No trains to call at Altnabreac for the foreseeable future

[Elwyn]

. . .It might be a silly question, but can't the station be resited some metres away so it's away from this obnoxious couple's (claimed!) property extents?

Altnabreac has around 300 passengers a year (according to the Scotsman on 17th April 2025). Any Business case for moving the station is going to struggle a bit. To put it mildly.

Better to sort it out in the courts. There is a civil case running which should lead to some clarification of ownership and access rights later this year. That seems a simpler and cheaper solution.

 

[honoraryjanner]

Absolutely gutted to have missed the Altnabreac reopening by only a few weeks. I had a week staying in Helmsdale and rattling to and fro on the FNL in mid-March.

Have walked the 14 mile circular route around there many times but haven't been able to the last couple of years. Not sure if my visits would have gone onto usage statistics as always travel with a rover.

 

[Falcon1200]

Presumably the station house was built by and for the railway and at some stage was sold off. Does anyone really believe that not just the house but the station and the trackbed were mistakenly sold off as well?!!

 

[DelW]

I wonder how the cost of all these legal proceedings, staff time wasted on site, etc, compares with the sum received from the sale of the property? With hindsight, it might have been better just to abandon or even demolish it.

 

[hwl]

Presumably the station house was built by and for the railway and at some stage was sold off. Does anyone really believe that not just the house but the station and the trackbed were mistakenly sold off as well?!!

As covered further up the original BR sales documentation doesn't suggest the station or trackbed were sold off.

 

[reb0118]

...... with the sum received from the sale of the property?.........

The grand total of £300 in 1969 or so I believe.

 

[dosxuk]

Presumably the station house was built by and for the railway and at some stage was sold off. Does anyone really believe that not just the house but the station and the trackbed were mistakenly sold off as well?!!

Yes - the current occupiers - look at the posts earlier in the thread for detail - including what is suspected to have been one of the owners disagreeing with what the actual registries show they own.

 

[Egg Centric]

I believe the apology for the behaviour was Lizzy shouting at or trying to talk over the Sheriff.

Ian and Lizzy set up a Gofundme that they claimed they would use to hire a Lawyer, the money hasn't been used for this purpose so people believe this is a grift against Network Rail.

I also advise visiting the excellent website:

https://www.ballybannon-uncovered.com/

This covers the story of Ian and Lizzy at Altnabreac in more detail.

That website looks just as unhinged as that couple. What is wrong with people

 

[liam6603]

I'm still struggling to understand what they actually want. They don't seem to state it at any point in any of their material. The sort of undertone is that they might want paying for railway staff to access the station via their land, but even that is not clear.

They have admitted numerous times in their comment section that they want to receive money from Network Rail each time Network Rail has to access the station. There are a few videos with them saying they would be happy to "negotiate a fee" with NR in the replies. That is what this realistically all seems to relate to and their gofundme which was set up for legal representation is still active but they don't have a solicitor and they are still representing themselves in court, but they are still collecting donations.

 

[ian1944]

If donations are still being collected, as opposed to just being solicited, it emphasises my "credulous public" comment above. More alliteration: "shameless scroungers".

The pair have entered into a building/land purchase which now is claimed to have legal difficulties/ambiguities. Rather than take this up with whoever acted for them legally, they now expect the world to pay to have it sorted.

Truly people you'd hate to have living next to you, so let's hope they either stay where they are or (preferably) move to an otherwise uninhabited island.

 

[kermit]

This image has appeared on the "Altnabreac Uncovered" YouTube channel, apparently showing large flower tubs quite close to the platform edge / door opening areas at Altnabreac station.

Does anyone know if there are regulations about the positioning of potential trip hazards near platform edges?

I've been trying to think of anything comparable, the platform furniture at Manchester Piccadilly platforms 13 and 14 always seems a bit close for comfort to me, but I don't know if there is a regulation covering it.

 

[MadMac]

This image has appeared on the "Altnabreac Uncovered" You Tube channel, apparently showing large flower tubs quite close to the platform edge / door opening areas at Altnabreac station. Does anyone know if there are regulations about the positioning of potential trip hazards near platform edges? I've been trying to think of anything comparable, the platform furniture at Manchester Piccadilly platforms 13 and 14 always seems a bit close for comfort to me, but I don't know if there is a regulation covering it.

Are those possibly steps?

 

[Carntyne]

Are those possibly steps?

They're quite clearly flower pots.

 

[Gloster]

Marking out their ‘territory’? Or hoping that Scotrail/Network Rail will send someone in to move them, an action that can then be filmed? Or lead to outraged complaints about their attempts to beautify their land are being destroyed by… Of course, it might be Network Rail or Scotrail beautifying it, but would they want the effort of and possible confrontation when sending people out to water it?

I am not sure what the rules and recommendations are, but I think that RAIB (or however) would not be amused by low items such as these placed so close to the edge of the platform.

 

[Falcon1200]

IIRC the ruling was nothing closer than 6 feet to the platform edge; Not sure whether that measurement still applies, but something surely does!

 

[Icky Qualms]

At this point it seems the couple are making a good living from their new found fame via their YouTube channel

 

[MadMac]

They're quite clearly flower pots.

Indeed. I didn’t notice the obvious one closest to the camera…..

 

[Egg Centric]

At this point it seems the couple are making a good living from their new found fame via their YouTube channel

I think that's highly unlikely, although @AlterEgo will have a better idea of how YouTube finances work.

If I were to guess they'll have made at the very most three figures.

 

[Jan Mayen]

£4.53p?

 

[pokemonsuper9]

I think that's highly unlikely, although @AlterEgo will have a better idea of how YouTube finances work.

If I were to guess they'll have made at the very most three figures.

Socialblade guesses their earnings as per below, there is a VERY large margin for error when estimating YouTube earnings, since it depends significantly on the audience (and these could even be wrong).

$108 - $1.7K
Monthly Estimated Earnings

$1.1K - $18K
Yearly Estimated Earnings

 

[kkong]

IIRC the ruling was nothing closer than 6 feet to the platform edge; Not sure whether that measurement still applies, but something surely does!

The last time I travelled on the far north line, some of the stations with lower platforms had yellow steps positioned right next to the platform edge.

 

[davetheguard]

The last time I travelled on the far north line, some of the stations with lower platforms had yellow steps positioned right next to the platform edge.

Presumably they're OK because they're not a fixed structure.

Or a recognition that they're there to aid boarding, not to get in the way of it like planters would. Steps to help getting on & off at a low platform would be pretty useless if they had to be six feet away from the train!

 

[SteveM70]

Presumably they're OK because they're not a fixed structure.

Or a recognition that they're there to aid boarding, not to get in the way of it like planters would. Steps to help getting on & off at a low platform would be pretty useless if they had to be six feet away from the train!

Exactly, and if the last person to use them was boarding rather than alighting, unless the guard came along and shifted them they'd obviously be left close to the platform edge

 

[JohnElliott]

IIRC the ruling was nothing closer than 6 feet to the platform edge; Not sure whether that measurement still applies, but something surely does!

At some point it changed from 6ft to 2m. We ran into this on the Bluebell when reinstating the missing platform canopy at Horsted Keynes, because when placed on the original foundations the columns were more than 6ft but less than 2m from the platform edge.