Maud Junction railway station

Maud Junction railway station stands in the village of Maud, Aberdeenshire, where two branch lines once split from the main route north of Aberdeen. One branch served Peterhead and the other Fraserburgh, both now closed seaside towns. The station opened in 1861 as part of the Formartine and Buchan Railway Company’s line from Dyce to Mintlaw. By 1865 the network reached Fraserburgh, linking cattle markets to national railheads. The Great North of Scotland Railway took over in 1866, later becoming part of the London and North Eastern Railway. Passenger trains ended in 1965 under the Beeching cuts, though freight continued until 1979. The junction handled thousands of Aberdeenshire beef cattle bound for markets across Britain. An auction mart nearby supplied stock that travelled via Maud on special cattle trains. Each morning a locomotive arrived from Fraserburgh to collect coaches from the Aberdeen train before heading to Peterhead. By night the last engine returned empty to Fraserburgh shed. The station had a turntable but no engine shed of its own, relying on daily locomotive movements. Today the station building holds the small Maud Railway Museum, opened by volunteers on selected weekends. The site remains open for exploration, with the lifted track bed and turntable remains still visible. Cattle loading platforms survive beside the old lines. The Formartine and Buchan Way long-distance path follows the former trackbed through quiet Aberdeenshire countryside.