Royal Deeside Railway

Royal Deeside Railway A heritage railway in the heart of Royal Deeside, Scotland. Steam, diesel and battery electric vehicles and an award-winning station building. Operational. D9551.

Train services every weekend starting at 11.00 am with buffet car serving coffees, teas and light snacks. Wonderful views of River Dee, woodland and surrounding hillsides. The Royal Deeside Railway was formed in 1996 to re-create the branch line from Aberdeen to Ballater, opened in 1856 by the Deeside Railway Company and closed by British Railways in 1966. The railway between Banchory and Milton o

f Crathes has been partially re-instated, and a new station built at Milton of Crathes. The station building is an award-winning restoration of the original station in Oldmeldrum. The railway offers a passenger train service every weekend from Easter until September. The carriages are 1960s vintage British Rail Mark IIs. We operate a steam tank engine on alternate Sundays, otherwise the trains are diesel-hauled. Please see http://www.deeside-railway.co.uk/ for more information. Locomotives
Steam locomotives
Aberdeen Gas Works Andrew Barclay 0-4-0ST No. 807 "Bon-Accord". Operational - under testing (Arrived March 2010)
Diesel locomotives
Andrew Barclay 0-4-0 No. 415. BR 0-6-0 Class 03 no. D2094 / 03094. Operational (Arrived May 2010)
BR 0-6-0 Class 03 no. D2134 / 03134. BR 0-6-0 Class 14 no. Under repair. Multiple units
BR BEMU unit 79998+79999. Operational (as hauled coaching stock) – repairs to electrical systems in progress.

A summer afternoon, good company and plenty of tea ☀️🧁On Sunday, our Cream Teas return to the Royal Deeside Railway.Fres...
10/06/2026

A summer afternoon, good company and plenty of tea ☀️🧁

On Sunday, our Cream Teas return to the Royal Deeside Railway.

Freshly prepared sandwiches, cakes and scones are served alongside tea and coffee brought straight to your table by our volunteers, leaving you free to sit back, relax and enjoy the afternoon.

There’s no rush, no set time to leave and there’s no need to watch the clock.

Just spend some time with friends or family, enjoy the surroundings of Royal Deeside, and experience a railway that has been welcoming visitors for 30 years!

It’s a lovely way to do something a little different this summer.

🎟 Bookings close soon, so if you’ve been thinking about joining us, now is the time to reserve your table. 🍽️

Who you gonna bring along?

Booking link in the comments below 🎟️👇🏼

Fancy slowing down and treating yourself to a summer afternoon with a difference? ☀️🧁This Sunday our Cream Teas return t...
08/06/2026

Fancy slowing down and treating yourself to a summer afternoon with a difference? ☀️🧁

This Sunday our Cream Teas return to the Royal Deeside Railway.

Bring along friends, family or someone who deserves a treat and enjoy a relaxed afternoon at the heart of Royal Deeside.

We’ll take care of the rest. ☺️

Freshly prepared sandwiches, cakes and scones are served alongside tea and coffee brought straight to your table by our wonderful volunteers, leaving you free to sit back, have a good old chat and enjoy the beautiful scenery.

There’s no rush, no set time to leave, just good company, good food and the chance to spend time together somewhere a little different.

Set against the backdrop of the old Deeside Line, once used by the Royal Family on their journeys to Balmoral, it’s a unique way to experience a small part of the area’s railway history.

🎟 Cream Teas – Sunday 14th June

Spaces are limited, so don’t miss out! Book your Cream Tea experience today and treat yourself to a memorable afternoon on Royal Deeside.

📅 Booking link has been popped in the comments below ☺️👇🏼

Who would you bring along for an afternoon like this?

