Derived from the remains of microscopic fossilized sea or freshwater algaes, diatomite is a naturally occurring, versatile mineral used in an array of applications from cosmetics to filtration. [4] It was harvested by drag line from Loch Cuithir in the late 19th century and the first half of the 20th century.
“This unique form of silica has an elaborate honeycomb structure, peppered with thousands of tiny holes ranging from a few microns to submicron diameters. No other silica source, be it mined or artificially produced, presents such a structure. Some diatomite deposits are saltwater but most are from freshwater sources. … When ground, this profusion of shapes results in an extremely low-density powder known as ‘diatomaceous earth’ (DE) which has excellent absorption properties that are highly prized for filtration, agriculture, paints, plastics, cosmetics, and pharmaceuticals application.” [4]
Diatomite was also used in the production of dynamite. [2][3]
Possibly as early as 1885 [1] but certainly by 1889, [2][3] work was underway at this site. A 2ft [2][3] or 2ft 6in [1] gauge tramway was being constructed in 1889 from the drag-line at Loch Cuithir to Lealt. The tramway followed the River Lealt down to its mouth at Invertote. When first opened the line was worked by gravity and manpower. Apparently, later in the life of the line a small steam locomotive was in use. [2][3]
At the “Western end of the line … at Loch Cuithir, … diatomite – known locally as Cailc (Scottish Gaelic for chalk) – was taken out from the loch bed and dried on wire nets. The seaward terminus had warehouses on the cliff-top at Invertote. At the base of the cliff was a factory where the diatomite was kiln dried, ground and calcined. [A] line … extended from the factory onto a pier into the Sound of Raasay.” [2][3]
Diatomite was also gotten from Loch Valerain and transported by aerial ropeway to Staffin Bay and on along the coast to Invertote Apparently, “during its existence, the Skye Diatomite Company extracted 2000 tons of diatomite. … From Invertote, the diatomite was transferred by skiff, onto puffer boats, waiting in the bay, and shipped across to the mainland. The diatomite was turned into kieselguhr which was mixed with nitroglycerine by Nobel Industries, at Ardeer, to make dynamite.” [2][3]
Stornoway Gazette described the operation as follows:
“Over the years, the mine saw periods of inactivity, but when up and running operations made use of the large industrial works at the area – a large factory building, a railway with embankment cuttings, and a rolling stock traversing three miles of landscape, including an aerial ropeway. The light railway was used to transport the Loch Culthir Diatomite to the shores at Invertote for a final drying and grinding, and a large building containing a furnace, grinding machine and storage space was constructed there for this purpose. Such modernised business works were quite remarkable for this part of the world at the time. In those days there was no road between Staffin and Portree, so a puffer boat would anchor in the bay at Lealt, and local skiffs were used to transport the finished Diatomite from shore to boat, ready for shipping to the mainland. There were around 40 to 50 people steadily employed at Lealt, yet on days that the boat came in this total rose to as many as 80 workers.” [7]
“Perhaps one of the most intriguing aspects of the mine’s history comes from the ownership of the drying factory at Invertote by Germans. Although closed during the period of the Great War, surprisingly the now enemy foreign residents were allowed to stay on. Shortly afterwards a rumour began to circulate that the area was haunted and that the ghost of a recent tragic death at the Lealt falls had appeared at the factory. As the local story goes, (the rumour was actually started by the Germans) with the intent of keeping locals away. It turned out that the resident Germans were spies and that, almost unbelievable to the community, the area was being used as a German base with submarines surfacing in the sea bay!” [7]
“Moving on, the year 1950 saw the next development in the mining of Diatomite from Loch Cuithir. As the loch was one and a half miles up the moor, through peat bogs and rivers, the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries for Scotland (DAFS) decided that a road should be built, with the intention of extracting the Diatomite by digger, and then taking it to the Lealt road end above Invertote. The road took around a year and a half to build, during which the mine was put out of operation. Yet, when production started again, the new method of extraction did not reach the high standard of quality which was achieved when extracted manually by spades. The mechanical extraction resulted in the Diatomite being less pure, and full of unwanted dirt. Drying the substance is, in fact, the problem of the process, for it is obvious that in a damp climate like Skye, the diatomite does not lose its moisture quickly. The problems which began after the construction of the 1950s road were further highlighted and compounded six years later. A new factory was built at Uig (the site where the Cal Mac offices are now situated), far from the mining site at Loch Cuithir, and it may be said that this move was the ruining of the entire Diatomite industry upon Skye. As Diatomite was no longer dried at Invertote it now had to be transported by road, wet, for the much-needed drying process to Uig, 23 miles away. A vehicle may have left Loch Cuithir carrying five tonnes of Diatomite, yet only producing one tonne of the finished product after drying had taken place – a finished product which was also not as pure as it ought to be for the specialised work it had to do in various products. A lot of money was wasted on travelling, and within the factory itself, inefficiency was also present, with machinery often breaking down due to the damp state of the Diatomite. Outside the factory, the scenic communities of Trotternish also began to suffer. When the factory was working, it poured out a fine white dust which covered every house in the area. Grass became chalky in colour and after dry spells in the weather, the road-sides from Staffin to Uig would turn white with Diatomite – Uig was constantly under a cloud of dust. With complaints of insubstantial profits and bad management, the factory was finally closed to production for the last time in 1960. Yet, although the Diatomite mining industry on Skye came to an abrupt ending, it was still regarded by many locals as a blessing at the time. Following from World War One, the industrial works provided employment for many returning men who could not find work elsewhere in the island. And at peak production, around 1955/56, 50 to 60 men were paid good wages to work at the factory.” [7]
Bell & Harris tell us that “Loch Cuithir is located upon landslipped material, which overlies Upper Jurassic strata. Only parts of these diatomite workings remain. Some of the brick buildings, together with the line of the tramway used to transport the diatomite to the coast, are still obvious. The diatomite occurred as a 3–6m-thick horizon below a 1m covering of peat. The loch had an original area of 60 hectares (24 acres) and was drained in order to extract the diatomite. Ditches, around the perimeter of the loch, were excavated and the water was drained through a man-made outlet at the northern end of the loch, thus allowing removal of the peat and extraction of the diatomite. East of the drainage outlet are spoil-heaps, mostly of plateau lava boulders, presumably removed from the workings during excavation. The diatomite from this deposit was very pure, with little or no interlayered silt or mud. Macadam (1920) notes that the calcined (heat treated) diatomite contains over 96% [Silicon Dioxide](reported in Anderson and Dunham 1966), whilst Strahan et al. (1917) gave a value of 98.78%. According to Macadam (1920), the absorptive value of the material from Loch Cuithir was over 3.56 (a good diatomite would have an absorptive value in excess of 4.0).“
Some excellent photographs of the derelict factory at Invertote can be seen here. [8]
The Route of the Tramway/Railway
From Loch Cuithir, the railway ran in a Southeasterly direction over boggy ground. Minimal earthworks were undertaken placing the railway at a level just above surrounding ground.
The Canmore National Record of the Historic Environment profiles these notes:
“One of the greatest causes of interest in Skye Diatomite was its potential use as a substitute for Kieselghur by Alfred Nobel in the production of Dynamite in Nobel’s new Scottish factory at Ardeer in Ayrshire during the 1880s. Nobel eventually found a better source of material, but the Extraction of Diatomite nevertheless began in Skye at Loch Cuithir in 1886. The Diatomite was transported by tramway to be processed at Invertote, production continuing until 1913. The industry was briefly revived between 1950 and 1961, using road transport.” [13]
“The principal remains of the Invertote works are a large, rubble-built, rectangular-plan roofless building (NG5201 6049). It has been entirely gutted, but fragmentary remains include a large cast-iron flywheel from a steam engine, and a cast-iron wall-mounted bearing box. The other surviving structure is a kiln (NG5201 6052), comprising a lower chanber or firebox built from Scottish firebricks (produced at the Star Works, Glenboig, Lanarkshire, and Etna Works, Armadale, West Lothian), onto which has been constructed a circular-section fireclay-brick column encased by an outer layer of sheet steel. The exact functions of the processing building and the kiln are uncertain, but it is likely that the latter was used for drying purposes.” [13]
H.A.Vallance notes that in the years prior to the coming of the railways to the North of Scotland there was a series of different initiatives intended to improve transport links. The first were the roads built by General Wade (250 miles of military roads) which “were quite unsuited to the requirements of trade operating under peace-time conditions.” [17: p11] The biggest contribution to raid development was made by Thomas Telford. He “was appointed to survey for new roads and for the improvement of existing highways. In the course of … 17 years he constructed about 920 miles of road, and built some 1,200 bridges.” [17: p11] But it was the coming of the railways to the Highlands, that most effectively addressed the regions transport problems.
Earlier articles about the Highland Railway network can be found here, [3] and here. [4] These two articles cover the Strathpeffer Branch and the Fortrose Branch repectively.
Trains Illustrated No. 18 which was published in 1976 focussed on The Highland Railway. [1] The introductory article, ‘Highland Retrospect’, was written by Paul Drew. [1: p4-11]
Paul Drew commences his article with a short reflection on the excitement of waking on one of the sleeper services heading North into the Scottish highlands. Two routes provide an intensely enjoyable experience in the right weather: “The awakening on the West Highland line at Garelochhead, perhaps, or on Rannoch Moor … winding in a generally northward direction towards Fort William, Mallaig and Skye and the Hebrides; and daybreak on the Highland line proper, the Perth-Inverness main line of the old Highland Railway, somewhere between Blair Atholl and the outskirts of Inverness, following the old coach road up to Druimuachdar summit, at an altitude of 1484ft, or dropping down the hills between Spey and Findhorn and Findhorn and Moray Firth.” [1: p4]
Drew expresses his opinion that the Highland Railway (HR) route offers the greatest diversity of scenery but whether “you travel from Euston to the Highland or from Kings Cross to the West Highland line the contrast between the [suburbs of London] … and the glories seen on waking – even, for devotees, in a Scotch mist – is one of the attractions of the journey. Before World War II one could start an overnight journey to a Highland line station from Kings Cross as well as Euston, and up to 1914 from St Pancras also with, on a summer evening, a daylight exit from London.” [1: p4]
He seems to like the route taken by trains from St. Pancras best. Their route “was via Leeds, the magnificent MR route across the Pennines, Carlisle, the North British Railway’s Waverley route through the best parts of the Lowlands to Edinburgh, and so by the East Coast route over the Forth Bridge to Perth, the beginning of the HR main line – all far better traversed in daylight.” [1: p4]
He notes too that it was common practice not to disturb a passenger’s sleep which meant that sleeper services on the HR were normally made up of “HR vehicles and through coaches and sleeping cars from England (LNWR, West Coast Joint Stock, GNR, North Eastern, East Coast Joint Stock, Midland, and probably Midland & North British joint stock) and from Scotland (Caledonian and North British) but also of privately hired ‘family’ saloons, horseboxes, flat wagons conveying carriages and, from the turn of the century, motorcar vans, all supplied by a wide variety of English and Scottish railways.” [1: p4]
Occasionally, these trains would also include the “private saloon of the Duke of Sutherland, who owned not only one or two passenger vehicles but a 2-4-0 tank engine, Dunrobin, and its successor, an 0-4-4 tank of the same name, which he ran – often driving himself – on his private railway. It was in Sutherland, and ran from Golspie via his seat, Dunrobin Castle, to Helmsdale. The line was eventually taken over by the Highland and forms part of the Farther North line from Inverness to Wick and Thurso. Both Dunrobins were allowed to work (within limits) over HR tracks, even south of Inverness, but not, it seems on public passenger trains – at least not expresses.” [1: p4]
Drew notes that, “The marshalling of the heterogeneous caravans at Perth, where vehicles were made over by the CR and NBR, was a frequent cause of unpunctuality and indeed chaos. Besides, most of the trains tended to run late during the summer, especially on the HR main line, which even after the central portion south of Druimuachdar has been double-tracked in the 1890s, tended to be congested; a high-season shortage of HR motive power aggravated matters, and reliance on telegraphy for many years before introduction of the telephone did not make for flexibility in train operation. Disgruntled Sassenach passengers in Perth, Edinburgh Waverley and other big Scottish stations would mutter that they ordered this matter better in England.” 1: p4]
It would be easy to take the perspective of a southerner when considering the HR, seeing it “mainly as a means of moving tourists and sportsmen from England, and such consumer goods and other freight as the impoverished Highlands could afford to import.” [1: p4] But it would be quite wrong to do so. “The Highland Railway was conceived by Highlanders, in the Highlands, as an outlet for the fish and agricultural produce of the Highlands from northern Perthshire to John o’ Groats and from Inverness eastwards to the Aberdeenshire border and westwards to Wester Ross, a region that in the 1840s was still only slowly recovering from the oppression and impoverishment that had followed the Forty-Five insurrection a century before. The HR was the creation not of middle-class businessmen but of country landowners who ranged from the rich Duke of Sutherland to poor lairds who could afford little more than to encourage, rather than to oppose (like many landowners in the south) building the railway over their land, often asking for a station to serve their tenants.” [1: p4]
With a route mileage of more than five hundred miles, H. A. Vallance tells us, “the Highland occupied third place among the five fully-independent pre-1923 main line railways of Scotland. Its popularity with those who love railways arise from the scenic charm of its terrain, and also from the way in which the small company succeeded in working its traffic in the face of natural difficulties, and with limited financial resources, over routes that were largely single track.” [17: dust-jacket]
Prior to the 1850s, “there was already a trickle of summer tourists from the Lowlands and England, who used a surprisingly well-developed system of stagecoaches or drove in their own carriages; but it was not until the 1850s, after Queen Victoria and the Prince Consort had ‘invented’ Highland tourism by establishing Balmoral, that the trickle began to grow into a flood. Deerstalking, grouse-shooting and fishing, at least by rich people from south of Perth, developed slowly. For 20 years after the HR Inverness-Perth line, by the original route via Forres, was opened in 1863 the management adopted a take-it-or-leave-it attitude to passengers, though by the 1880s receipts from through passenger traffic from England, including much first class in the summer, were considerable. And for long afterwards the HR left the provision of really comfortable passenger vehicles to the English railways and the Caledonian.” [1: p4-5]
Drew continues: “To promoters seeking a route for a railway from Inverness to the south there were three options. The first was a relatively easy alignment along the flat coast via Forres to Elgin, thence through undulating but not mountainous country to near Inverurie and on through Lowland Buchan to Aberdeen. Second was the route of the old coach road via Kingussie, Druimuachdar and Blair Atholl to Perth, and the third was through [the] Great Glen to the area of Fort William, beyond which progress to Glasgow was through a region of mountains and lochs which had long been thought impassable for a railway – or at least to involve too many major civil engineering works – until it was traversed by the West Highland line towards the end of the century, some years after the threat of a Glasgow & North Western Railway over an even more difficult route than the West Highland.” [1: p5]
The disadvantages of the route via Aberdeen were it’s circuitous route and, at the time particularly, there being no bridges crossing the River Tay and the Firth of Forth and the failure of any such route to serve inland Invernessshire. Also significantly perhaps, was an innate suspicion (perhaps too strong a word) amongst highlander promoters of a railway that there was any need to serve the lowland city of Aberdeen.
