a safe and cheap option for accommodation whilst rostered to work locally. The British Railways Staff Association For Scotland then took it on to provide holiday accommodation for railway staff and their families. It was saved by the Strathspey Railway Company during the 1970s and gradually the facilities have been upgraded by volunteers. Spey Lodge now fulfils its original role again, providing hostel accommodation for engine crews and other volunteers working on the railway. After Spey Lodge, the railway passes the site of the new Aviemore Hospital then crosses Dalfaber level crossing, an Automatic Open Crossing, Locally Monitored (AOCL). This level crossing was not originally part of the railway, but was installed after the development of the Dalfaber Estate in the 1980s, and is to be upgraded to a half-barrier crossing in late 2022. After crossing the road and passing the Cairngorm Brewery the line climbs through Granish Moor. This heather moor affords views of Cairngorm Mountain and the line runs parallel to the Speyside Way, a popular walking and cycling route. Once into the forest at the north end of the moor, the line descends past Boat of Garten golf course and into the village of Boat of Garten itself. Boat of Garten The extensive Boat of Garten station features its original buildings, dating from 1904 by the architect William Roberts and is a category B listed building.. The modest station building houses a booking hall and ticket office/shop plus toilets and the waiting room which still has its open fire. A recent addition is a coffee shop in the old gas house on platform 1. It was originally a parallel junction between the Highland Railway's main line from Perth to Forres and the Great North of Scotland Railway (GNSR) branch to Craigellachie - this was the original Strathspey Railway, the company being a subsidiary of the GNSR. Today there are two passenger platforms and the yard stores the majority of the SR's out of use rolling stock. Boat of Garten also has the railway's only water column where the locomotives stop to take water on their way north through the station. There are two signal boxes, Boat of Garten North and Boat of Garten South and signalling uses traditional British Railways mechanical semaphore signalling; it is the crossing point on the line when there are two trains running. Both single track sections are currently worked by staff and