ballast [train] returning. Three of the enginemen were killed. Of course, staff and ticket working was absolutely foolproof. The tickets were in a locked box, openable only by the key on the end of the staff. But then, nobody ever used the key on the end of the staff; the point of the standard office poker fitted the lock exactly. Smith amplifies the detail in his The Little Railways of South-West Scotland: The goods train was the 11:30 a.m. from Dumfries to Stranraer; Driver John Robb received a ticket at Lochanhead; asked if he had seen the staff "he could not remember clearly". At Kirkgunzeon he received a ticket again, and was not shown the staff. At Dalbeattie he went through the station slowly and William Douglas, a 16-year-old goods clerk, handed Robb a ticket; Robb said that he asked him, "Is that all right?" and Douglas replied, "Yes, go on." Douglas later said that he knew nothing of the ballast train, but when the goods train arrived, he found the book of tickets lying open on the desk; he wrote out the ticket and gave it to Robb. The ballast train was returning to Dalbeattie, running down a gradient of 1 in 100 with little forward visibility. The collision was inevitable; both engine drivers died. Topography The line left Dumfries station curving immediately westwards and south-westwards, through difficult terrain. As built the line was single, but it was doubled throughout Stations were at Maxwelltown (closed 1 March 1939) Lochanhead (closed 25 September 1939) Killywhan (closed 3 August 1959) Kirkgunzeon (closed 2 January 1950) Southwick (closed 25 September 1939; reopened 3 February 1941; closed 3 May 1965) Dalbeattie (closed 14 June 1965) Buittle (closed 1 October 1894) Castle Douglas (closed 14 June 1965). The line west of Maxwelltown Oil Terminal closed on 14 June 1965, and the Maxwelltown stub closed in 1994, having been dormant for several years. Connections to other lines Glasgow, Dumfries and Carlisle Railway at Dumfries. The Dumfries, Lochmaben & Lockerbie Railway at Dumfries. Kirkcudbright Railway at Castle Douglas. Portpatrick Railway at Castle Douglas. Notes References Sources Early Scottish railway companies Glasgow and South Western Railway Pre-grouping British railway companies Railway lines in Scotland Railway companies established in 1859 Railway lines opened in 1859 Railway companies disestablished in 1965 Standard gauge railways in Scotland Borders of Scotland Transport in Dumfries and Galloway 1859 establishments in Scotland 1965