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Aberdeenshire

Alford Valley Railway

A two-foot narrow-gauge railway in the Howe of Alford, running for about two miles from the old Alford station to Haughton Country Park, reopened by the community on summer weekends.

Welcome

Trains first steamed into Alford in 1859, on a branch line from Kintore, and ran for a little over a century until the line closed in 1966.

The station survived, and in the early 1980s a band of local enthusiasts laid a new line from it: a narrow-gauge railway just two feet wide, running for about three kilometres across the Howe of Alford to Haughton Country Park.

The little trains, pulled by bright green engines with red buffers, trundle past the golf course with views across the farmland of the Howe to the hills. In 2017 the railway had to close, its track and carriages worn out, but the people of Alford took it on as a community railway, mended the line and the rolling stock, and brought it back to life.

It runs at weekends through the summer, with volunteers on the footplate, and the old station stands right beside the Grampian Transport Museum, so the two make an easy day out together.

Not farBalmoral Arms18 milesSee itBalmoral Arms
Before you go

Trains run at weekends through the summer season, the first leaving at 11am; the 2026 season ended on 27 September.

Check the railway's own site for the next season's dates.

Where
Alford station, next to the Grampian Transport Museum, to Haughton Country Park.
Gauge
Two feet, about three kilometres of line.

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Where it is

In Alford, in the Howe of Alford on Donside, 25 miles west of Aberdeen.

Close byAlford.
  1. The green front of the Alford Heritage Museum under its painted sign, in the old auction mart.Alford Heritage MuseumRural life through the ages, crammed into Alford's old cattle mart.Under a mile 1 min by road
  2. Visitors among a steam engine and old cars in the Grampian Transport Museum.Grampian Transport MuseumCars, buses and engines by the old station.Under a mile 2 min by road
  3. Craigievar CastleCraigievar CastleA pink tower house of turrets and corbels.5 miles 13 min by road
  4. The dining room at Kildrummy Inn, with iron chandeliers under the beams, tables laid with glasses and candles and gilt-framed Highland paintings on the walls.Kildrummy InnA family-run inn of 1828 on the A97 in upper Donside, with two AA Rosettes, a place in the Michelin Guide, a whisky snug and four bedrooms.7 miles as the crow flies
  5. The cone of the Mither Tap rising above forest and fields.BennachieA ridge of granite hills crowned by the Mither Tap.9 miles 22 min by road
  6. Kildrummy Castle's D-shaped ruin seen from the air above its ravine.Kildrummy Castle10 miles 15 min by road
Directions
A striped fairway at Lumphanan rolling towards trees and farmland.AttractionsLumphanan Golf Club10 miles
Leith Hall, pale harled walls and turrets, above its gravel drive.AttractionsLeith Hall11 miles
A stone farmhouse with a slated roof and green door sits behind a lawn, a timber garden room extending to one side.GlenkindieChapeltonSleeps 6 · 12 miles
A stone farmhouse with dormer windows stands beside a picnic bench within a wooden fence enclosure.GlenkindieTornahatnachSleeps 5 · 12 miles
A stone house with three dormer windows and a yellow front door sits behind a lawn, terracotta pots flanking the entrance.GlenkindieGreenstyleSleeps 6 · 12 miles
A stone cottage with green-framed dormer windows and matching door stands behind a gravel drive, trees and open fields beyond.GlenkindieDalgrassickSleeps 4 · 12 miles
A stone farmhouse with a gabled dormer window sits behind a timber picket fence, trees shading the drive.GlenkindieHome FarmSleeps 6 · 12 miles
The roofless kirk of St Mary at Auchindoir among its gravestones and trees.AttractionsSt Mary's Church, Auchindoir12 miles
A plate of toast, eggs, beans and chips at Café 83 in Kemnay.CafeCafé 8312 miles

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The Daily for 23 October, from Scotland with love. Aerial view of a concrete road bridge with angled supports spanning a sea loch, twin cloud-wrapped mountain peaks rising behind autumn-coloured hills.

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Stay nearby

Places to stay near the railway, and when each is next free.

A stone farmhouse with dormer windows stands beside a picnic bench within a wooden fence enclosure.Tornahatnach
  • Sleeps 5
  • In Glenkindie
  • 8 miles from the Alford Valley Railway
Free 18–21 NovA stone house with three dormer windows and a yellow front door sits behind a lawn, terracotta pots flanking the entrance.Greenstyle
  • Sleeps 6
  • In Glenkindie
  • 8 miles from the Alford Valley Railway
Free 2–5 NovA stone cottage with green-framed dormer windows and matching door stands behind a gravel drive, trees and open fields beyond.Dalgrassick
  • Sleeps 4
  • In Glenkindie
  • 8 miles from the Alford Valley Railway
Free 2–5 NovA stone farmhouse with a gabled dormer window sits behind a timber picket fence, trees shading the drive.Home Farm
  • Sleeps 6
  • In Glenkindie
  • 8 miles from the Alford Valley Railway
Free 28–31 OctPlaces to stayEvery stay in AberdeenshireAll our places to stay nearby, to search by date and by who is coming.See them all
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