Fire at Cruden Bay station
Following on from our recent old photograph of Cruden Bay station, Mr Alan Middleton, Roselea, Bridge Street, Cruden Bay, handed in this photograph of the fire at the station, taken around 1930.
The fire was believed to have been started by a painter’s blow lamp and the photo shows the extensive damage, with smoke pouring from the blackened building.
Around 1930, a sudden catastrophe forever altered the destiny of the elegant Cruden Bay Railway Station. A rare newspaper clipping reveals that the devastating blaze was believed to have been started accidentally by a painter’s blow lamp. Contemporary photographs captured the dramatic scene as thick, black smoke poured from the blackened, ornate wooden station buildings.
The fire caused extensive, irreversible damage. Rather than restoring the station to its former late-Victorian glory, the railway operators decided to downgrade the facilities. The original buildings on the up platform were completely wiped out, the pedestrian footbridge was lost, the down-platform canopy was gone, and the signalling was heavily rationalised. A retired passenger coach was simply placed on the platform to serve as a makeshift store.
This tragic event served as the ultimate catalyst for the station’s rapid demise. With the line already struggling under economic pressures, passenger rail services—along with the connecting electric hotel tramway—were permanently terminated on 1 November 1932. Today, this archive clipping stands as a stark visual record of the fiery end to Cruden Bay’s tourism golden age.