“Nevertheless,” says Drew, “the first train to reach Inverness from the South, in 1858, was from Aberdeen, over the Great North of Scotland [Railway (GNSR)] as far as Keith and then over the Inverness & Aberdeen Junction line, which later became part of the HR.” [1: p5]
The Aberdeen to Inverness Railway Line, (GNSR – Aberdeen to Keith)
The GNSR was “floated to build a railway from Aberdeen to Inverness. … It obtained its Act on 26th June 1846. It is estimated that [this] cost £80,000 and the company was at once in financial straits, … accentuated by the crash which followed the ‘Railway Mania’s, then at its height. … [Eventually, work] started on 25th November 1852. … The railway was opened from Kittybrewster (1½ miles from Aberdeen) to Huntly, a distance of 39 miles, on 19th September 1854. Four years previously, the railway had been completed from Perth to Aberdeen. A through journey was then made possible between England and the south of Scotland, and Huntly. From this latter point coaches, running in connection with the trains, continued the journey to Inverness.” [17: p12-15]
The line was extended into Aberdeen to Waterloo Quay in 1855, and in October 1856 it reached Keith around halfway between Aberdeen and Inverness. The GNSR had overstretched itself and could not fund the remaining 55 miles of line to Inverness.
The original Great North of Scotland Railway terminus in Aberdeen opened on 1st April 1856, and closed to passenger service on 4th November 1867 with the opening of Aberdeen Joint Railway Station. This extract from the 25″ Ordnance Survey undertaken between 1864 and 1867, published in 1869 shows the station as it was in its prime. [15][18]The next significant location on the line was the station at Kittybrewster which is shown here as an extract from the 25″ Ordnance Survey undertaken between 1864 and 1867, published in 1868. [19]Dyce Railway Station was opened (along with the line) in 1854 by the Great North of Scotland Railway (GNSR). It later became a junction for the Formartine and Buchan Railway (F&BR) which diverged here and headed north to Peterhead and Fraserburgh; this opened to traffic in 1861 and had its own platforms alongside the main line ones. Passenger services over the F&BR ended as a result of the Beeching Axe on 4th October 1965 but the station remained open until 6th May 1968. [15] Freight continued to Peterhead until 1970 and to Fraserburgh until October 1979. There is still evidence on the ground of the old branch platforms which sat on the site of the station car park. The former branch lines are now a long distance cycle path, accessible from the western end of the car park. The station was reopened by British Rail on 15th September 1984. This extract from the 25″ Ordnance Survey of 1865, published in 1866 shows the station soon after it became a junction station. [16][20]
The GNSR left Dyce and followed the southern edge of the River Don’s floodplain, passing through Kintore before bridging both the Aberdeen Canal and the River Don just to the North of Port Elphinstone Railway Station.
Kintore Railway Station acted as a junction station for the Alford Valley Railway which branched off the GNSR line just to the Northwest of Kintore Railway Station. The Alford Valley Railway opened in 1859. It had stations at Kemnay, Monymusk, Tillyfourie, Whitehouse and Alford. The line also served Kemnay Quarry and three other granite quarries in the area. The train took just over an hour for the 16-mile (26 km) journey. [27][28]This next extract from the 25″ Ordnance Survey of 1864 to 1866, published in 1867, shows Port Elphinstone Railway Station and the bridges over the Aberdeen Canal and the River Don. As can be seen on this extract a short branch line served the canal wharves at Port Elphinstone. [21]Inverurie Railway Station was the next significant location on the GNSR and appears on this extract from the 25″Ordnance Survey of 1864 to 1866, published in 1867. [22]Further to the Northwest, the line bridged the River Urie (Ury). This extract is from the Ordnance Survey of 1866 & 1867, published in 1867. [23]
To the West of Keith, the Highland Railway held sway. The Inverness &Aberdeen Junction Railway was one of the constituent parties that formed the Highland Railway in 1865, as noted below.
The line crossed the River Urie (Ury) once again further to the Northwest. This extract comes from the 25″ Ordnance Survey of 1867, published in 1868. [24]
Beyond this viaduct the line ran along the South side of the River Ury and then to the South side of the Gadie Burn. It crossed the Burn just to the West of the village of Oyne and its railway station.
The village of Oyne, its railway station, and both road and railway bridges over the Gadie Burn. This extract is taken from the 25″ Ordnance Survey of 1867, published in 1868. [25]Insch Railway Station at Rothney, as it appeared on the 1867 25″ Ordnance Survey. [26]The next station on the line was Wardhouse Station. [29]And then Kennethmont Railway Station. [30]And Gartly Railway Station. [31]North of Gartly the railway bridged the River Bogie twice in short succession before arriving at Huntly. [32]Huntly Railway Station sat on the East bank of the River Bogie with Huntly to the West of the river. Huntly was the temporary terminus of the GNSR from 19th September 1854 until an extension was opened taking the line as far as Keith in October 1856. [17: p15-16] This extract is from the 25″ Ordnance Survey of 1871, published in 1872. [33]
North of Huntly, on the extension to Keith the line. Missed the River Deveron and ran through Rothiemay Railway Station.
This extract from the 25″Ordnance Survey of 1870 and 1871, published in 1872 shows the viaduct over the River Deveron and Rothiemay Railway Station. [34]Further West the line passed through Grange Station which three years after opening in 1856 became the junction station for the Banff, Portsoy and Strathisla Railway which opened a branch to Banff and Portsoy. [35][36]This next extract from the 25″ Ordnance Survey of 1867 & 1868, published in 1869, shows Keith Railway Station which was the terminus of the GNSR line from October 1856 until the Inverness & Aberdeen Junction Railway reached Keith from Nairn in 1858. . [37][38]
The Keith and Dufftown Railway ran Southwest from Keith to Dufftown. It can be seen curving away from the station at the left of the OS map extract above. At Dufftown, the line made an end-on connection with the Speyside Railway at Dufftown, and the Morayshire Railway connected to the Speyside Railway at Craigellachie, this ultimately gave the GNSR access to Elgin. [39]
The Aberdeen to InvernessRailway Line(HR – Keith to Inverness)
The GNSR’s protracted/torturous efforts to reach Inverness created space for others to act. Interests in Inverness sought to provide a different link to the South via Druimuachdar to Perth but were thwarted by its rejection by Parliament (in 1846), nonetheless they “obtained authority for a short line from Inverness to Nairn with a view both to blocking a GNSR approach to Inverness and also the Inverness route which eventually branched off from the Inverness-Aberdeen route at Forres, Nairn, and ran via Dava summit (1052ft), Grantown-on-Spey, Aviemore and on to Perth via Druimuachdar. (Only in the 1890s was the direct line built from Inverness via Slochd summit and Carr Bridge to Aviemore, affording the shortest route to the South.)” [1: p5-7]
Drew continues: “The Inverness & Nairn railway took only a year to build (1854-55). The eastward extension of the Inverness-Nairn line was the Inverness & Aberdeen Junction, which ran via Forres and Elgin to Keith, to which point it was opened in 1858, met the GNSR and provided the Inverness-Aberdeen through route. Two years later the Inverness & Perth Junction Company was formed. Construction of the Forres-Perth line made quick progress from both ends, despite the need to take the line for 100 miles through the central mountain tract of Scotland. The through route from Inverness via Forres to Perth was completed in 1863. The Inverness & Aberdeen Junction, which had absorbed the Inverness & Nairn, and the Inverness & Perth Junction, were amalgamated in 1865 to form the Highland Railway.” [1: p7]
West of Elgin the line bridged the River Lossie before passing through Mosstowie Station, then passed a connection to a mineral railway serving Newton Quarries and on to Alves Station.
After Alves Station it was only a short distance to the junction for the Burghead & Hopeman Branch. The line then continued on to Kinloss.
The 25″ Ordnance Survey shows the junction with the HR’s Burghead & Hopeman Branch and the adjacent roads and bridge at around the turn of the 20th century. [58]The same location in the 21st century. The road has been realigned. The route of both railway lines are still easily made out! [58]The old road bridge still crosses the railway adjacent to the newer A96 road bridge. [Google Streetview, May 2023]Looking West along the line from the A96. [Google Streetview, May 2023]Kinloss Railway Station opened on 25th March 1858 by the Inverness and Aberdeen Junction Railway. It was re-sited on 18th April 1860, to the east, but it was moved back to its original location in May 1904. It closed to passengers on 3rd May 1965nand completely on 7th November 1966. [59][60]The same area in the 21st century. [59]Kinloss Railway Station in the 21st century, looking East from the level-crossing. [Google Streetview, May 2023]Looking West from the level-crossing at Kinloss Station site. [Google Streetview, May 2023]
After leaving Kinloss trains for Inverness next ran into Forres Railway Station. Over the years the railway infrastructure at Forres has seen significant changes.
In 1858, the first railway station at Forres was located at the end of Market Street which became known as Old Station Road. The station building was demolished in the 1950s. It had been used as the stationmaster’s house since the junction opened.
A route to the South from Inverness was finally completed in 1863. It met the line running between Elgin and Inverness at Forres. Forres was chosen as the junction for the new mainline south, since it was the half-way point on the Inverness & Aberdeen Junction Railway between Inverness and Keith. Keith was also an important railway junction and the point where the line joined the GNSR and branches to the coast and Strathspey. [62]
A new ‘triangular’ station wastl constructed to allow all trains entering Forres, from either the East or West, to access the new line directly on a curve. The three curved platforms, and three junctions, gave the new Forres station its distinctive layout. [62]
The location of the new station was south-west of the existing Inverness-Aberdeen line. The original line was retained as a goods loop, with trains now leaving and re-joining the line (east-west) on a curve. Services from Inverness to Perth curved to the south on a junction at the west of the station, to arrive at the southbound platforms. [62]
Three individual signal boxes controlled the junctions at each point of the triangle: Forres East, Forres West, and Forres South. [62]
The closure of the link to the South from Forres occurred as part of the cuts following the Beeching Report in the 1960s. Further remodelling of the whole area took place in the 21st century. This saw much of the existing infrastructure removed and a new functional station built by 2017. [62]
West of Bodies the line ran on through Auldearn Station, bridged the River Nairn and entered Nairn Railway Station.
Auldearn Railway Station on the 35″ Ordnance Survey from the turn of the 20th century. It opened on 9th December 1895 and was closed by 6th June 1960. [72]The site in the 21st century – all evidence of the station has disappeared. [72]Looking West from the overbridge at the East end of the site of Auldearn Railway Station. [Google Streetview, May 2022]The bridge over the River Nairn as it appears on the 25″ Ordnance Survey from the turn of the 20th century. [73]The same location in the 21st century. [73]
Nairn Railway Station opened on 7th November 1855. In 1885, the Highland Railway Company agreed to improve the facilities at Nairn. The station buildings were replaced with improved accommodation for passenger and staff. The gables of the cross wings were surmounted with the Scotch thistle, the Prince of Wales feather, and other designs sculpted in stone. The masonry work was completed by Mr. Squair of Nairn. At the same time a new station master’s house was erected. The platforms were extended to around 440 yards (400 m) and raised in height to the level of the carriages. A new iron foot bridge over the line connected the platforms, avoiding passengers using a foot crossing over the running lines. The bridge over Cawdor Road was also widened at the same time. The work was completed in 1886. [76]
Heading Southwest out of Nairn trains passed through Gollanfield Junction Station which served the short Fort George Branch.
Gollanfield Station as it appeared on the Landranger OS map prior to closure. [79]Gollanfield Junction Railway Station opened in 1855 by the Inverness and Nairn Railway, it was initially named Fort George after the military base nearby. In July 1899, the Highland Railway opened a direct branch to Fort George (which was actually sited in the village of Ardersier). With the opening of the branch, the station was renamed Gollanfield Junction. Passenger services on the branch were withdrawn in 1943 and it closed to all traffic in August 1958. The following year, the station was renamed Gollanfield by British Railways. [77][78]The same location in the 21st century. Goods traffic at the station ceased in May 1964 and it was closed to passenger traffic on 3rd May 1965. Most of the buildings were subsequently demolished after closure, but the station house remains standing and is used as a private residence. [77][78]Looking East from the road bridge which used to span Gollanfield Railway Station, [Google Streetview, August 2021]Looking West from the road bridge which used to span Gollanfield Railway Station, [Google Streetview, August 2021]
Further details of Gollanfield Railway Station and photographs can be found here. [79]
The next stop on the line was at its terminus at Inverness.