It’s Volunteer Week! 🎉This week marks Volunteer Week, where people who give back to their time and effort to their local...
06/06/2026

It’s Volunteer Week! 🎉

This week marks Volunteer Week, where people who give back to their time and effort to their local communities are celebrated right across the UK and we cannot thank those enough at the Royal Deeside Railway. ❤️

Back in 1996, a group of individuals came together and formed the Royal Deeside Railway Preservation Society to restore and recreate what was once the stunning Deeside Line before its closure during British Rail in the 1960’s.

Today we have a restored section of rail line, steam and diesel engines running services, the iconic BEMU, private charters and our famous Santa Specials. All this is done because of the amazing work every day people have given to this railway to give something to the community to love, enjoy and learn from.

Without those in the photo and the countless others who aren’t, this railway would not exist. Whether it’s turning up every week, or just once in a blue moon, the contribution our volunteers have made goes beyond words of appreciation.

If you are feeling the need to pop in past and say hello, we are open Sunday 7th, with trains running from 11am. We are always happy for people to pop in, say hello and get yourself a ticket in our station building for a beautiful Deeside train ride. 🎟️

This railway was built all those years ago and helped grow and serve its communities. Since 1996, this railway has strived to do the exact same thing, a railway built to help its community. Thank you everyone who’s been on our journey so far. ☺️🚂

If you’d fancy being part of growing and restoring this amazing wee railway, please feel free to drop us an email at: [email protected]

Now this is more like it! ☀️🚂Longer daysWarmer weather Steam trainsAfter what feels like a long wait for summer to arriv...
03/06/2026

Now this is more like it! ☀️🚂

Longer days
Warmer weather
Steam trains

After what feels like a long wait for summer to arrive, we’re looking forward to seeing Bon Accord back out (hopefully 🤞🏼) running the Deeside line this Sunday 7th June.

If you’re looking for something a bit different to do this weekend, why not spend a few hours with us at the Milton of Crathes, minutes from Banchory.

Journey back into the history of the old Deeside Line, once known as the route to Royal Deeside, chat to the volunteers who help keep our railway running, and enjoy a relaxed family day out in the heart of Deeside.

We’ll be running from 11am till 2 pm, then from 3 to 4pm. 🎟️ Tickets? Just pop along to our station building and grab them in there, plus have a browse of our shop and our museum!

Whether it’s your first visit or you’ve been coming for years, we’d love to know how you heard about us, how you found your way here, and what keeps you coming back to the railways.

If you’re looking for somewhere to spend a few hours hopefully in the sun this weekend, we’d love to see you ☺️

30/05/2026

June’s here, the days are longer, and we’re back running next Sunday 🚂☀️

After what feels like a very mixed spring weather, it’s finally starting to feel like summer is on its way.

So if you’re looking for something a bit different to do next weekend, why not come and spend a few hours with us at the Royal Deeside Railway?

Take a trip behind our 128-year-old steam locomotive Bon Accord, meet the volunteers who enjoy keeping this railway running, and enjoy a relaxed family day out in the heart of Deeside.

Trains will be running from 11am until 1pm then from 2pm to 4pm on Sunday 7th June.

🎟️ Tickets? Just come along and you can grab them inside our Station building

Whether it’s your first visit or your fiftieth, we’d absolutely love to see you there.

Fa ya bringing? 🚂

A great night down at the railway last night 🚂Bon Accord got a clean, firewood was chopped, one of the mowers was - how ...
28/05/2026

A great night down at the railway last night 🚂

Bon Accord got a clean, firewood was chopped, one of the mowers was - how ever much we tried(!!) - unsuccessfully brought back to life, and one of our volunteers spent some time continuing their early diesel driver training.

What’s nice about evenings like this is seeing people of different ages and backgrounds all getting stuck in together, with some who’ve been around the railway for years, and others only just getting started.

That’s pretty much what keeps this place going to be honest.

There’s always something happening behind the scenes at the Deeside Railway, even on quieter nights.

Do you know what kind of trains used to run on the Deeside Line?Last weekends video - where we hit our 10,000 follower m...
23/05/2026

Do you know what kind of trains used to run on the Deeside Line?

