Murthly Station Signal Box, Murthly

1898 for the Highland Railway (relocated from Inverness to Murthly, 1919). 2-storey, rectangular-plan, timber signal box on brick plinth with plank and strip weatherboard cladding and projecting bracketed porch to S. Ornamental barge boards, spear finials and droppers, and eaves edging. Slate roof. Cast-iron ogee-shaped guttering. Projecting porch similarly detailed. Integral store to N of similar construction with single-pitch roof. 4 windows to trackside with 9-pane glazing to sliding timber frames, curving at frame head; returning to 2 further windows at each gable end (boarded, 2013). INTERIOR: 16 lever Mackenzie and Holland frame.

Signal boxes are a distinctive and increasingly 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 pre-1948 mechanical boxes still in operation on the public network due to become obsolete by 2021. The signal box at Murthly (relocated from Inverness in 1919) is a particularly distinctive variation of the standard McKenzie and Holland Type 3 signal box, modified by the Highland Railway to their own designs. The various refinements to the Type 3 include the addition of ornamental barge boarding, ogee guttering and curved window frames, distinguishing it from the more standard Highland boxes. Four boxes to this specification were built for the line running through Inverness in 1898 with the other three (at Rose Street, Welsh's Bridge and Ness Viaduct) now gone. The porch was formerly accessed by a straight timber forestair to the gable end which has been removed to deter unauthorised access and the windows are boarded (2013). (Historic Scotland)

July 1992: Historic Scotland brings the building to the attention of the Buildings at Risk Service. It is showing signs of disrepair.

September 2009: External inspection finds the roof in poor condition. There is damage along the ridge which will allow water ingress. The paint is in poor condition. The exposed wood is deteriorating. The rainwater goods are rusty and in need of maintenance. The exterior stair is understood to have been removed to prevent access.

November 2011: External inspection finds the building shows signs of deterioration since our previous site visit. Paint continues to flake off and the timber to rot. The roof ridge has been damaged.

28 January 2013: A member of the public advises that they, as part of a railway group, investigated the possibility of restoring the structure at an alternative location, around 2001. A local group was also interested in preserving the structure in-situ. The extension to the North is advised as being of later construction that the main building, probably from LMS times and serving as a battery/ relay room during the BR era. All internal equipment is noted as having been removed at some point before 2001.

19 March 2014: External inspection finds the building remains in much the same condition as seen previously. Heras fencing has been erected to the NE.

7 July 2021: Lucid Architecture contacts BARR to advise that there is currently a proposal to restore the signal box as a tourist letting unit with additional public access and community involvement. The project involves co-operation between Murthly Signal Box Limited, Lucid Architecture, Network Rail and Murthly History Group. Work is currently at the planning stage.