Turning back the clock

Preliminary work is under way at Milton of Crathes to restore a rare piece of rail history.

The mail trolley at Milton of Crathes station

Royal Deeside Railway volunteers have started to bring a postal trolley back to its former glory.

The handcart has been with the group for the last five years and is believed to be one of the few remaining examples of its type.

Volunteers believe the trolley may have been used in Torphins to transfer mail from the station - which closed in 1966 - to the local post office.

Member Bill Brown said: “The condition of the metalwork, despite being in the open for five years, is not too bad.

“We felt that parts of the wooden frame were past their useful life and that it would be better to build a new frame as near as possible to the existing one.

“We would be very interested to hear from anyone on Deeside who may have any knowledge of it.

“It is thought that it might at one time have been in service at Torphins.”

Fellow member Bill Halliday added: “Other priorities have unfortunately meant that to-date we had not been able to devote the necessary resources to bring it up to scratch, so we are delighted that Bill has taken on board the task of restoring it to its former glory.

“When it is all finally brought together again, it will be an eye-catching piece of railway history for our many visitors to admire.”

Anyone with information about the trolley should contact operations director, Chris Milburn, at Milton of Crathes.