The Earl of Aberdeen's Railway: Udny to Methlick; the Great North branch that never was

摘要

This is the latest addition to the Association's excellent series of booklets about the lines of the Great North of Scotland Railway. It is a story of discord surrounding railway proposals for serving the Earl of Aberdeen's estate of 75,000 acres in rural Aberdeenshire. In 1858 the 4th Earl refused to allow what became the GNSR Buchan line to Fraserburgh to pass through his estate. His grandson, the 7th Earl, however, was an early railway enthusiast who enjoyed his first footplate ride at the age of 15 and was soon after presented with a perpetual GNSR cab pass. He later became a director of the company from 1886 and deputy chairman from 1900 until retirement in 1906, when he moved to Dublin as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland.