this day alongside intricate wall details.
Advertisements for John Menzies and Capstan cigarettes would once have been seen by hundreds of passengers every day.
A large hallway leading off the main hall has a hard floor instead of wooden, perhaps indicating it was once used to haul heavy goods in and out.
Eerie atmosphere under former Elgin station platform canopy
Step through the doors at the rear of the ticket hall, and you walk onto what was once one of several platforms at the old Elgin East railway station.
Today it is the only one left, although wooden hoarding erected in the 1980s prevents you from seeing the platform edge from this side.
What is immediately obvious is the huge canopy where passengers would once have stood under to shelter from the elements.
While some glass panels are missing, almost all are intact today.
Doors leading off the platform hint at what could once have been entrances to waiting rooms or offices and stores for station staff.
A large painted hut was once obviously a newspaper stand, with spaces for billboards displaying the headlines of the day still in place.
While more platforms once stood at the southern end of the station building, they are all gone now.
Today the area appears to be mainly used as an area for building tenant Enterprise Rent-a-Car to clean and service vehicles.
Special significance of signal box
Out of sight from the old railway station, and almost completely out of view for Elgin motorists driving over the railway bridge, is another important piece of the town’s history.
Despite being completely inaccessible, and being abandoned years ago, the former signal box next to the rail lines is actually a listed building.
Built in the 1880s, only 10 of those built by the Great North of Scotland Railway Company remain today.
Historic Environment Scotland says the C-listed building at Elgin East is a “particularly rare survivor”.
Another newer example, which is also C-listed, still survives at the former station near the Tamdhu Distillery at Knockando on the Speyside Way.
Today very little survives inside the Elgin signal box with only a large mound of bird droppings visible from the railway bridge.
What is inside old Elgin railway station today?
Despite its days as a bustling railway station being mainly long forgotten, the striking structure today is still busy today as an office block.
Owned by London-based Archway Studios, it has a range of tenants as varied as Enterprise Rent-a-Car, estate agents and solicitors Harper Macleod and a base for Morrison Construction.
There are also smaller firms including a dance school for Zodiac Performing Arts and mental health charity Penumbra.
The building is predominantly occupied, with four offices available to rent.
Elgin freight yard on the market
The future for the site of the other platforms, and what was most recently a freight yard, is more uncertain.
Whisky and timber industries once made use of the sprawling site.
The land is currently being advertised to let with it being described as suitable for storage and distribution.
It is understood that Network Rail personnel continue to use the land today with vehicles regularly seen parked on the site.
A large crane to lift and move freight containers stood on the land for many years but was dismantled in 2018 at the same time most of the tracks were lifted up.
Army personnel from Kinloss Barracks used the former freight terminal in 2019 to transport equipment to Wiltshire for an exercise.
Read more from Elgin
- Is Elgin a long-established historic city or a large town? We try to clear up the confusion
- Hourly trains were promised from Elgin to Aberdeen 15 years ago: What happened to them?
- Revealed: The Elgin car park where you’re most likely to get a fine
Conversation