J. W. P. Rowledge; The 4-4-0 Locomotives of the Glasgow & South Western and Highland Railways; in Brian Stephenson (ed.) Locomotives Illustrated No 117, January-February 1998, Ian Allan, Berkhamsted, Herts, 1997.
“At first glance appearing to be no more than an offshoot of the picturesque and spectacular Callander & Oban Railway, the Killin Railway was a wholly independent company in its own right for the first 37 years of its working life. The Killin Railway Company endured for almost all of its independent years under the patronage of one of Scotland’s wealthiest men. The local people promoted the village railway company in 1881 and the line was run under their management from its official opening on 13th March 1886 until its independence was reluctantly conceded to the LMS from 1st June 1923. In absorbing the Killin Railway Company the LMS accepted some £12,000 of debt accumulated over the years of its independence and paid the remaining shareholders just 8% of the face value of their original investment, in full settlement of the enforced transaction. During the years of independence and before they were absorbed into the LMS, the train services of both the Killin and the adjacent Callander & Oban Companies were worked by the Caledonian Railway Company as integral parts of its system.” [1: p624-625]
Gavin Campbell, the Marquis of Breadalbane & Holland held 438,558 acres of land in his estates in Argyllshire and Perthshire, spread across much of central Scotland. He was the prime mover in the development of the branch line to Killin Village.
Wikipedia tells us that “On 1st June 1870, the Callander and Oban Railway opened the first portion of its line. Shortage of cash meant that the original intention of linking Oban to the railway network was to be deferred for now. The line opened from the former Dunblane, Doune and Callander Railway at Callander to a station named Killin, but it was at Glenoglehead, high above the town and three miles (5 km) distant down a steep and rugged track.” [2][3]
“The difficult local terrain prevented any question of the line to Oban passing through Killin, and local people were for the time being happy enough that they had a railway connection of a sort; indeed tourist trade was brought into the town. The Callander and Oban Railway had in fact been absorbed by the Caledonian Railway but continued to be managed semi-autonomously. The Caledonian was a far larger concern that had money problems, and priorities, elsewhere. Nevertheless, as time went on, extension of the first line to Oban was resumed in stages, and finally completed on 30th June 1880.” [2]
Elton tells us that, “At the time that the story of the village railway began, Killin was a remote rural community that had for many years relied for its prosperity on providing a market place for the produce of the Highland farmers from the surrounding lands. Those farmers were largely tenants of the Marquis and although there is no doubt that he had their well-being in mind as well as that of the villagers of Killin, the commercial possibilities were also under his consideration when he moved the promotion of the village railway and concurrently founded the Loch Tay Steamboat Company. The village of Killin also served as a convenient overnight stop for animal drovers and their herds consisting predominantly of sheep. Situated near the lower, western, end of Loch Tay, a number of ancient overland paths met naturally near the village.” [1: p625-626]
“The traditional commerce of Killin had been seriously eroded when, in 1870, the Callander & Oban Railway had reached the head of Glen Ogle. … The C&O was able to offer to the traditional customers of Killin a more direct access to the great livestock markets of southern Scotland. The station at the head of Glen Ogle, given the name Killin, was the northern terminal of the C&O from 1st June 1870 until August 1873. On that date the line was extended for seventeen miles to a temporary terminal at Tyndrum. From Tyndrum the C&O line eventually reached Oban, being ceremonially opened to that place on 30th June 1880. Prior to that, the Highland Railway Company had built a branch line, from its Perth-Inverness main line at Ballinuig, to Aberfeldy and this line also attracted livestock trade away from Killin. It was at one time believed locally that the branch line would be extended from Aberfeldy to Kenmore and perhaps on to Killin itself but this was never seriously considered by the Highland Company. Nevertheless, as built, the branch line gave better and cheaper access to the immense markets of Perth and Edinburgh and attracted traffic from the C&O terminal at Glenlochhead.” [1: p626]
“The people of Killin petitioned the Callander and Oban company for a branch line, but this was refused, and when the Caledonian Railway itself was persuaded to obtain Parliamentary authority to build the branch, the Bill failed in Parliament.” [2]
Under the leadership of the Marquis of Breadalbane, the people of Killin decided to build a railway themselves. “The first meeting of the local railway took place on 19th August 1882, in Killin. Making a branch to join the Callander and Oban [Railway (C&O)] at its “Killin” station would involve an impossibly steep gradient, but a line was planned to meet the C&O further west and at a lower altitude. Even so, the branch would be four miles (6.4 km) long with a gradient of 1 in 50. It could be built for about £18,000. At the Killin end, the line would be extended to a pier on Loch Tay, serving the steamer excursion traffic on the loch.” [2][4][5]
Elton tells us that before the 19th August 1882 meeting took place, the Marquis of Breadalbane “sought the advice of civil engineer John Strain. In 1877 Strain had successfully undertaken to survey and engineer the last section of the C&O. This 24 miles of railway, from Dalmally to Oban, had presented him with many difficulties. Following Strain’s recommendation Breadalbane explained to the villagers at the meeting that the proposed new line would branch from a junction on the C&O some 2½ miles down the line from the existing Killin station at the head of Glen Ogle. A new station would be placed within the village itself and the line would be extended 1 miles to a station on the shore of Loch Tay. A pier for berthing the steamships plying the loch was to be built with facilities for handling passengers, live-stock and general cargo, adjacent to the Loch Tay station. The Marquis had formed the Loch Tay Steamboat Company, whose steamships and those of succeeding companies would serve on the loch until 1939.”
The ruling gradient of the proposed new line would be a demanding 1 in 50. John Strain had estimated the cost of building the line at £18,000 (£3,428 per mile). Detailed forecasts of the potential traffic indicated that only a modest income could be expected for distribution to shareholders (£365 per annum). The Marquis “invited those attending the meeting to invest in the railway, adding that he would match pound for pound the money raised. … In the three weeks after the initial meeting no more than £370 was subscribed to the funds of the new company. Mr. A. R. Robertson, who had been appointed Company Secretary, estimated that the total potential investment from the area was unlikely to exceed £4,000. This figure assumed the most strenuous of canvassing and included the promise of £1,000 from Sir Donald Currie, a resident of Aberfeldy. Mr. Robertson, as the manager of the Killin branch of the Bank of Scotland, was in a unique position to assess the probable local investment.” [1: 627]
There was a clear local determination to bring the scheme to fruition. In kind commitments were made locally in exchange for shares in the new line. The Marquis “donated all of the required land and sleepers for the track whilst the Caledonian and C&O Companies supplied the rails, all in return for shares in the village company. The C&O Company itself bought 1,200 shares and that encouraged many smaller investors. The Caledonian Railway arranged to work the line for the first three years for 55% of the receipts but stipulated that the annual turnover should not be less than £2,377. There was not one objector to the scheme and the potentially ruinous promotion of a Parliamentary Bill was thus avoided. Instead, only a Board of Trade Certificate for the construction was required and that was received on 8th August 1883. Prior to that the embryonic Killin Railway Company had already sought tenders to construct the line. The board of directors consisting of Lord Breadalbane himself, Charles Stewart, Sir Donald Currie, John Willison and Col. John Sutherland obtained nine quotations in all. These ranged from the highest at £22,442 6s 3d down to one of £13,783 8s Od, quoted by Messrs. Α.& K. MacDonald of Skye. The company secretary, who had no profound knowledge of railways, calculated that if the directors accepted the lowest tender, the total cost of getting the line into full working condition would be £28,552. The total assets available to the company at that point in time, having exhausted all sources and allowing for borrowings of £5,200, had reached an impressive £20,801. John Strain was again consulted and advised that the line could not be built for anything like the price of the lowest tender. Nevertheless, the temptation of saving such capital was too great and the MacDonalds’ tender was accepted by the village board.” [1: p627]
Inevitably, work on the project gradually fell behind and ultimately the MacDonald’s contract had to be terminated. The work was passed to John Best, of Glasgow. “Towards the end of February 1885, Strain reported that 73% of the earthworks and 84% of the culverts, creeps and bridgework had been completed.” [1: p628] The Board of Trade inspection eventually took place in early 1886 and the ceremonial opening took place on 13th March 1886. Public services on the line commenced on 1st April 1886.
The junction station on the C&O was half-a-mile from the nearest road and was far more complex than required. The station was of substantial proportions. “A single and an island platform provided three faces, two of which served the up and down lines of the C&O respectively. The remaining face … was kept exclusively for the use of the village line train. Two sidings and a crossover system were installed on the village line side. A passenger overbridge was built in 1908, while two cottages for station staff and a goods shed completed the facilities. The station complex was controlled by two signal boxes containing a total of 48 levers, 22 in the West box and 26 in the East. The junction station was set on a gradient of 1 in 138, at an elevation of about 800ft above sea level.” [1: p630]
Elton’s date for the construction of the footbridge is called into question by the OS Map extract below which was surveyed in 1899 and shows a foot bridge already in place at that time.
In 1935, the West Signal Box at Killin Junction was closed and the East Signal Box took control of the whole station layout. On Saturday 22nd October 1938, “Lt. Col. Wilson (Ministry of Transport) reported that the West Junction box had been closed and the facing points at the southern end of the main crossing loop were now motor operated by primary battery from the East Junction box, with an auxiliary tablet instrument for the section to Luib provided on the Down platform. To provide connections at the south end of the station Branch platform, a new 9-lever ground frame was provided, electrically controlled from the East Junction box, and which also slotted the running signals which applied to movements into and out of the Branch platform at its south end. Such moves were relatively infrequent, although the Branch Platform line formed a convenient third loop for trains crossing. The platform was mainly used for the shuttle service on the Killin Branch, which was worked by a train staff and one engine in steam. On account of the long and steep downward gradient towards Killin, interlaced lines named “live” and “dead” roads were formerly provided, with facing points at both ends. Ascending trains used the left-hand interlaced line, in which there were self-acting catch points. These “live” and “dead” roads had now been removed. Shunting was prohibited along the branch unless the engine was at the lower end. A similar prohibition applied to the single line towards Luib, where the gradient also fell steeply. The signal arrangements were as on the plan, with three new track circuits, separately indicated in the East Junction box, which had a frame of 28 levers, all in use with correct locking and control.” [66]
More photographs of the station can be found on Ernie’s Railway Archive on Flickr …. here, [10] here, [11] here, [12] here, [13] here, [14] here, [15] here, [16] and here. [17]
In the image above, the Callander and Oban Railway is on the right of the signal box, the Killin Branch is to the left of the box. The line down to Killin was steeply graded (1 in 50) down to the village.
The two lines ran in parallel for a short distance but increasingly at different altitudes. [19]The same are as shown on the 21st century ESRI satellite imagery provided by the NLS. [19]
The branch continued heading Northeast towards Killin, passing to the North of Wester Lix and bridging a minor tributary of the River Dochart.
To the Northeast of the main road the railway remained predominantly on embankment. A cattle creep sat a few hundred metres Northeast of the road bridge. It can be seen in the top right of the last OS Map extract. The next significant structure carried the line over the Allt Lairig Cheile, another tributary of the River Dochart.
This next extract from the 25″ Ordnance Survey of 1899, published in 1900 includes the over the bridge over Allt Lairig Cheile, bottom left, and above it a small infectious diseases hospital. In the top-right corner of this extract was the next significant structure on the branch line which spanned Allt na Lice another tributary of the River Dochart. [23]A very similar area in the 21st century, as it appears on the ESRI satellite imagery from the NLS. [23]
The large building which appears on the satellite image above is Acharn Biomass.
