The Port Road Part 5 - Castle Douglas to Kirkcudbright

This volume covers the 10-mile branch from Castle Douglas to Kirkcudbright, linking the old fishing port to the main line and giving it access to the rest of Great Britain.
For those who have not already viewed them, previous volumes in the series can be found at
Dumfries to Castle Douglas
• The Port Road - Volum...
Castle Douglas to Newton Stewart
• The Port Road volume 2...
Newton Stewart to Stranraer
• The Port Road volume 3...
Volume 4 was to cover the short line between Stranraer and Portpatrick. Almost complete, much of it was lost to a computer disaster - not as fully backed up as I had believed. It will appear in due course but not before 2025.
For those interested in the railways of Dumfries and Galloway, these should also prove worthwhile.
The short-lived and little known Cairn Valley Railway
• The Cairn Valley Railw...
The Glasgow and South Western Railway
• The Glasgow and South ...

[@KeithHeron]

Tim: Thanks for taking the time to make these videos. They were clearly a labour of love. I've enjoyed all of them.

[@schoolshorts]

Thank you Keith - I'm delighted to hear that. Best wishes.

[@MrOldmeg]

As a modern day resident and motorist in this part of the world, I thoroughly enjoyed the aerial views of the route from Castle Douglas to Kirkcudbright and its very interesting history. Growing up in the 50's I have no recollection of ever visiting Kirkcudbright or Castle Douglas although we did regularly use the Dalbeattie to Kirkcudbright bus service to reach Auchencairn for summer holidays where my mothers family hailed from. So many thanks again Tim for all your time and effort producing such an interesting video.

[@schoolshorts]

Thank you John. We're both of us privileged to live in a part of the world with stunning scenery, awash with history, free from pollution and crowds - though, unfortunately, these days also more or less free from railways! I will continue recording the area for as long as I'm able. As long as I'm able to continue driving I'll be able to produce local history material such as this video but - when the time comes for me to hang up my driving licence - well - you know what public transport is like in D&G!

[@ThomasHaynes-c9f]

Nice work on the video Tim, you picked a nice day for flying around the old track bed. I have been up to Dumfries station a few times for collections there over the last two years! I delivered the Police Chief Constables new Volvo S80 many years ago now when I worked with Volvo press fleet. I will have to catch up with the rest of the videos now. 👍👍

[@schoolshorts]

Thank you Thomas. This is a beautiful part of the world and many areas are not accessible other than by rail - well, that was true before 1965; nowadays only a good pair of boots will get you there. Many of those areas feature in the earlier episodes of the series - especially volume 2. Enjoy them!

[@Daveonthelevel]

Brilliant production Tim, very interesting, and far better than anything on TV at the moment. Many thanks for sharing it, I will be looking for the other parts as and when I get the opportunity.

[@schoolshorts]

Thank you Dave. I hope you enjoy the earlier parts of the series. Best wishes.

[@lukebroadhurst8271]

Great video. I walk the track to Lamb Island regularly. A beautiful part of the local area!

[@schoolshorts]

Is the island still accessible?

[@KeithHeron]

@@schoolshorts Yes, it's a reasonably easy walk from Castle Douglas. There is a bird hide on the north end of the island, from which no one ever sees any birds but it is occupied every summer by wasps so serves a purpose.

[@Geo46115]

Another superb video once again, Tim. I've followed this route via all of your excellent productions, I have 'The Port Road' installed on my PC as a train simulation. Although the line has long gone, the game graphics are virtually so realistic - and are 'echoed' within your collection of videos. Now, for me, being an ex: BR fireman, it's a wonderful experience to 'handle' a steam loco over this stunning line. Sincere thanks again Tim. 👍

[@schoolshorts]

Thank you. Comments like this are my reward. There are still two volumes of this series to come - hopefully, next year. Best wishes.

[@chrisburton9645]

Great vid. No trains of wagons or coaches to count unfortunately, and probably no preserved steam trains are going to move in here. But no batteries running out at the wrong time either, or rain storms or grumpy managers chasing you off; and the water side rounds it all off perfectly. Just what youtube should be all about.

[@jamiecampbell2637]

Thank you very much. Thoroughly enjoyed this.

[@schoolshorts]

Thank you - always good to hear!

[@ByGum-k3b]

Love these type of videos Tim. Great work.

[@schoolshorts]

Thank you - hopefully more to come.

[@johnpark6227]

Excellent video, Tim, travelled many times to school in Kirkcudbright behind 40170 or 40171, happy memories.

[@schoolshorts]

Thank you John. Considerable numbers of schoolchildren travel into and out of Carlisle's Citadel each weekday on their way to school, but there can be few, if any, doing likewise in Dumfries and Galloway these days. I often wonder - what do they do when the trains are on strike or cancelled, as happens all too often these days?

[@stephenbrass1808]

Very interesting Tim, thanks for all the work doing the project, very much enjoyed, seen quite a lot of the locations on my travels round the Dumfries area cheers, Steve .

[@schoolshorts]

Thank you Stephen. Glad you enjoyed it and glad also that you have managed to explore so much of this beautiful part of the world. Every good wish - Tim.

