Banff, Portsoy and Strathisla Railway

Opening and first operation

The line was opened throughout on 30 July 1859, but there was a derailment on opening day, limiting train operation to a single journey. A full service was begun on 2 August. Stations on the line were at Grange, on the GNoSR and managed jointly, Knock, Cornhill, Tillynaught and Ladysbridge, with the terminus at Banff Harbour and at Portsoy.

There were also request stopping places at Millegan, Barry and Ordens. At Grange the branch trains did not run through to and from the GNoSR main line: onward passengers had to change trains. The junction there faced towards Keith. At first, there were three trains daily between Grange and Banff, with connecting trains between Tillynaught and Portsoy. At the time Portsoy was a flourishing and important port town. In addition there were two daily trips between Banff and Portsoy, reversing at Tillynaught.

There is reason to believe that the management of the line was poor: Grant is blunt:

"The line was grossly mismanaged from the start, poor track laying resulting in the first train derailing, with its carriages, down a bank."

The desperate financial situation could hardly be allowed to continue, and in 1863 the GNoSR agreed to work the line. From 1 February 1863 it would do so for 60% of receipts, reducing to 50% if receipts reached £7 per mile per week. The arrangement was ratified by the Banffshire Railway Act 1863 (26 & 27 Vict. c. clxx) of 21 July 1863; the opportunity was taken to rename the company to the Banffshire Railway Company. The directors continued in optimism, as the act of Parliament also authorised the company to build from Portsoy westward along the coast to Portgordon, about 14 miles (23 km). Additional capital of £100,000 was permitted, and the GNoSR could subscribe £80,000.

Before that could be contemplated, the operational financial crisis continued, as the profit margin on operations was still not enough to service interest charges on bank loans.

In January 1864, the deputy chairman of the Banffshire Railway wrote to the GNoSR board to state that "through dint of great perseverance" the Banffshire directors had raised guarantees of £20,000 towards construction of the coastal line west from Portsoy, though to go only as far as Buckie. Urging the GNoSR to make a start on the promised construction, the Banffshire bemoaned the fact that traffic was going from the coast on a carrier's carts to the Inverness and Aberdeen Junction Railway station at Fochabers. The GNoSR had its own financial problems, and was mightily sceptical about the Buckie extension (as it had become) and delayed taking action.

The extension to Buckie was not started, but in 1865 the Banffshire Directors cheerfully reported that "the line continues to be satisfactorily worked by the Great North of Scotland Railway".