THIS is the unique two-bedroom house that will see its new owners living in a former station on a working railway.

Bidders are in with the chance of living in the 164-year-old disused railway building - one of few lived-in station buildings in Scotland.

Owners Helena and Euan Couperwhite, both 49, are reluctantly selling the single-story building in Gartly, Aberdeenshire on the Aberdeen-Inverness line after nearly five years.

The couple, who are moving for work, has put the building up for sale at offers over £209,975.

Built-in 1854 for the Earl of Lennox, the station closed in 1968 and lay derelict until being converted into a home 14 years ago.

It contains the original stained glass window station name and a station lamp.

The property also included an unfenced trackside garden, which the couple had looked after by agreement even though it is part of the railway.

Selling agents Blackadders said: "The former platform is laid out with grass and flower beds.

"Although belonging to ScotRail, this ground is maintained on an informal basis by the sellers with the owner's consent."

The main bedroom was once the ladies waiting room, while the living room was the gentlemen's waiting room.

The kitchen was the stationmaster's office and a waiting area adjacent to the platform is now the dining room.

Mrs Couperwhite said: "It was in quite a poor state with upgrading needed, such as new windows.

"We have kept as many period features as possible, such as the fireplaces and interior doors, to keep it in character.

"We have even had visits from people who used to work at the station, one of whom stoked the fires as a boy."

She said the couple had moved from Largs, North Ayrshire, to take up new jobs with Aberdeen University and the city council.

Mr Couperwhite is now taking up a new post in Glasgow.

Although not avid trainspotters or rail enthusiasts, Mrs Couperwhite said they couple were drawn to the station building's charm.

She said: "We were looking for a property with character and the station has a lovely, cosy and warm feeling about it - calming and serene.

"There's also spectacular scenery with fields and hills, it's a hidden gem.

"We just don't notice the trains - they have just become part of living here.

"Guests also tell us they don't hear them"."

Mrs Couperwhite said despite trains no longer stopping at Gartly, the couple often travelled into Aberdeen from Huntly station, five miles away.

Disused stations on the current network rarely come up for sale as homes.

Loth, near Helmsdale in Sutherland, which closed in 1960, went on the market two years ago.

Rail experts said the few other such lived-in stations included Dalguise, near Dunkeld in Perth and Kinross, and Thornhill in Dumfries and Galloway.

They said some others had become holiday accommodation, including Sanquhar in Dumfriesshire, Strathcarron and Plockton in Wester Ross, and Beasdale near Mallaig.

Several operating stations also contain homes, including Springfield in Fife, Scotscalder in Caithness, Rogart in Sutherland and Newtonmore near Aviemore.