[@FraserWest-um4ue]

Very good video Tim and actually very interesting because it’s a part of Scotland that I don’t really know much about so it was very interesting to seeing the different when the steam trains were being used and then the roads in place and very good views and completely different from your videos off trains

[@schoolshorts]

Thank you Fraser. Dumfries and Galloway is the great undiscovered part of Scotland, wild, beautiful and uncrowded - well worth spending some time in. See you up here one of these days perhaps?

[@FraserWest-um4ue]

Yes Tim most likely in may or June next year

[@tomcarr1358]

Delighted to see you using that incomparable mapping source the Ordnance Survey. Many when making similar documentaries overlook the importance of orientation and the position of lines and land that has been taken for other uses. I hope that you have encountered Times' Books "Mapping the Railways" Reprinted in 2012 and maybe subsequently,

[@schoolshorts]

I've always loved Ordnance Survey maps and have pretty much the entire set of paper or cloth sheets - little used these days, I'm afraid, as the online app is so much more convenient and bang up to date. I will look up the book you recommend. Best wishes.

[@tattoo1084]

Great filming Tim. Like the history of the line and must of been hard for people who had travel to Tarff to access the line. Always good see the trackbed from above.👍👍

[@schoolshorts]

Thanks David. We easily forget - or never knew - how hard life could be in areas like this before the motor car became the norm.

[@CheshireCars]

Excellent Tim. Very informative.

[@schoolshorts]

Thank you - glad you enjoyed it.

[@tombrydson781]

One of my favourite parts of Scotland

[@schoolshorts]

Mine too!

[@cedarcam]

Very interesting video Tim. We went around the area on our holidays. I am wondering now if it was that power station we went to visit by electric bus.

[@schoolshorts]

Hi Colin. There used to be an electric bus service - long before such things became commonplace - from Kirkcudbright to Tongland Power Station. I took a school party on it in the 1980s so - yes - that would have been the trip you took.

[@cedarcam]

@@schoolshorts Great It sounded familiar when you talked about Tongland at the hydro electric.

[@typhoon2827]

"...driver and fireman drowned...": jolly music.

[@TheTynesideSpotter]

Great video as always Tim, interesting to learn about the line at castle Douglas and Tesco replacing the station. Will you be at the Ratty for the young engineers day?

[@schoolshorts]

Thanks Jonathan. Not sure that I qualify as "young" but if the weather's good I might make it.

[@TheTynesideSpotter]

@@schoolshorts great!

[@TheTynesideSpotter]

Heard they are doing cab rides aswell

[@schoolshorts]

You might be lucky!​@@TheTynesideSpotter

[@ricktownend9144]

Thank you so much for adding this to your Port Road mini-series. Is there in preparation a delayed Part 4? It is, as you show, a beautiful part of the world, and your notes about the history help to elucidate what happened in the time of the line, and since. My own knowledge of the line is, apart from a couple of visits, from the cime/suspense novels of 'the 39 Steps' (John Buchan - set in 1914) in which Richard Hannay finishes his escape from London, and then doubles back from (I think) Gatehouse-of-Fleet/Dromore; 'Sir John Magill's Last Journey' (Freeman Wills Crofts - set in LMS days) centred around the Euston-Stranraer night express; and 'the Five Red Herrings' (Dorothey L Sayers - also LMS days), in which, unusually for DLS, as she - like Lord Peter Wimsey - was a car lover, the railway, its timetable and its staff played critical parts; as you do yourself, she also included some details of bus services! She also speculates on the reason 'local trains are always late' - her guess being that the driver and fireman get out to inspect the station gardens for the prize marrow competition ... Looking forward to your next production.

[@schoolshorts]

Thank you Rick. You're obviously well aware of the literary history of this corner of Scotland - there's lots of other history too amid the stunning scenery although, sadly, most of our railways have long gone. Part 4 is not forgotten but it will almost certainly be 2025 before it appears. There's also the Whithorn branch to cover although it will involve a lot of driving as it's a long way away from my home. But you know the old saying - good things are worth waiting for! Best wishes.

[@BIGV710]

interesting information tim thanks for sharing a good video ps is there still a bus garage near dumfries station think it was western scottish

[@schoolshorts]

The bus depot (Stagecoach) is beside the railway line, off Eastfield Road - a fair walk from the station. You'll find a picture here - www.ebay.co.uk/itm/275983592994

[@kennethdarroch1802]

Did you meet The Wee Kircudbright Centipede?

[@schoolshorts]

Sadly, I forgot to let her know that I was coming or she would certainly have come to meet me. Instead - I had to use her song as background music. Hoping you're on the mend. With best wishes - Tim

[@kennethdarroch1802]

@@schoolshorts Getting along slowly, thanks. I would ask for rebate on fuel used, she should have known.

[@grahamelliott6041]

Wouldn't the bridge at Tongland have been blown up by the Royal Engineers and not the REME ?

[@schoolshorts]

My information here was taken from Andrew F Swan's book "The Port Road" - a superb and highly detailed tome to which the author must have dedicated many years of research. I cannot guarantee the accuracy of this particular detail but, given the quality of the whole book, I'd be reluctant to doubt it.

[@grahamelliott6041]

@@schoolshorts ok that’s interesting, I’ve never heard of the REME being involved in demolition