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Summary

Description

Attributed to James Miller, circa 1894 with later additions (see Notes). Single storey, 12-bay, long rectangular-plan, Swiss Chalet style station with piended bell-cast roof extending to form canopy with glazed end screens. Painted base course; red brick plinth. Moulded timber and door margins. S (PLATFORM) ELEVATION: irregular fenestration with arrangement of 4-light canted windows, bipartite windows and timber-panelled doors. Scalloped timber shingles to walls between openings. Round-arched former ticket window. Further round-arched window to E gable elevation. N (ROAD) ELEVATION: Late 20th century, rendered, gabled outshot additions flanking timber and glazed porch addition to centre.

Predominantly timber framed windows with 2-light glazing panel to upper section. Grey slate. Rendered sridge tacks with red clay cans. Cast-iron rainwater goods. Fixed, cast-iron weighing scales to platform elevation.

INTERIOR: sympathetically converted for use as a restaurant (1993) retaining fireplaces and dado-height panelling.

SIGNAL BOX: (Map Ref: NN 22172 81430): London and North Eastern Railway (Type 15), 1949 (to a 1945 design - see Notes). Square-plan, red brick signal box with chamfered corner angles located to E of station. Metal frame windows with glazing bars to lower and upper sections and projecting cill. Dog-leg stair with tubular metal railing rising to recessed timber panel door to W elevation. Flat leaded roof with overhanging canopy. 2 horizontal openings to rear elevation.

Statement of Special Interest

Spean Bridge Railway Station is one of a series of single storey, 12-bay, Swiss-Chalet influenced stations, for the West Highland Railway. Featuring a piended bell-cast roof extending to form a canopy over each elevation, they a re built in a distinctive and picturesque 'Swiss Chalet' style with timber shingle clad walls and glazed end screens to provide shelter from the wind. The Swiss architectural influence was deliberately chosen to complement the mountainous scenery on the route. The platform elevation of the Spean Bridge Station building largely retains its original form and character. The original cedar roof shingles were replaced by grey slate when the building was converted for use as a restaurant in 1993.

Signal boxes are a distinctive and now rare building type that make a significant contribution to Scotland's diverse industrial heritage. Of more than 2000 signal boxes built across Scotland by 1948, around 150 currently survive (2013) with all mechanical boxes still in operation on the public network due to become obsolete by 2021. The signal box at Spean Bridge is the London and North Eastern Railway's initial post-war design for signal box standardisation (Type 15) and the only example of its type in Scotland. Built in 1949, its chamfered corner angles lend a streamlined appearance, referencing a pre-war Art-Deco influence. Following nationalisation of the railway in 1948, the newly formulated British Rail (Scottish Region) opted to use the successful 1944 LNER design at Spean Bridge. It occupies the site of a 19th century signal box which was destroyed by fire. The internal signalling equipment, including a 30 lever frame by Stevens and Son of Glasgow, has been removed.

Spean Bridge Station lies on the Invergarry and Fort Augustus line. The prevelant 'island platform' type (Garelochhead, Bridge of Orchy and Rannoch - see separate listings) was introduced by Charles De Neuville Forman, the engineer of the West Highland Railway. Spean Bridge and Tulloch are 'side platform' stations. The design of the Highland Line stations is attributed to the influential Glaswegian architect James Miller, although Robert Wemyss may have contributed while working with John James Burnet. James Miller had formerly worked as an assistant in the architectural office of the Caledonian Railway, thereby gaining considerable experience in designing railway stations. The West Highland Railway, which runs between Craigendoran and Fort William, was opened in 1894.

List description updated as part of Scottish Signal Box Review, 2012-13.

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