This picture of Acharn Biomass’ site was taken by Coconut Island Drones in November 2024. [24]
Acharn Biomass Plant is an electricity production plant owned by Northern Energy Developments. It has a 5.6 MW capacity. [25]
A short distance Northeast along the line, a pair of sidings were provided at Acharn. This Acharn is not to be confused with a hamlet of the same name on the south shore of Loch Tay towards its East end. That Acharn is a hamlet in the Kenmore parish of the Scottish council area of Perth and Kinross. It is situated on the south shore of Loch Tay close to its eastern end. The hamlet was built in the early 19th century to house workers from the surrounding estates. [27]
This Acharn is adjacent to Acharn Forest. Most of the forest is a mixed conifer plantation with pockets of broad-leaved woodland and open moorland. [28] The sidings at Acharn served the farm and were situated on the north side of the single line, they opened with the Killin Railway in 1886. The sidings ground frame was released by the branch train staff. Owing to the gradient, the sidings were only worked by Down direction trains. They were removed in 1964. Colonel Marindin (Board of Trade – 12th February 1886) noted in his inspection of the Killin Branch, that there were no main line signals at the location of the Sidings. [30]
Elton describes the station at Killin: “three sidings were provided for the expected livestock and freight traffic and we’re controlled by a ground frame. The station buildings were of a simple nature (as they were at Loch Tay) and the station itself was set on a gradient of 1 in 317. Two cottages were provided in the village for railway staff.” [1: p630]
A camping coach was positioned here by the Scottish Region from 1961 to 1963. [64]
Elton continues: “The line extended a further 1.25 miles to a single platform at Loch Tay. A branch a little before Loch Tay station extended on a sharp curve along the pier that served the steamers.” [1: p630]
Again, Elton continues: “At Loch Tay was a small engine shed, with water and fuel facilities for the locomotive working the branch. Considering that one of the objectives in building the line was to recapture the lost livestock traffic, nothing was done to provide learage accommodation for farm animals at either the village or the junction stations. Naturally, this discomfited passengers using the line but in any case the way to the big livestock markets was many miles further over the C&O than from Aberfeldy and the animal traffic was never recovered to any great extent.” [1: p630]
Looking Southwest along pier Road, the railway formation is on the left. [Google Streetview, March 2010]Looking Northeast on Pier Road with the railway formation on the right. [Google Streetview, March 2010]Loch Tay Railway Station as shown on the 1899 25″ Ordnance Survey, published in 1900. This map extract shows the station, the sharply curved line extending out onto Killin Pier, the sawmill/timber yard, and, to the Northeast of the station, the engine shed which was kept open through to the closure of the branch in the 1960s. [59]The same area in the 21st century with the pier line and the station line superimposed as black lines. [59]A very early view over Loch Tay Railway Station, looking towards Killin. Rolling stock sits at the station platform while one of the two ‘Pus’ allocated to the line by the Caledonian Railway shunts Killin Pier, (c) Public Domain. [63]The Station building at Loch Tay (c) Unknown. [60]A low resolution copy of a drawing of Loch Tay Railway Station building, (c) Unknown. [60]This image shows BR 2-6-4T Locomotive No. 80093 in steam at Loch Tay Engine Shed, (c) Unknown. [61]
The Callander Heritage Centre writes of the locomotive above: “In 1885, Caley locomotive designer and engineer, Dugald Drummond, was commissioned to build a special small tank engine which could be used on the Killin branch. After much research into the line, its gradients, curves and so on he decided upon an 0-4-2 saddle tank type locomotive. The design was based on the popular 0-4-0 “Pug” tanks which were widely used for dockside and colliery work. Once the plans were prepared two such locomotives were built at the Caledonian Railways St Rollox locomotive works in Glasgow before being sent up to the branch. … With its tall, straight stovepipe chimney the little engine soon became known as the coffee pot amongst the local villagers who would often gather on the station platforms when the train was due just to marvel at its sheer size and power. It may have only been a small engine by comparison to the larger mainline giants, but to the people of Killin nothing could have beaten their blue pug.” [55]
Elton tells us that the original intention had been for 0-4-0ST locos to provide the motive power but Drummond quickly became convinced that 0-4-0 wheel arrangement would be inadequate. “The heavy grading of the line, together with the severe curve weight distribution essential on the Loch Tay pier, resulted in the two locomotives being given an 0-4-2ST wheel arrangement. The water and fuel capacities on the engines were increased to assist adhesion on the 1 in 50 ruling gradient and they were fitted with a Westinghouse braking system as an additional safety feature. Built at the Caley’s St. Rollox works, the engines carrying the numbers 262 and 263 – were of distinctive appearance and, in their Caley blue livery, became popular with the Killin villagers. They were known as the ‘Killin Pugs’ but were soon found to be unsuitable for working the village line, both being withdrawn from it as early as 1889. They were found work elsewhere on the Caley system, surviving the groupings and remaining in service almost into nationalisation.” [1: p631]
Thanks to Ben Alder for pointing me to The Model Railway News which carried an article about one of these locomotives written by J. N. Maskelyne in its July 1938 edition. The article was a result of a request made to the LMS for design details of the locomotives. The request resulted in delivery of four large blue prints and a copy of the small official weight-diagram, together with a letter in which regret was expressed that no general arrangement drawing of the engine could be found. The prints showed, respectively, the frames, the cab, the smokebox, and the saddle-tank: on carefully scrutinising these prints, Maskelyne concluded that “in all probability, no general arrangement drawing was ever made. [His conclusion was that] except for the items mentioned above, all the details on this engine were standard, or, at least, common to other types of engines and that the order for her construction was accompanied by a set of blue prints, similar to that which I had received, and a ‘Material List’, setting out all the details required, and referring to drawings already issued to the works.” [58: p184]
With the aid of the four blue prints, and a photograph, taken by Mr. J. E. Kite, Maskelyne produced general arrangement drawings for the locomotives.
Front Elevation of Ex-Caledonian LMS 0-4-2ST Locomotive, original number 253, LMS No. 15001. In 1938 the locomotive was stationed at Inverness for shunting duties.In Killin Branch days the locomotive was painted in the standard blue passenger locomotive colours of the Caledonian Railway. In 1938, the locomotive was painted in unlined black with LMS on the saddle tank and number ‘15001’ on the bunker sides. [58]Elevation of the same locomotive. [58: p182]
Maskelyne notes that “the dimensions of this engine [were] very small; her coupled wheels [were] 3 ft. 8 in., and the trailing wheels, which [were] of “disc” type, [were] 3 ft. diameter. The boiler barrel [was] 10 ft. 9 in. long, and ha[d] a mean diameter of 3 ft. 8 in. it contain[ed] 138 tubes of 14 in. diameter, and [was] pitched with its centre-line 5 ft. 41 in. above rail level.” [1: p183]
“The firebox inner shell [was] 3 ft. 6 in. square, and the grate area [was] 10.23 sq. ft. The heating surface of the tubes [was] 632 sq. ft., and that of the firebox [was] 52 sq. ft., making a total of 684 sq. ft. The working pressure [was] 140 lb. per sq. in. The cylinders ha[d] a diameter of 14 in. and a stroke of 20 in., and the tractive force [was] 10,600 lb. The saddle-tank [held] 800 gallons of water, the bunker 2.25 tons of coal. In working order, the weight [was] 31 tons 4 cwt. 2 qr., with 25 tons 17 cwt. available for adhesion, and the engine [would] take a minimum curve of 41 chains radius. The height of the top of the chimney [was] 10 ft. 10½ in. above rail level.” [58: p183-184]
It became necessary, after just a few months of operation to review the basis on which the C&O provided services on the line. It was abundantly clear after that time that the agreed minimum level of receipts (£2,377 per annum) would not be met. “A new working agreement with the Caledonian came into operation on 1st April 1888. The Caley undertook to work the Killin line at cost initially for a period of five years. Additionally, it agreed to contribute £525 pa towards the general running cost of the village line. In practice the Caledonian deducted the operating costs at source and sent the balance on to the Killin company.” [1: p631]
Late in the 1880s, “the ‘Pugs’ were replaced by altogether more powerful tank engines of 0-4-4T wheel configuration, again designed under Dugald Drummond. … Two were allocated for use on the Killin line and locomotives of this type and their subsequent developments provided most of the motive power on the village line until the 1950s.” [1: p631]
In the 1950s, under BR ownership, the Caledonian 0-4-4Ts were replaced by a variety of different locomotives. Ultimately the standard service on the line was provided by standard BR 2-6-4T 4MT locomotives. This was possible because of the earlier closure of the line Northeast of Killin and there being no need to accept the limitations on weight and wheelbase demanded by the Loch Tay pier. Passenger accommodation on train services was provided by a single four compartment brake coach and services often ran as a mixed train with goods wagons attached to the single passenger-carrying vehicle.
The sponsorship of the short Killin Branch by The Marquis of Breadalbane protected the little line from the worst of the political winds affecting the railway world. He became ill while travelling to a Caledonian Railway board meeting. Elton tells us that he “died at the Central Hotel, Glasgow on 19th October 1922, at the age of 71. His nephew, Mr Iain Campbell, who succeeded to the title, was not disposed to regard the Killin village line as anything other than a financial liability. … The death of the Marquis left the management of the village company in the hands of the two remaining local directors, Messrs. Campbell Willison and Alan Cameron. They were fiercely determined to retain control of their line in the face of what they at first believed was a move to absorb the Killin village line by the Caledonian Company. Ultimately, they received the approach from an organisation, quite unknown to them, calling itself the London, Midland & Scottish Railway. They immediately adopted a defensive position, rejecting an offer which accepted all the accumulated debt of the village company and offered £1 in cash for every £100 of Killin Company stock. The audacity of this rejection, from such a minor outpost of its ‘shotgun’ empire, came as something of a surprise to the LMSR authorities. The villagers did not at first comprehend that an Act of Central Government would ultimately give them no choice in the matter. Nevertheless, after some negotiation the offer to the villagers was eventually raised to £8 per £100 of stock as well as taking on the £12,000 of debt. The Killin Railway Company ended as it had begun with a meeting in the Village Hall. This was held on 19th March 1923 and the takeover was enacted on the following 1st July, on which date the Caledonian and C&O Companies also came under the wing of the LMSR.” [1: p632]
Elton continues: “Under the regime of the LMS the Killin branch, as it now became, changed very little. However, in September 1939, immediately after the outbreak of World War II, the line between Killin Village and Loch Tay was closed to both passenger and freight traffic. The Loch Tay pier was dismantled and the remaining steamships were withdrawn at the same time. The line to Loch Tay remained in place as the engine shed and refuelling facility were used until the line closed. The Loch Tay section did enjoy a brief renaissance in 1950. A hydro-electric scheme was installed near to the site of the former Loch Tay station and the branch was heavily engaged in transporting the necessary materials to the development site.”
It is remarkable that the line, taken over a such a high cost by the LMS in 1923, was to provide its service to the village for a further 42 years in the face of improving roads and the rapid development of the motor vehicle. It’s fate was intimately tied to that of the line between Dunblane and Crianlarich Lower Railway Station. The closure of the main line was included in the ‘Beeching Plan’ published on 25th March 1963. Elton tells us that “The freight service between Killin Junction and the village station was withdrawn on 7th November 1964 in anticipation of the closure which was finally scheduled for 1st November 1965. It was perhaps an irony that an ‘Act of God’ preempted the plans of man. On 25th September 1965, an apparently minor rock fall occurred in Glen Ogle, blocking the ex-C&O main line. This resulted in the immediate cessation of all services on the route. On examination of the fall BR engineers found that it was of a much more serious nature than it had at first appeared. The estimated cost of repair was £30,000 and … was not considered a viable proposition.” [1: p632]
The last train on the Killin Branch ran on 27th September 1965. “The locomotive, BR 2-6-4T No.80093, gathered together the varied collection of rolling stock that had accumulated at the lower end of the line over the years. The massive locomotive needed two journeys from the village to Killin Junction to clear the stock, a motley collection consisting of three assorted passenger coaches and thirteen goods wagons. The conditions on the 1 in 50 climb out of the village were wet and greasy. Perhaps the miserable weather reflected the mood of the villagers on that now far-off day when they were deprived of the little railway that their forebears had fought so hard to win and retain over a period of 82 years.” [1: p632]
References
Michael S. Elton; Killin Village Railway; in BackTrack Volume 14 No. 11, November 2000, p624-632.
David Ross; The Caledonian: Scotland’s Imperial Railway: A History; Stenlake Publishing Limited, Catrine, 2014.
John Thomas; The Callander and Oban Railway; David & Charles, Newton Abbot, 1966.
John Thomas and David Turnock; A Regional History of the Railways of Great Britain: Volume 15: North of Scotland; David & Charles (Publishers), Newton Abbot, 1989.
This image was kindly shared with me by Ben Alder on 10th April 2025.
This image was kindly shared with me by Ben Alder on 10th April 2025.
Andrew McRae; British Railways Camping Coach Holidays: A Tour of Britain in the 1950s and 1960s; Scenes from the Past: No. 30 (Part Two), Foxline, 1998.
Stanley Jenkins tells us that “The opening of the Inverness & Rossshire Railway between Inverness and Dingwall on 11th June 1862 brought the benefits of rail transport to a prosperous farming area in Ross & Cromarty. The line was completed throughout to Invergordon on 25th March 1863, while a series of subsequent extensions eventually resulted in the creation of the Highland Railway’s ‘Far North’ line between Inverness and Wick. Inevitably the 161½ mile ‘Far North’ line omitted large numbers of places that would have benefited from direct rail links, and for this reason several branch-line schemes were put into effect during the latter part of the 19th century.” [1: p48]
“The Black Isle peninsula, between the Beauly and Cromarty Firths, became the focal point for two such schemes, only one of which was successful.” [1: p48]
Wikipedia tells us that “The Highland Railway was surprised when in 1889 the Great North of Scotland Railway (GNoSR) proposed the construction of a railway to Fortrose, … The GNoSR operated a network from Aberdeen and the nearest place to Inverness served by it was at Elgin, some distance away. The branch would have been detached from the owning railway, but running through the Black Isle it would have made a junction with the Highland Railway at Muir of Ord. A ferry operation from Fortrose to Ardersier, on the south side of the Moray, was included in the plans. Ardersier was then known as Campbelltown, and a railway branch to it was included. Two other schemes striking into Highland territory were proposed at the same time, elevating Highland Railway discomfort about its competitive position.” [2][3]
“The two companies had been adversaries for some time, and in 1883 and the following years there had been a state of continual warfare over junctions, frontiers and running powers. … The Highland saw at once that if this branch were built, it would be easy for the GNoSR to demand running powers into Inverness to reach its branch, and in that way the rival company would have gained access to the Highland’s stronghold.” [2]
After considerable ‘argument’ between the two companies, the GNoSR and the Highland Railway each submitted Bills to the UK Parliament for a line to Fortrose.
