Dirleton railway station was a railway station on the North Berwick Branch

North Berwick Branch

The North Berwick Branch was promoted by the North British Railway to connect North Berwick to its Main Line at .-History:In 1846, the North British Railway obtained an Act of Parliament authorising the construction of a branch line from Drem Junction to North Berwick Harbour...

 of the North British Railway

North British Railway

The North British Railway was a Scottish railway company that was absorbed into the London and North Eastern Railway at the Grouping in 1923.-History:...

 in East Lothian

East Lothian

East Lothian is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, and a lieutenancy Area. It borders the City of Edinburgh, Scottish Borders and Midlothian. Its administrative centre is Haddington, although its largest town is Musselburgh....

, Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

. It was an intermediate station on the branch line from Drem

Drem railway station

Drem railway station serves the village of Drem in East Lothian, from the seaside town of North Berwick in Scotland. It is located on the East Coast Main Line east of Edinburgh Waverley...

.

History

Dirleton station was a small affair, with a single platform and two sidings on the south side of the line. There was no signalbox, and the siding points were controlled by a ground frame.

Dirleton station closed to passengers on 1 February 1954, with the goods yard surviving as an unstaffed public siding until 1 June 1959. The station house is now privately owned, and the station site is clearly visible from passing trains.

Although named for the village of Dirleton

Dirleton

Dirleton is a village and parish in East Lothian, Scotland approximately east of Edinburgh on the A198. It contains . Dirleton lies between North Berwick , Gullane , Fenton Barns and the Yellowcraigs nature reserve, Archerfield Estate and the Firth of Forth...

, the station was actually some distance away, approximately half way between Dirleton and Kingston

Kingston, East Lothian

Kingston is a small hamlet near North Berwick in East Lothian, Scotland.- Fenton Tower :Fenton Tower in Kingston is a refurbished 16th century tower house. Fenton Tower was used as the location for Archie's castle in the BBC children's programme "Balamory." - External links :* official site...

. A plan to give Direlton a more convenient station was put forward by the Aberlady, Gullane and North Berwick Railway

Aberlady, Gullane and North Berwick Railway

The Aberlady, Gullane and North Berwick Railway was incorporated on 24 August 1893 as a route to promote North Berwick as a resort. It was connected to the Main Line at Longniddry.-History:...

, which was founded in 1893. This company opened its line from Spittal (Aberlady Junction) near Longniddry to Gullane in 1898, but plans to extend it to join the North Berwick branch near Williamstown were never implemented.

Previous services

Sources

• Hajducki, Andrew M. (1992) The North Berwick and Gullane Branch Lines, Headington, Oakwood Press, ISBN 085361427X
• RAILSCOT on the North Berwick Branch