Last weekends video - where we hit our 10,000 follower milestone - saw our steam engine Bon Accord hurtling down the tracks. With no services this weekend it got us thinking; what kind of engines ran here before us?

In the late 1800s to the 1950s, the Deeside line saw some elegant Great North of Scotland Railway steam locomotives, including Royal trains carrying members of the Royal Family to Balmoral. The is where the line became one of Scotland’s most prestigious rural railways, with Ballater Station being famously associated with Royal travel.

Towards the 50’s, the railway entered a completely different era with the arrival of the battery-powered “Sputnik” BEMU, the experimental train that was years ahead of its time using battery power - where have we heard that recently - but now we have her preserved here at the Royal Deeside Railway. One of our most special pieces of kit 🤩

Into the 1960s saw early diesel multiple units (DMU’s) and diesel locomotives gradually replaced steam during the final years before the line closed in 1966.

With different kinds of steam trains, diesels and even a “futuristic” battery powered train, we have to have you which era of the line would you most like to have experienced? Let’s us know in the comments, would be interesting to see where people would have liked to have been on trains and what era ☺️

17/05/2026

WE DID IT! 🎉

A huge milestone for us here at the Royal Deeside Railway as we surpassed 10,000 followers for the first time EVER on our page! This is huge for us, and it’s all thanks to you guys! ❤️

Your support to our heritage railway really is something we don’t take for granted. Your likes, comments, shares, visits, buying tickets or your heart warming donations are really what helps keep our railway running.

Hitting the 10,000 shows how many people really do care about what we are trying to do here, with every penny raised going straight back into making the railway a bigger and better place for families and people to visit from all over.

We have some super exciting plans this year to showcase exactly what we here at the Deeside Railway are like, working with new people, new ideas and showing you all what we are really about beyond just the trains themselves.

So to everyone who has followed our journey so far, thank you.

We are only just getting started 🚂

9,999 people…So far, that’s how many people have followed our small volunteer-run railway at Milton of Crathes in Aberde...
16/05/2026

9,999 people…

So far, that’s how many people have followed our small volunteer-run railway at Milton of Crathes in Aberdeenshire, which is pretty incredible.

Over the last few years, more and more people have followed what we are trying to do here, from our running days and restoration work, to behind-the-scenes stuff, our amazing Santa Specials and getting to see all the amazing people who help keep the railway going. 🙋🏽‍♂️

For us, it’s never just been about the numbers. Every follow, share, comment and visit helps more people - local and further afield- discover the railway and supports what we’re trying to build and grow here.

So whether you’ve visited us, volunteered, shared a post, or simply followed along from afar, honestly, thank you.

Looks like we might be about to hit 10,000 followers 🚂🙌🏼❤️

14/05/2026

Did you know that the Royal Deeside Railway is run completely by volunteers?

Every train that runs, every coach maintained, every section of track cleared, every event organised and every visitor we welcome is only made possible by the people here who keep giving up their own time to help keep the railway going.

Nobody here is paid

From operating trains and trying to restore rolling stock, to preparing Cream Teas and our ever popular Santa Specials, it’s all done by volunteers who not only care about the railway and want to see us continue to grow, but also want to do something for the community.

We’ll be back running at Milton of Crathes this Sunday, with Bon Accord hauling trains along the line from 11am till 1pm and then 3 till 4pm.

It’s a chance to not only ride behind our engine that’s over 100 years old and once worked at the Aberdeen Gas Works, but it’s also a good chance meet the people who help keep the railway going week in, week out.

Every visit, every ticket and every little bit of support genuinely helps us continue maintaining, improving and growing the railway for you and future visitors to the North East.

And… without the people behind the scenes giving up their evenings, weekends and spare time, none of what we have done and what we want to do would be possible.

Address

The Royal Deeside Railway, Milton Of Crathes
Banchory
AB315QH

Telephone

01330 844416

Website

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