Kittybrewster was initially the terminus of the Great North of Scotland Railway line to Huntly, the first terminus station being opened on the site in 1854. This was intended as a temporary measure, as it was hoped that a more suitable site near the centre of Aberdeen could be found. Initially it was planned to extend the railway through the Denburn Valley, however the cost prohibited this and instead the railway was extended along the bed of the Aberdeenshire Canal (which previously ran between Aberdeen & Port Elphinstone near Inverurie & was bought out by the railway) to a new station at Waterloo Quay, resulting in the demolition of the terminus station at Kittybrewster and the construction of a new station on the Waterloo line.

However, the new station at Waterloo was far from adequate as no through connection could be made with the Aberdeen Railway's trains to the south of Scotland. Debate over the costs of providing a Joint Station for both railway companies in the city centre raged on until the 1860s, when it was agreed that a new station would be provided at Guild Street for both railway companies, the Great North of Scotland Railway line being extended from Kittybrewster to the new station.
This of course resulted in the rebuilding of Kittybrewster - again - on the new Denburn Valley Railway and to this day Kittybrewster remains the only station in Aberdeen to have been built in a total of three separate configurations over thirteen years.

As well as being an important station on the Great North of Scotland Railway Kittybrewster was also the site of the GNSR's principle Motive Power Depot and locomotive works, which were built on a cramped adjoining site. The locomotive works were moved to Inverurie in the early 1900s, but the motive power depot remainded until 1967, when it became redundant due to the closure of most of the GNSR branches.

Kittybrewster passenger station closed around 1967 and only the platforms can be found today. To my knowledge the site of the locomotive depot and works have been completely built over, as have the adjoining goods yards. The Waterloo branch survives and sees occassional use, accessed by a ground frame at the northernmost end of the site. A passing loop remains on the Waterloo Branch side although one side of this looks very much out of use, the Denburn Valley Railway (and the line north to Dyce) was reduced from double to single track in the early 1970s.