It was the Highland Railway’s scheme which received Parliamentary consent on 4th July 1890. Jenkins tells us that it was for a “16 mile branch line between Muir of Ord, on the ‘Far North’ line, and the fishing port of Rosemarkie. The gentle topography of the Black Isle ensured that the proposed line could be built with relative ease, and on 1st February 1894 a single line was opened as far as Fortrose a distance of 13 miles 45 chains. The final section between Fortrose and Rosemarkie was never built, the terminal station at Fortrose being deemed a suitable railhead for the surrounding district.” [1: p48]
“The Fortrose branch provided useful transport facilities … on the South side of the Black Isle, but it was felt that better facilities were needed on the North side of the peninsula. The 1896 Light Railways Act offered a solution to this local transport problem, and on 1st August 1902 a Light Railway Order was obtained for construction of a 19 mile line between Conon, on the ‘Far North’ line, and Cromarty. Work began at the Cromarty end, but subsequent progress was painfully slow, and extensions of Time Orders were obtained in 1907, and again in 1910. … About six miles of track was actually laid between Cromarty and Newhall, but all work was suspended in 1914 on the outbreak of World War I. At that time, construction work was in hand on a further two miles of line, but little had been done on the remaining eleven miles of line to Conon. The track was lifted around 1915 for use in the war effort, leaving the earthworks and other engineering features of the unfinished light railway in a derelict condition.” [1: p49]
“If the Cromarty & Dingwall Light Railway had been completed it would have had stations at Alcaig Ferry, Culbokie, Drumcudden, and Newhall. Other halts may have been opened once the line was in operation, while there were also suggestions that the route might be extended south-westwards from Cromarty to Rosemarkie and Fortrose, thereby creating a scenic ‘coastal’ route around the Black Isle that would have had considerable potential as a tourist attraction. Unfortunately the changed economic conditions after World War I meant that schemes of this kind were no longer viable, and the Fortrose branch was therefore left in splendid isolation as the only completed railway in the Black Isle area.” [1: p49]
“The Fortrose route was worked as a feeder branch for the ‘Far North’ line, and as such it was moderately-successful. Like other Highland Railway branch lines it was normally worked by small tank locomotives such as the Dübs 4-4-0Ts. Other engines seen on the line were Drummond’s well-known 0-4-4 branch-line tanks.” [1: p49]
The Route from Muir of Ord to Fortrose
The extracts below from the 25″ Ordnance Survey of 1904, published in 1906 cover the site of Muir of Ord Railway Station. [6] Jenkins tells us that “Muir of Ord – the junction station for branch services to Fortrose – was opened on 11th June 1862 when the initial section of the Highland ‘Far North’ line was brought into use between Inverness and Dingwall.” [1: p49]
“The station was orientated from North to South, with its main station building on the down, or northbound side. The track layout was relatively complex, with sidings on both sides of the running line and a lengthy crossing loop.The main goods yard, with accommodation for coal, livestock, furniture, machinery, and general-merchandise traffic, was situated to the south of the platforms on the down side. One of the yard sidings passed through a goods shed, while others were used mainly for coal or other forms of wagon-load traffic. Further sidings were available on the up side, and one of these gave access to a 50ft diameter locomotive turntable.” [1: p49]
Wikipedia tells us that “The station is 13 miles 4 chains (13.05 mi; 21.0 km) from Inverness, between Beauly and Conon Bridge, and is the location of the sole remaining passing loop on the single line between Dingwall and Inverness.” [5]
“The station building and platform canopy were erected in 1894, [5][7] 32 years after the station itself opened. [8] Passenger services on the branch ceased on 1 October 1951, but the branch remained open for freight until 13 June 1960. Muir of Ord station was closed on 13 June 1960 but reopened in 1976, on 4 October.” [5][8]
“After the railway bridge across the River Ness washed away in February 1989, isolating the entire network north of Inverness, Muir of Ord was chosen as the location for a temporary depot, from which the stranded rolling stock could operate the service to the highland communities which depended on the line.” [5][9]
“In November 2015, work commenced on a new A862 road bridge at the northern end of the station.” [5][10]
The project cost £3.7 million and was completed in the Summer of 2017. [11]
This ESRI satellite image supplied by the NLS shows the station site after the reconstruction of the raod bridge. [6]
Wikipedia tells us that “in the 21st century, both station platforms have modern waiting shelters and benches, with step-free access. There is a car park and bike racks adjacent to platform 1, along with a help point near to the entrance from the car park.” [5]
“As there are no facilities to purchase tickets, passengers must buy one in advance, or from the guard on the train.” [5]
“The station has a passing loop 32 chains (700 yd; 640 m) long, flanked by two platforms which can each accommodate a ten-coach train.” [5][12]
“On 11th June 1862 the Inverness and Ross-shire Railway opened their line between Inverness and Dingwall. It included a station at the village of Tarradale but the company decided to name it after the nearby cattle tryst (market), Muir of Ord. Eventually the name Muir of Ord was applied to the surrounding area.” [14]
“On leaving Muir of Ord, branch trains diverged eastwards, and having, executed a full 90 degree turn the route maintained its easterly heading for about two miles.” [1: p49]
A further extract from the 25″ Ordnance Survey of 1904, published in 1906. This extract shows the brach leaving the main line just North of the Station and heading East. [17]The same area as shown on ESRI satellite imagery provided by the NLS, in the 21st century. [17]As the line curved to the East it was crossed at level by a track. [17]
Additional sidings on the north side of the station provided locomotive facilities for the branch engine. The main engine siding gave access to a 50ft turntable, while a ‘kick-back’ spur ran into a single-road engine shed; another siding served as a coaling road. The station building was a typical Highland Railway timber-framed structure which was similar to its counterparts at Hopeman and Burghead, albeit with a second cross-wing at the left-hand end (when viewed from the platform). The resulting building was thus an ‘H-plan’ structure with a central block flanked by two cross-wings.” [1: p51]
In the 21st century, the track has been replaced by a modern estate road – Highfield Circle. The road entering bottom-centre is Fairmuir Road, that leaving top-right is part of Highfiels Curcle. These two roads approximately follow the line of the old railway. [17]A short distance to the East the line was in cutting and bridged by a minor road. [17]ESRI satellite imagery from the NLS shows the realigned road in the 21st century. The approximate line of the old road (blue) and railway (red) have been superimposed on the image. The modern road is named ‘Balvaird Road’. [17]A short distance further East the line was crossed by a farm access raod at a level-crossing. [18]The same location in the 21st century as shown on Google Maps satellite imagery. The lane is now named ‘Hawthorne Road’. [Google Maps, March 2025]Looking North along Hawthorne Road, across the line of the old railway (marked approximately by the red line). Google Streetview, September 2021]Looking West from Hawthorne Road along the line of the old railway towards Muir of Ord. The line of the railway is gated by the single-bar gate and it ran from there towars the distant trees. [Google Streetview, September 2021]A footpath follows the line of the old railway to the East of Hawthorne Road. [Google Streetview, September 2021]
From Hawthorne Road eastwards a public footpath follows the line of the old railway. There is a leaflet of walks for the area around Muir of Ord. One of the four walks included in the leaflet includes a length of the old railway. [19]
For a short length the old railway formation has been ploughed back into farmland. The next image looks back along the line of the old railway from a point further to the East.
After passing under the accommodation bridge, the old line ran east in cutting through what is now Spital Wood. Then, ” curving east-north-eastwards,” Jenkins tells us, “the railway continued to Redcastle (3 miles 58 chains), where the single-platform station was equipped with a full range of accommodation for goods, passengers, and livestock traffic.” [1: p49]
“Beyond [Redcastle], trains climbed towards the 250ft contour, the line’s modest summit of around 260ft above mean sea level being sited near the next station at Allangrange. Situated some 5 miles 39 chains from the junction, Allangrange was another fully-equipped station with provision for a range of goods traffic.” [1: p49]
The line continued in an East-northeast direction towards Allangrange Railway Station. [28]The same area as shown on the 21st century NLS ESRI satellite imagery. [28]Looking Southwest along the old railway towards Redcastle Station from the minor road towards the left of the satellite image above. [Google Streetview, April 2011]Looking Northeast along the old railway towards Fort from the minor road towards the left of the satellite image above. [Google Streetview, April 2011]Looking Southwest along the line of the old railway from the A832. [Google Streetview, March 2023]Looking Northeast along the line of the old railway from the A832. [Google Streetview, July 2008]Again, still heading East-northeast, trains drew closer to Allangrange Railway Station. [29]The same area in the 21st century. [29]
The line curved round from an East-northeast direction to and easterly alignment before entering Allangrange Railway Station.
From the point at which the old line crossed another lane, this is the view back towards Redcastle Station. The tree at the centre of the image on the horizon stand immediately adjacent to the line of the railway. [Little can be seen looking towards Allangrange Railway Station from the minor road as the rail alignment close to the road is overwhelmed by vegetation. [Google Streetview, September 2021]The line curved round to run in an easterly direction through Allangrange Railway Station which had a reasonable sized goods yard to the West of the passenger facilities. [30] The same location in the 21st century. The major road at the West end of the old station site is the modern A9 dual carriageway. [30]This is the view East along the line of the old railway from the A9 dual carriageway. [Google Streetview, March 2023]Noe looking East from the A9 through the trees and through the site of Allangrange Railway Station. [Google Streetview, March 2023]Looking West from the old A9 into Allangrange Station site. [Google Streetview, March 2023]Looking East from the old A9 towards Fortrose. [Google Streetview, March 2023]
Beyond Allangrange Station, and heading east-north-eastwards again, “the single-line railway descended towards Munlochy (8 miles 2 chains) which, like the other intermediate stations on the Fortrose branch, was fully-equipped for all forms of goods traffic.” [1: p49]
Three images of Munlochy Railway Station can be seen online at http://www.ambaile.co.ukhere, [53] here [54] and here. [55] Kind permission has been given to reproduce two of these images in this article.
Munlochy Railway Station looking Northeast. [53]Munlochy Railway Station, looking Southwest along the platform. [54]Looking Northeast through the station site from Cameron Crescent. [Google Streetview, September 2021]Again, looking NorthEast through the station site along Station Court. [Google Streetview, September 2021]Looking back Southwest from Millbank Road (B9161) through the station site. [Google Streetview, March 2023]Looking Northeast along the line of the old railway from Millbank Road (B9161) towards Fortrose. The A842 is just to the left. [Google Streetview, March 2023]
“From Munlochy the route passed over a small underline bridge, and with the A833 (later A832) road maintaining a parallel course to the left, Fortrose trains reached Avoch Station (11 miles 25 chains).” [1: p49]
“From Avoch, the line continued north-eastwards for a further … three miles to its terminus at Fortrose where, some 13 miles 45 chains from Muir of Ord, journeys came to an end in a surprisingly large station.” [1: p49-51]
“Fortrose had just one platform on the up side, with a run-round loop to the north and a four-siding goods yard to the south. One of the goods sidings passed through a goods shed, while another served a loading bank; a spur at the west end of the goods yard formed a short headshunt.” [1: p51]
Fortrose Railway passenger station building had “the booking hall and general waiting-room … in the centre part of the building, while the booking office and toilets were housed in the ends. The timber structure was clad in American-style vertical matchboarding, with thin cover strips affixed at each join to produce a ‘ribbed’ effect.” [1: p52] The centre block was recessed between the cross-wings to create a roofed waiting area at the front of the station.
Additional photographs of the Station can be found on the www.ambaile.co.uk website here, [73] here [74] and here. [75] Kind permission has been given to reproduce these photographs here.
Fortrose Railway Station from the end of the platform in 1912, showing the station building. A branch train is in the platform and a locomotive is on the turntable in the background. [73]Fortrose Railway Station seen from the Northeast (adjacent to the buffers). Llocomotive No. 57594 is described in the notes for the next image. Here it is about to be turned to take its train back to Muir of Ord. [74]Locomotive No. 57594 has just been turned and is being readied to haul the last train from Fortrose. The locomotive is an ex-Caledonian ‘812’ Class 0-6-0, built in August 1900 as CR No. 856, becoming LMS No. 17594 and finally BR No. 57594. It was withdrawn in December 1962. [75]
Decline and Closure
The Fortrose branch was relatively successful. Its passenger services were maintained throughout the LMS era. But the line “became increasingly vulnerable to road competition after World War II, and for this reason its passenger services were withdrawn with effect from 1st October 1951. Goods traffic lingered on for a few more years, but the end came in 1960, with the line being closed to all traffic from 13th June of that year.” [1: p52]
References
Stanley Jenkins; Highland Railway Minor Lines: 2; in Rex Kennedy (ed.); Steam Days; Red Gauntlet Publications, Bournemouth, Dorset, January 2002; p48-57.
