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Daily Record
Daily Record
National
James Moncur

Final days of iconic Dundee West Railway Station showcased in freshly unearthed photos.

An amazing set of images that captured the final days of Dundee West Railway Station has just been unearthed.

The colour photos, taken by Dundee City Council planners in 1966, show the demolition of the city-centre transport hub.

They were recently discovered in the online Dundee Archives.

The two-platform station has a fascinating history with the first buildings being made of wood.

It opened in May 1847 and was run by Dundee and Perth railway and was the eastern terminus of the line.

There were goods facilities on both sides of the station with one line serving the city’s Earl Grey Dock.

There were goods facilities on both sides of the station with one line serving the city’s Earl Grey Dock. (Dundee City Archives)

The railway originally approached the station on a raised embankment on the beach.

The station’s name changed a number of times through the years.

The two-platform station has a fascinating history. (Dundee City Archive)

It became Dundee West in 1848, then Dundee West Street in 1853, before becoming Dundee Union Street in 1856.

In 1866 it reverted back to Dundee West.

The station was rebuilt twice: once in 1864 and again in 1890 for the Caledonian Railway.

It was of red sandstone and built in the Scottish Baronial style.

The station eventually closed to both passengers and goods traffic in May 1965 with the last train departing for Glasgow. (Dundee City Archive)

The building was described as "overly bombastic in nature" amid claims it was built as "a gesture of defiance" by the Caledonian Railway in response to the arrival of an alternate route in Dundee run by rival company the North British Railway via the Tay Rail Bridge.

The final building was described as "overly bombastic in nature". (Dundee City Archive)

Trains ran to Manchester, Liverpool and London while local traffic took passengers to Gleneagles, Crieff and Blairgowrie.

At its height, the station employed scores of people and handled 15,000 tons of minerals - mostly coal for Dundee's factories.

Trains ran to Manchester, Liverpool and London while local traffic took passengers to Gleneagles, Crieff and Blairgowrie. (Dundee City Archive)

The station eventually closed to both passengers and goods traffic in May 1965 with the last train departing for Glasgow.

It was demolished the following year to make way for local road re-alignment and a bypass to the new Tay Road Bridge.

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