Hatton, Hatton Incline

This was one of Britain’s most unusual railways conceived before steam locomotion was established. The 10 and a 1/2 -mile railway was planned in 1825, obtained its Act in 1826, and opened in 1831 from the top of Dundee Law, and throughout in 1832, with an extension to Dundee Harbour in 1837. It linked Dundee with Newtyle in the fertile valley of Strathmore by an almost direct route over the Sidlaw Hills reaching a maximum height of over 500 ft above sea level.

The railway was an ingenious, popular but uneconomic venture. It required three inclines worked by stationary steam engines with level sections of track between, worked at first by horses and from 1833 by steam locomotives. By means of a 40 hp engine at the Dundee Law incline, the railway was lifted 233 ft at a gradient of 1 in 10, one of the steepest on a public railway, then, after about 412 miles, the Balbeuchly incline provided a further lift of more than 200 ft at 1 in 25. Finally, after another level 412 miles or so, the railway descended to Newtyle via the Hatton incline of just over 1000 yards at 1 in 13.

Between 1860 and 1868 long loops replaced the inclined planes and allowed locomotive working throughout. The line was closed to passenger traffic in 1955.

The railway was planned and substantially executed by Charles Landale from 1825 to 1829, when he was replaced after the project encountered engineering and financial difficulties. The work was completed by George Lish. Matthias Dunn and Nicholas Wood also reported. Vestiges of the track, earthworks and inclines can still be traced in many places to give an impression of the project, although the 330 yards tunnel which gave so much trouble to construct in soft volcanic rock is now sealed at both ends.The view shows Newtyle Station as it existed from ca.1835–50 with the Hatton incline and its engine behind. The three-opening train-shed does not seem to have existed when the line opened in 1831, being built within the next few years as passenger usage developed. The earliest surviving buildings in the view include the stepped base and post of the former swivel-crane to the left of the train-shed and the artisans dwellings built in consequence of the arrival of the railway.

The present large rubble masonry train-shed with elliptical arched openings on the site of the original train shedprobably dates from the 1860s. The Caledonian Railway took over the line in 1865. The station closed in 1951.

R Paxton and J Shipway 2007b

Reproduced from 'Civil Engineering heritage: Scotland - Highlands and Islands' with kind permission of Thomas Telford Publishers.