Stanley Jenkins comments: “Situated at the head of a fertile valley some five miles inland from the Cromarty Firth, Strathpeffer was once famous as a health spa and fashionable holiday resort. Although the medicinal value of the local mineral springs had been known for many years, the village did not really develop until the Victorian era when the Countess of Cromartie was instrumental in creating a Central European-style spa in this remote part of Scotland.” [1: p53]
When the first section of the Dingwall & Skye Railway opened on 19th August 1870 the Strathpeffer area became much better connected. However, the new line ran well to the North of the village. The line had a station named ‘Strathpeffer’ but it was 2 miles from the spa and at a much higher level. The station ended up in that location because of the opposition of a local landowner to a far better route for the Dingwall & Skye line, which would have passed through the village. The result was a steeply inclined (1 in 50) line climbing to the summit at Raven Rock
The distant station meant that the increasingly popular spa had to provide a horse-drawn road service for increasing numbers of upper-middle class clients. Stanley Jenkins tells us that “It soon became clear … that a direct rail link was needed. Meanwhile, in 1880 the Dingwall & Skye Railway was merged with the Highland Railway, and following this development it was agreed that a short branch line would be built to Strathpeffer. The proposed line would follow a route similar to that suggested for the Dingwall & Skye Railway in the 1860s, albeit with a terminal station in Strathpeffer, rather than a through station as originally planned. Accordingly, on 28th July 1884 powers were obtained for the construction of a 2 mile 38 chain railway from Fodderty Junction, on the Dingwall & Skye Railway, to Strathpeffer. The authorised line ran west-south-westwards across easy terrain towards its destination, and with few physical obstacles to hinder the work of construction good progress was made. The single-track branch was opened on 3rd June 1885, the original Strathpeffer station on the Dingwall & Skye route having been renamed Achterneed just two days earlier.” [1: p53]
The line was single-track and had no intermediate stations. As there was no station at Fodderty Junction, trains ran to and from Dingwall. Jenkins comments that the railway terminated at Strathpeffer “in a spacious terminus, while at Dingwall the Highland Railway company provided a new junction station with much improved facilities.” [1: p53]
Jenkins notes that lines like that serving Strathpeffer “attracted a certain amount of excursion and leisure traffic during the Edwardian period. Indeed, the Strathpeffer branch was albeit briefly – served by a ‘named’ train. In 1911, the ‘Strathpeffer Spa Express’ was introduced as a special Tuesdays-only working that left Aviemore at 2.30pm and ran non-stop to Dingwall; the train then continued westwards to Strathpeffer, with an arrival time of 4.15pm. This prestigious service ran in conjunction with a train that left Perth at 11.50pm, the idea being that through travellers would be able to reach their hotels with time to wash and change before dinner. Curiously there was no corresponding up service, and one assumes that travellers were expected to return southwards on normal branch services. A similar through service was available on Saturdays during the Edwardian period; this working normally left Inverness at 3.00pm, and it called intermediately at Beauly, Muir of Ord, and Dingwall. In the up direction the balancing southbound service departed from Strathpeffer at around 8.15pm. These through workings catered primarily for visitors to the larger hotels in Strathpeffer, and in this context it is interesting to note that the Highland Railway opened its own hotel in 1911. The through services were withdrawn at the start of World War I, the ‘Strathpeffer Spa Express’ being deleted in 1915, while the Inverness through trains ran for the last time in 1914.” [1: p53]
The two extracts below from the 25″ Ordnance Survey of 1904 give an overview of Dingwall Railway Station and village. The full length of the station site and the junction of the line to Skye are included on this extract from the 25″ Ordnance Survey from the turn of the 20th century. [14]
Jenkins notes that “In its later years the route was treated as a minor branch line, with a service of around half a dozen trains each-way between Strathpeffer and the junction station at Dingwall. The latter station was opened on 11th June 1862 when the first section of the Inverness & Ross-shire Railway was brought into operation. In its early years the station was a very basic affair which hardly seemed appropriate for the county town of Ross & Cromarty. The station became a junction following the opening of the Dingwall & Skye Railway on 19th August 1870, but Dingwall did not reach its fully-developed form until the construction of the Strathpeffer line in the following decade.” [1: p55]
Jenkins tells us that “In view of the importance attached to the Strathpeffer scheme, it was decided that new and much-improved station buildings would be constructed, while a separate bay platform was installed at the north end of the station for use by terminating branch trains. The new station building was in effect a de-luxe version of the usual Highland Railway design, stone being utilised instead of the normal timber construction, while the building was given a substantial glass & iron platform canopy formed of seven transverse bays. The up and down platforms were linked by a lattice girder footbridge, and there was a small waiting-room block on the up side.” [1: p55]
“The track layout at Dingwall incorporated a number of loops and sidings, while the goods yard contained a range of facilities for all forms of traffic including coal, livestock, vehicles, and general merchandise; a 4ton yard crane was capable of dealing with timber or other large or heavy consignments. The station was signalled from two standard Highland Railway signal cabins known as Dingwall South and Dingwall North boxes.” [1: p55-56]
The junction between the line to Kyle of Lochalsh and the line North to Wick. The line to the North of the station, bridges the River Peffery (which is still tidal at this point) just to the South of the junction. Strathpeffer trains followed the Kyle of Lochalsh line to the West as far as Fodderty Junction. This is an extract from the ESRI satellite imagery provided by the NLS. [14]The road from Dingwall to Strathpeffer crossed the line at a level crossing. The crossing-keepers cottage can be seen on the South side of the railway line, to the East of the road. This is another extract from the 25″ Ordnance Survey from the early years of the 20th century. [19]The same area on the 21st century ESRI satellite imagery. [19]Looking North along the A834 through the level crossing with the Kyle of Lochalsh railway line. [Google Streetview, March 2023]Looking East from the A834 at the level crossing with the Kyle of Lochalsh railway line. [Google Streetview, March 2023]Looking West from the A834 at the same location. [Google Streetview, March 2023]
Jenkins tells us that, “On departure from Dingwall, branch trains proceeded westwards along the Kyle of Lochalsh line for a distance of 2 miles 22 chains. At Fodderty Junction the Strathpeffer route continued westwards, whereas the Kyle line turned sharply north-westwards on its way to Raven Rock Summit.” [1: p55-56]
Immediately to the North of Fodderty Junction, just off the top edge of the two images above, the Kyle of Lochalsh line crosses the modern A834 – the road from Dingwall to Strathpeffer.
“Until 1936, Fodderty Junction was worked from a small signalbox controlling home and distant signals in each direction, as well as the junction points. The junction was later operated by a hand generator from Dingwall North Box, with key-token operation on the ‘main-line’ section between Dingwall North and Achterneed, and one-engine-in-steam working for branch trains between Dingwall North and Strathpeffer. This mode of operation presented certain problems in that there had to be various ‘fail-safe’ arrangements between the two systems of single-line working. The Strathpeffer branch was therefore worked by a Tyer’s Occupation Key, which prevented conflicting movements on the main line between Dingwall North and Fodderty Junction, and ensured the safe operation of the one engine-in-steam section between Fodderty Junction and Strathpeffer.” [1: p56]
“Fodderty Junction Signal Box was reopened in June 1940 in connection with heavy wartime traffic on the Kyle of Lochalsh line. This situation pertained until August 1944, when the box was again closed. The box itself was a typical Highland Railway structure, while a small stone cottage was available nearby for the benefit of the signalman and his family.” [1: p56]
“Having gained their own line at Fodderty Junction, branch trains proceeded generally westwards along the south side of a fertile valley. The route was not quite straight, and as the railway approached its destination the single line was heading approximately west-south-westwards. Slowing for the final approach to the terminus, down trains passed a fixed distant signal, after which they came to rest in an attractive station, some 2 miles 38 chains from Fodderty Junction and 4 miles 60 chains from the start of the journey at Dingwall.” [1: p56]
Incidentally, for those who are unfamiliar with the full range of imperial units, a ‘chain’ is 22 yards in length (66 feet) and there are 80 chains to one mile. Initially the length of a chain varied between different jurisdictions but standardisation occurred in 1824 with the introduction of the imperial system of units. [2] A 66 ft. chain was made up of 100 links. [3]
The journey along the branch was relatively easy work for the locomotives employed. The approximately 2.5 miles to the terminus at Strathpeffer was on easy grades.
“Like other Highland Railway branch-line stations Strathpeffer was well laid-out, with a lengthy platform for passenger traffic on the up side and a small goods yard on the down side of the line. The platform line was flanked by an engine-release road, which was equipped with a short dead-end spur at its western end. Although only one platform was provided, there was sufficient space for a second platform on the down side if traffic requirements had ever justified such a facility. There was a short loading dock beside the spur at the end of the run-round loop, and this could, if necessary, have been extended eastwards to form a second full-length platform.” [1: p56]
“The station building was similar to those at other Highland branch-line terminals, albeit somewhat larger. This typical single-storey timber-framed structure was clad in the usual vertical weatherboarding, while its low-pitched slated roof was punctuated by an array of squat chimney stacks. As at Dingwall, an extensive ridge & furrow platform canopy was provided, eleven transverse bays being supported on a dozen vertical iron columns with ornate quatrefoil spandrels. The Highland Railway was not, by any definition, a rich company, and the provision of this lavishly-appointed station underlined the company’s commitment to the development of passenger traffic at Strathpeffer.” [1: p56]
https://canmore.org.uk/collection/44840 shows Stroudley 0-6-0 saddletank locomotive LMS 16118 (originally named ‘Balnain’ and later ‘Dornoch’) in Strathpeffer Station. [NB. This image can only be viewed on canmore.org.uk website as is not available for download.]
“The goods yard contained three dead-end sidings, one of which passed through a typical Highland Railway timber goods shed while another terminated alongside a raised loading bank. The yard was entered by means of a siding connection on the up side of the running line, the single turnout facing the direction of down trains. The main form of goods traffic handled here was domestic coal for consumption in the nearby hotels and guest houses, although it seems likely that a considerable amount of building material would have been handled at Strathpeffer during the Victorian period when many new buildings were being erected in the immediate vicinity.” [1: p56]
“The terminus was signalled from a small signal cabin on the down side of the run-round loop. The box contained an 11-lever frame with three spare levers. There was just one working signal, this being an up starting signal that was locked in the ‘danger’ position when the key token for the Dingwall North to Strathpeffer section was placed in the Strathpeffer key-token instrument. As a further safety measure a catch-point and sand-drag was provided beside the starting signal, and once set for the sand-drag the catch-point could not be reset until the key-token had been withdrawn from the Strathpeffer instrument.” [1: p57]
“Other features of interest at Strathpeffer station included a water tank and a well-built stone cottage for the stationmaster, both of these structures being situated to the south of the platform on the down side of the line. The station was well-sited in relation to the village (or ‘The Strath’, as it was known locally), and visitors arriving by train did not have far to walk in order to reach their hotels.” [1: p57]
“Strathpeffer was well-equipped with shops, golf courses, gardens and a pump room, all of these amenities being designed to cater for the needs of upper-middle class Victorian visitors.” [1: p57]
“Sadly, the heyday of Strathpeffer as a fashionable resort came to an end with the outbreak of war in August 1914, and in retrospect the LMS era was a period of slow but inexorable decline. Passenger services lingered on until the end of World War II, but the end came on 23rd February 1946 from which date the railway was closed to passenger traffic. Goods services continued until March 1951, after which the branch was closed in its entirety. Demolition was soon accomplished, but the once-elegant station building at Strathpeffer survived in a derelict condition.” [1: p57]
“In due course the delights of Strathpeffer were rediscovered by spa enthusiasts, conservationists, and students of Victorian architecture, and in recent years the Spa Pavilion and other buildings have been lovingly restored. Happily, the station building was sufficiently intact to attract funding for its restoration, and in 1980 this timber-framed Highland Railway structure was reopened as a craft centre and museum. In its new role, the restored station forms a fitting memorial, not only to the Strathpeffer line, but also to the other minor lines that once abounded in this corner of Scotland.” [1: p57]
Stanley Jenkins; Highland Railway Minor Lines: 2; in Rex Kennedy (ed.); Steam Days; Red Gauntlet Publications, Bournemouth, Dorset, January 2002; p48-57.
William John Macquorn Rankine; A Manual of Civil Engineering (2nd ed.); Griffin Bohn & Company, London, 1863, p3.
The featured image above shows a Caledonian Railway West Coast Dining Train hauled by Caledonian Railway 4–6–0 Locomotive No. 49.
Wikipedia tells us that “The Caledonian Railway (CR) was one of the two biggest of the five major Scottish railway companies prior to the 1923 Grouping. It was formed in 1845 with the objective of forming a link between English railways and Glasgow. It progressively extended its network and reached Edinburgh and Aberdeen, with a dense network of branch lines in the area surrounding Glasgow. It was absorbed* into the London, Midland and Scottish Railway in 1923. Many of its principal routes are still used, and the original main line between Carlisle and Glasgow is in use as part of the West Coast Main Line railway (with a modified entry into Glasgow itself).” [3]
* technically the Caley was not ‘absorbed’ but rather ‘amalgamated’ into the LMS.
Paul Drew says, “A little after eight o’clock on daylight weekday evenings in the years just before World War I, at Carlisle Citadel Station there was performed a colourful ceremony; it was the arrival from Euston of ‘The 2pm’ the West Coast Anglo-Scottish express par excellence and its making over by the London & North Western Railway (LNWR)to the Caledonian Railway (CR), with a change of engine. The occasion was impressive after sunset too, but the gaslight killed the colours of the locomotives and coaching stock; not only LNW and Caledonian were to be seen, but also Midland, North Eastern, Maryport & Carlisle, North British, and Glasgow & South Western. The seven railways and their several liveries made Carlisle Citadel the epitome of pre-1914 variety and splendour on Britain’s railways. The 2pm was sometimes called ‘The Corridor’ because in the 1890s it was the first West Coast train to include corridor stock.” [1: p4]
A Dunalastair II Locomotive, northbound with a mixture of the best Caledonian and West Coast joint stock. [86]
He continues: “In would come the 2pm behind an Experiment or, later, a Claughton 4-6-0 in LNWR blackberry black, austere perhaps, with a black tender devoid of identification for everybody should know an LNW engine. The coaches would be lettered WCJS (West Coast Joint Stock) but they would be the latest achievement of LNW design, specially built for the 2pm. The livery would be LNW-cream above the waistline and, below, that indescribable mixture of dark purple and brown; nearby, just for contrast, there might be some Caledonian main-line stock in cream and purple-lake, ruddier than the LNW lower panelling, and wearing the Caledonian coat of arms. (It was far more eloquent heraldry than the groups of shire and city arms favoured by most other companies, signifying among other things the Kingdom and Royal House of Scotland.) The 2pm consisted of seven, or sometimes up to nine, 12-wheel vehicles, with portions for Glasgow Central and Edinburgh Princes Street, which divided at Symington or Strawfrank Junction, or sometimes Carstairs.” [1: p4]
The Caledonian Railway Coat of Arms. [2]
Drew continues his evocative description of a late afternoon and early evening at Carlisle: “The North Western engine would run off into the yard and then would appear a massive eight-wheel Azure-Blue tender bearing on its side the Caledonian arms flanked by the initials CR. Beyond, there would loom into sight the great bulk of one of the Cardean class of inside-cylinder 4-6-0s, perhaps No 903 Cardean itself, a vision of Azure boiler, splashers and cab sides, purple-lake underframes, and scarlet buffer beam, and one of the most powerful and efficient inside-cylinder 4-6-0s, and indeed of any 4-6-0s, of a British railway.” [1: p4]
The CR was the first major railway to adopt a blue livery for its locomotives. The CR adopted the colour in the very early days of the company. Drew tells us that, “the CR’s ‘Azure Blue’ was achieved by mixing white paint at the company’s St Rollox (Glasgow) works with expensive darker blue, to economise; some CR engines painted in the Perth shops were finished in darker blue without the white admixture. Neither livery and especially the lighter has been surpassed by any of the blues essayed by other railways in the later years of steam.” [1: p4]
Caledonian Railway Class 60 4-6-0 steam locomotive, No 14652, banked by a Caledonian Railway 0-4-4T, No 15163 on the West Coast Main Line in 1935. Travelling into Scotland, the West Coast Main Line faces a formidable climb of ten miles at 1 in 100 from Beattock station to the summit. In steam days nearly all trains were assisted from the rear, as shown in this photograph. The train also appears to consist of ventilated vans and containers for meat traffic. [87]
Drew continues: “Cardean or a sister-engine would be coupled up and, after a blast of the Caley whistle, the miniature foghorn that contrasted so well with the shriller piping of other companies’ locomotives, the express pulled out on its 39.7-mile 44-minute run to Beattock at the foot of the 10-mile Beattock Bank. A stop of only two minutes was allowed at Beattock for buffering up the banking engine and ‘The Corridor’ was off on its next lap to Symington or other point of detachment of the Edinburgh vehicles. Overall timing allowed from Carlisle to Glasgow was 123 minutes, so that the train was due at Central at 22:16, eight hours 16 minutes after leaving Euston, and only one minute after the 84-hour Euston-Glasgow and Kings Cross-Edinburgh timings which the West and East Coast companies had agreed between themselves rather unprogressively after the second series of the so-called Races to the North of 1895.” [1: p4]
Close co-operation between the CR and the LNWR was the order of the day, as was a similar co-operation between The North British Railway and the North Eastern Railway on the east coast of the UK. But Carlisle was the frontier between the two and the Cr was independent of the LNWR in most things.
A general map of the Caledonian Railway network, Public Domain. [4]
In the 1830s and 1840s much thought was given to building a railway from central Scotland to join the growing English railway network. The hilly terrain and sparse population of the Southern Uplands made the choice of route contentious. [5]
Caledonian Railway 4-6-0 steam locomotive No. 910 on a heavy passenger duty! [90]
Drew tells us that “the Caledonian was conceived as a link between England and central Scotland and Glasgow before the most northerly component of the railways – the Lancaster & Carlisle Railway, eventually amalgamated into the LNWR – was projected. Alone of the four Anglo-Scottish trunk routes proposed in the late 1830s, the CR line from the south. from Carlisle via Annandale and Beattock, forking near Symington for Glasgow and Edinburgh, served both cities equally well. The Annandale route was chosen by that great engineer Joseph Locke. after some hesitation, in preference to the route via Dumfries. Nithsdale and Kilmarnock, which was more or less the alignment of the Glasgow & South Western and could not reach Edinburgh except through industrial Lanarkshire or by a detour through difficult terrain south of Glasgow.” [1: p5]
Wikipedia comments that, “the Caledonian Railway succeeded in opening its line by way of a summit at Beattock in 1847 and 1848. It connected Glasgow and Edinburgh with Carlisle, and there was a branch to connect with another railway to Perth. The approaches to Glasgow were over existing mineral lines, but a superior route was later built.” [5] The Carlisle-Glasgow main line was the Caledonian’s first trunk route. The Caledonian Railway Act received the Royal Assent on 31st July 1845, and the first section was opened from Carlisle to Beattock on 10th September 1847. The two cities of Edinburgh and Glasgow were reached by 15th February 1848. Drew tells us that, “the Glasgow terminus, Buchanan Street, was not opened until the following year. The station first used was Port Dundas, approached over the metals of the Glasgow, Garnkirk & Coatbridge [Railway], which the CR absorbed.” [1:p5]
Wikipedia comments: “Glasgow was reached over the Glasgow, Garnkirk and Coatbridge Railway (successor to the Garnkirk and Glasgow Railway), and the Wishaw and Coltness Railway, which the Caledonian had leased from 1st January 1847 and 1st January 1846 respectively. The Glasgow station was [initially] the Townhead terminus of the Glasgow, Garnkirk and Coatbridge Railway.” [3][8]
Wikipedia continues: “During the process of seeking Parliamentary authorisation, the Caledonian observed that the Clydesdale Junction Railway was being promoted. The Caledonian acquired that line during its construction, and it opened in 1849. It gave an alternative and shorter access to another Glasgow passenger terminal, named South Side, and to the Clyde quays at General Terminus (over the connected General Terminus and Glasgow Harbour Railway). The South Side station was already being used by the Glasgow, Barrhead and Neilston Direct Railway, worked by the Caledonian. One day, they hoped, they might extend that line into Ayrshire. Meanwhile, the line was leased (for 999 years) to the Caledonian in 1849.” [3][8][21][24]
“The Caledonian recognised that the Townhead terminus was unsatisfactory and constructed a deviation from Milton Junction to a new Glasgow terminus at Buchanan Street. It opened on 1st November 1849.” [3]
Glasgow Buchanan Street station buildings remained essentially unaltered over the years until their closure to passenger traffic in November 1966 when all remaining services transferred to Queen Street Railway Station.
Drew comments that the other two routes considered for trunk routes between the central belt of Scotland and the English network were one via the East Coast and the other inland from Newcastle via Hexham. He states that, “by the East Coast route of the North British from Berwick-on-Tweed there was no reasonable alternative to passing through Edinburgh (or through hilly country in its southern suburbs) to get to Glasgow. The fourth projected Anglo-Scottish route was from Newcastle to Edinburgh via Hexham and inland from the eventual East Coast main line; only disjointed branch lines, mostly closed, mark part of its course today.” [1: p5]
The Caledonian’s Edinburgh terminus was originally on Lothian Road. It opened in 1848 and had a single platform which served both arrivals and departures, and a two-road goods shed with a single loading platform. During 1865, the Caledonian was considering how to improve it, and considered making arrangements with the North British Railway to use Waverley Station. The local authority was anxious that there should be a single main station in the city. However the North British was hostile in principle, and the idea came to nothing. [7][8]
Major extension was essential, and “on 2nd May 1870 a new temporary station was opened adjacent to, and to the north of Lothian Road; it was named Princes Street. It was a wooden structure; the Caledonian was short of cash at this time and a more imposing terminal was not affordable. The passenger part of the station now had two platforms.” [7]
During 1890 the wooden terminus building at Princes Street was partly dismantled in preparation for improvement, “when on 16th June a fire broke out, substantially destroying much of the buildings. The new, spacious station accommodation was progressively brought into use in 1893 and 1894; it had nine platforms, and had cost over £250,000. Powers were obtained for building an adjacent hotel, but it was not opened, as the Caledonian Hotel, until December 1903.” [7][8]
The Caledonian Railway eventually served nearly all the economically important areas of the Lowlands other than the Fife coalfield. It was an outlet to the rest of the UK for trafic from the Northeast – particularly fish. It was in strident competition in and around Glasgow and throughout the central Lowlands with the NBR and GSWR. In Edinburgh, Perth, Dundee and along the coast to Aberdeen it was striving against the NBR, and at Ardrossan it battled against the GSWR. “It had to fight hard for most of its traffic, which comprised coal and other minerals, livestock, distillers’ grain and other agricultural produce; Glasgow and Edinburgh suburban commuters including train and steamer passengers ‘doon the water’ to and from the Clyde coast and islands; Glasgow-Edinburgh and Glasgow-Dundee inter-city passengers; and a high proportion of the Anglo-Scottish freight and passenger traffic because so much of England – for example, the West Riding and the Midlands could be reached equally well by Carlisle and by Berwick.” [1: p7]
Wikipedia comments that “as 1849 drew to a close, the Caledonian Railway had completed its first task: the railway was open from Glasgow and Edinburgh to Carlisle, with through trains running to and from London. Between Glasgow and Edinburgh a competitive service was run, although the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway completed the journey faster. Carlisle Citadel station was in use, jointly owned with the London and North Western Railway. Through trains ran to Stirling and Perth over the Scottish Central Railway line from Greenhill.” [5]
The Caledonian’s trunk line progressed North towards Aberdeen from Peth and a branch was provided from Perth to Dundee. “Joseph Locke played the chief part in planning and co-ordinating the construction of a series of independent concerns which, after rather complex amalgamations, in 1866 took Caledonian trains into Aberdeen on CR tracks. Chief among them were the Scottish Central [Railway] and the Scottish North Eastern [Railway]. … The relatively low cost of construction through Strathmore and complications involving the North British [Railway] in Angus … influenced the main route eastwards from Perth via Glamis and Forfar to meet the North British at Kinnibar Junction. … Dundee was a CR terminus for most CR traffic. East of Dundee (and with a separate passenger terminus in that city) was the Dundee & Arbroath Joint line (CR and NBR). CR Aberdeen trains did not run via Dundee, as they do today after closure of the Strathmore line.” [1: p7]
The Caledonian Railway had intended to lease, or absorb, the Scottish Central Railway (SCR), which obtained its act of Parliament on the same day as the Caledonian. The SCR needed a partner railway to get access to Glasgow and Edinburgh, that was provided by the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway (E&GR). The SCR opened from Greenhill Junction with the E&GR to Perth on 22 May 1848, and the Caledonian opened its branch to reach Greenhill Junction on 7 August 1848. The SCR remained independent for some time, building Perth General station. Because it provided access for a number of railways to Perth, the station was managed by a Joint Committee. The Perth General Station Joint Committee, later the Perth Joint Station Committee, was formed in 1859 to manage Perth railway station, initially consisting of the Scottish Central Railway, North British Railway, Scottish North Eastern Railway, and the Inverness and Perth Junction Railway, later including the Caledonian Railway, North British Railway and Highland Railway. [9][10]
The SCR itself managed to absorb some local railways; the Crieff Junction Railway had opened from Crieff to what later became Gleneagles station in 1856, and it was worked by the SCR and absorbed in 1865. [9]
In 1858 the Dunblane, Doune and Callander Railway was opened in 1858. It achieved considerable significance as the starting point for the Callander and Oban Railway. It was absorbed by the SCR in 1865 immediately before the SCR amalgamated with the Caledonian Railway on 1st August 1865, finally having gained Parliamentary approval to do so. [9]
The Scottish Midland Junction Railway (SMJR) “built a line from Perth to Forfar; at Perth it used the Scottish Central Railway joint station. The main line ran through the fertile area of Strathmore and the SMJR adopted two existing short lines that were on a suitable alignment. They were the Newtyle and Coupar Angus Railway and the Newtyle and Glammiss Railway. Both were unsuccessful adjuncts to the Dundee and Newtyle Railway, built using stone block sleepers and a track gauge of 4 ft 6+1⁄2 in (1,384 mm). The two short lines were modernised and altered to double track using standard gauge. At Forfar the SMJR joined the Arbroath and Forfar Railway, another earlier stone block railway, in this case using the track gauge of 5 ft 6 in (1,676 mm). The SMJR opened in 1848.” [3]
The NBR had, for many years, running powers over the CR, from Kinnaber to Aberdeen but was not competitive in the speed to the journey North until the 1890s, after completion of the Forth Bridge. Drew tells us that “railway strategy in Scotland was utterly changed by the failure of the Caledonian in the 1850s to amalgamate with the poverty-stricken 47-mile Edinburgh & Glasgow Railway. (The CR at that time had financial and administrative troubles of its own, which had led it in 1849 to propose operation of the CR system by the LNWR, which Euston turned down flat.) The CR continued to run its own Glasgow-Edinburgh trains over its own route, which remained circuitous at the western end until Glasgow Central was opened in 1879. The Edinburgh & Glasgow was absorbed into the NBR in 1865.” [1: p7] That take-over secured access for the NBR to Glasgow, the Firth of Clyde and much of the central Lowlands.
Drew comments: “The NBR improved the Glasgow Edinburgh passenger services and developed them as both inter-city and Anglo-Scottish trains. Only later did the CR begin to run rival, and in some ways better, Glasgow-Edinburgh expresses over its slightly shorter though more steeply graded line: it was spared, of course, the Cowlairs incline up from the North British Glasgow Queen Street terminus.” [1: p7]
The Aberdeen Railway was “to run north from Guthrie, a few miles northwest of Arbroath. Joining the Arbroath and Forfar Railway (A&FR) there, it obtained access to both termini of that line. It was authorised to lease the A&FR. The Aberdeen Railway may have underestimated the cost of upgrading the A&FR’s stone block track, and it ran out of money building its own main line; its construction was delayed and it encountered political difficulty in Aberdeen itself. It opened in 1850 to Ferryhill, on the southern margin of the city, extending to Guild Street station in 1854. There were branches to Brechin and Montrose.” [3]
From its inception, the Caledonian Railway saw itself as the creator of an extensive network in Scotland, and “it set about gaining control of as many other Scottish railways as possible. It did so not by purchasing them, but by leasing them. This had the advantage that no payment was required at first, only a periodical payment much later. The Caledonian negotiated with the SCR, the SMJR and the Aberdeen Railway and believed it had captured them, but the SCR had other ideas. Much later the Caledonian found that the periodical lease payments were unaffordable, and it was rescued by the legal opinion that the lease agreements had been ultra vires.” [3]
An important development in the history of Scottish railways was the “completion in 1863 of the Perth to Inverness via Forres route of what became soon afterwards the Highland Railway (HR). It gave much better access from the south to the central and northern Highlands and was just in time to enable the Caledonian to profit [from] the rapid growth of tourism in the Highlands. The CR was the chief source of HR passenger and freight traffic from and to the south. During the grouse-shooting and deer stalking seasons the trains between Euston and HR stations [via] the West Coast route, the CR and Perth included many horses and carriages.” [1: p7] These were only replaced by motor vehicles as the Edwardian era developed. The Caledonian encourged the upper class passtimes. “It was indulgent about attaching and detaching horseboxes, carriage flats and motorcar vans at its own stations … Many of the extra West Coast expresses during the season included such vehicles, which caused relatively minor marshalling problems south of Perth.” [1: p7]
At Perth, “long caravans of miscellaneous vehicles were made up and remarshalled. They included not only West and East Coast Joint Stock but also Midland & North British sleeping cars which ran between St Pancras and Inverness via Carlisle, Edinburgh and Perth.” [1: p7]
The Highland main line was mostly only a single track: there was often a motive-power shortage at peak periods, so that trains were often made over late to the CR at Perth. Northbound LNWR trains were often late at Carlisle, perhaps due to difficulties securing sufficient motive power. The LNWR had frequent recurse to double-heading until more powerful locomotives appeared in the early years of the 20th century. The Caledonian often found itself having to make up for the delayes caused by these other companies.
The Caledonian’s own mountainous route – the line from Dunblane via Callander and Crianlarich to Oban – is covered in a separate article which can be found here. [11] The punctuality record on that line was good, “partly because there was competition with the NBR West Highland line from 1898 onwards for traffic to the Western Isles.” [1: p8]
Drew tells us that, “a service which was more inter-city than its name implied, the ‘Grampian Corridor Express’ of 1905, from Glasgow and Edinburgh to Aberdeen, was selected for the allocation of new trainsets of magnificent 12-wheel vehicles. The Grampian ran from Buchanan Street to Perth, where it combined with an Edinburgh Princes Street portion that ran over part of the NBR Edinburgh-Glasgow main line from near Edinburgh to Larbert.” [1: p8] … He also notes the “CR’s regard for its Glasgow-Edinburgh expresses, for which some of the new coaches were 12-wheel non-bogie coaches with elliptical roofs.” [1: p8]
Drew draws attention to: the expansion of the Caledonian’s Clyde shipping services in the late 19th century, with new branches, stations and piers; and the construction of the Caledonian sub-surface lines under the centre of Glasgow (the Glasgow Central Railway. [1: p8]
The Glasgow Central Railway was built by the Caledonian Railway, running in tunnel east to west through the city centre. “It was opened in stages from 1894 and opened up new journey opportunities for passengers and enabled the Caledonian Railway to access docks and industrial locations on the north bank of the River Clyde. An intensive and popular train service was operated, but the long tunnel sections with frequent steam trains were smoky and heartily disliked.” [12] The CR’s line in the centre of the city “paralleled the North British Railway routes in the area, and after nationalisation of the railways the line declined and was closed in stages from 1959 to 1964.” [12]
Drew, writing in 1975, points forward to possible future uses of the closed tunnels [1: p8] and in 1979, “the central part of the route was reopened as an electrically operated passenger railway, the Argyle Line; this was greatly popular and enhanced connecting routes to west and east made this a valuable link through the city once more. The Argyle Line section is in heavy use today, but the other parts remain closed.” [12]
Wikipedia tells us that the Argyle Line “serves the commercial and shopping districts of Glasgow’s central area, and connects towns from West Dunbartonshire to South Lanarkshire. Named for Glasgow’s Argyle Street, the line uses the earlier cut-and-cover tunnel running beneath that thoroughfare. … The term ‘Argyle Line’ is commonly used to describe:the extensive urban passenger train service that connects the towns and suburbs of North Clyde with Motherwell, Larkhall, and Lanark, to the southeast. Of the 48 stations, 4 are in West Dunbartonshire, 4 in East Dunbartonshire, 17 in Glasgow City, 10 in North Lanarkshire, and 13 in South Lanarkshire; and thecentral portion of railway infrastructure encompassing less than 5 miles (8 km).” [12]
Drew continues: “Associated with the underground lines was the rebuilding and expansion of Glasgow Central passenger station including a low-level station on the CR underground; widening of the bridge over the Clyde to 20 tracks and creation of what for many years was, and in many ways still is, Britain’s most convenient major passenger terminus, in the heart of the city. Electrification and dieselisation have enabled Central to swallow the traffic (admittedly smaller than before as regards the number of trains) previously dealt with at St Enoch Station on closure by British Rail of the former GSWR terminus.” [1: p8]
The Caledonian Railway Bridge crosses the River Clyde at Broomielaw adjacent to Glasgow Central Station. The first structure built between 1876 and 1878 for the Caledonian Railway Company and opened on 1st August 1879, “was engineered by Blyth and Cunningham and built by Sir William Arrol & Co. It consisted of wrought iron lattice girders linked at the top by a light arched lattice girder, and carried on a cast iron arch over twin piers in the river. The piers are formed of cast iron cylinders sunk to bedrock and filled with concrete, and then extended above the river with Dalbeattie granite.” [14]
“The approach span over Clyde Place to the south was 60 feet (18 m) long and over Broomielaw to the north of the river was 90 feet (27 m) long. The navigation spans were 164 feet (50 m), 184 feet (56 m) and 152 feet (46 m) long. The bridge carried four tracks into the new Glasgow Central Station.” [15][18]
The second bridge was built between 1899–1905 during the expansion of Central Station, to a design by D. A. Matheson, chief engineer of the Caledonian Railway. Arrol and Co. was the contractor for this bridge as well. [17] “The foundations for the bridge are rectangular sunk caissons, sunk by the compressed air chamber method used on the Forth Bridge to a depth of up to 48 feet (15 m) below the river bed. The central span is 194 feet (59 m) long with Linville truss girders 15 feet 9 inches (4.80 m) deep. The parapet girders are around 10 feet (3.0 m) deep, and suspended on curved brackets. There are a minimum of eight parallel main girders in the width. The spans are of lengths 160 feet (49 m), 200 feet (61 m) and 178 feet (54 m), and the structure contains 11,000 tonnes (11,000 long tons; 12,000 short tons) of steel. [17] The total length of the bridge between the abutments is 702 feet 6 inches (214.12 m).” [18][19]
“The bridge varies in width from 35 to 62.5 metres (115 to 205 ft) and carries up to ten tracks. [17][18] It leads immediately into Glasgow Central Station on the north bank of the river. At the time of its opening, it was believed to be the widest railway bridge in existence.” [18][19]
A Caledonian Railway coke train, Plean, circa. 1910. [89]
The Caledonian’s goods operations were always commercially enterprising. The CR served all of Sctland’s main coalfields, with the exception of that in Fifeshire, and most of the heavy industry in the Glasgow area. “It was linked directly with the ports of Glasgow and its outposts on the Firth of Clyde with Leith (Edinburgh), Dundee and Aberdeen, and it virtually created Grangemouth. The Caledonian led the way in designing and providing for its customers’ new wagons, including high-capacity vehicles, for a variety of consignments. It was an early operator of fast freight trains. One of its major feats was co-operation with the English lines during World War I in moving vast tonnages of coal for warships in Scapa Flow in the Orkneys. The trains ran mostly from South Wales and the CR accepted them at Carlisle and made them over to the Highland at Perth. HR had the hardest task, of working heavy coal trains over its 300 miles of route from Perth via Inverness to Thurso, for shipment to Scapa.” [1: p9]
Although the CR was formed as an inter-city trunk line it coped manfully with other demands. “Local interests in Lanark promoted a branch line to their town, opening in 1855. Coal owners in South Lanarkshire [22] pressed for a railway connection, and the Lesmahagow Railway was formed by them, opening in 1856. It was later absorbed by the Caledonian, but other lines followed in the sparsely populated but mineral-rich area. As new coal mines opened, so new branches were needed, connecting Coalburn, Stonehouse, Strathaven, Muirkirk and Darvel and many other places, with new lines built right up until 1905. When the coal became exhausted in the second half of the 20th century, the railways were progressively closed; passenger traffic had always been light and it too disappeared. Only the passenger traffic to the Lanark and Larkhall branches remain in operation.” [3][8][21]
“In North Lanarkshire, the North British Railway was a keen competitor, having taken over the Monkland Railways. The area contained the rapidly-growing iron production area surrounding Coatbridge, and servicing that industry with coal and iron ore, and transport to local and more distant metal processing locations, dominated the Caledonian’s activity in the region. The Rutherglen and Coatbridge line, later linking Airdrie, and the Carfin to Midcalder line were routes with significant passenger traffic. Many lines to coal and iron ore pits further east were built, but serving remote areas the lines closed when the mineral extraction ceased.” [3][8][21]
Busby and East Kilbride: After rail connections became established at Barrhead (we noted above that the CR took a 999 year lease on the Glasgow, Barrhead and Neilston Direct Railway, the Glasgow & South Western Railway also built a branch to Barrhead. [26]) various interests in Bushby demanded a railway connection. This was opened by the CR in 1866. It was extended in 1868 to East Kilbride, although at that time the then small village did not generate much business for the railway. [3][8][21]
Branches South of Carstairs: When the main line was built, no branches were provided in the thinly populated terrain of the Southern Uplands. Subsequently, four independent companies made branches themselves, and the Caledonian built two. “The Symington, Biggar and Broughton Railway was opened in 1860, having been taken over by the Caledonian during construction. It was extended to Peebles in 1864.” [3][21]
The independent Dumfries, Lochmaben and Lockerbie Railway was opened in 1863. It “was encouraged by the Caledonian Railway, giving westward access into Dumfriesshire, and worked by it; the Caledonian acquired the line in 1865.” [3]
The Portpatrick Railwayopened “between Castle Douglas and Portpatrick in 1861–62 and the Caledonian Railway worked that railway; it obtained running powers over the G&SWR between Dumfries and Castle Douglas, and at a stroke the Caledonian had penetrated deep into the south-west, and to the ferry service to the north of Ireland, territory that the G&SWR had assumed was its own. The Portpatrick Railway later reformed with the Wigtownshire Railway as the Portpatrick and Wigtownshire Joint Railway; the Caledonian was a one-quarter owner.” [3][27][28]
Wikipedia continues: “The North British Railway opened its branch line to Dolphinton, east of Carstairs, and the Caledonian feared that the next step would be an incursion by the NBR into Caledonian territory, possibly seeking running powers on the main line. To head this off, the Caledonian built its own Dolphinton Branch from Carstairs; it opened in 1867. Dolphinton had a population of 260 and two railways, and traffic was correspondingly meagre, and the line closed in 1945 to passengers and in 1950 to goods.” [3][21]
“The independent Solway Junction Railway was opened in 1869, linking iron mines in Cumberland with the Caledonian Railway at Kirtlebridge, crossing the Solway Firth by a 1,940 yd (1,770 m) viaduct; the company worked the line itself. It considerably shortened the route to the Lanarkshire ironworks, and was heavily used at first, but the traffic was depleted by cheap imported iron ore within a decade. The Scottish part of the line was acquired by the Caledonian Railway in 1873, and the whole line in 1895. Serious ice damage and later heavy maintenance costs made the line seriously unprofitable and it was closed in 1921.” [3][29]
After 1880, the Caledonian’s network continued to expand. Wikipedia tells us that, “The Moffat Railway was opened from Beattock on 2nd April 1883. It was just over 1.5 miles (2.4 km) long. It was worked by the Caledonian and absorbed on 11th November 1889. The Caledonian Railway sought to develop both Moffat and Peebles as watering places, and ran The Tinto Express from both places, combining at Symington, to Edinburgh and Glasgow for several years.” [3][21]
The “Leadhills and Wanlockhead Branch was opened as a light railway from Elvanfoot in 1901–02. With challenging gradients to reach Scotland’s highest village in otherwise remote territory, the line scraped a bare living and closed in 1938.” [3][21]
In 1862, “the Greenock and Wemyss Bay Railway was authorised. It was an independent company intending to provide a fast connection from Rothesay on the Isle of Bute; it opened on 13th May 1865 and in August 1893 it amalgamated with the Caledonian Railway, having been operated by the Caledonian Railway since its opening.” [3][8][30: p78]
Wikipedia tells us that in 1889, the CR “opened an extension line from Greenock to Gourock, more conveniently situated than Greenock; this involved the expensive construction of Newton Street Tunnel, the longest in Scotland.” [3][31]
At this time after feeling frustrated with the performance of independent steamer operators, the CR sought powers to operate the vessels directly; this was refused by Parliament. So the company founded the nominally independent Caledonian Steam Packet Company (CSPC) in 1889. “The CSPC expanded its routes and services considerably; following nationalisation of the railways in 1948 it became owned by British Railways, but was divested in 1968 and later became a constituent of Caledonian MacBrayne (CalMac), which remains in state ownership.” [3][32]
Late in the 19th century, the CR began to focus on the development of suburban lines around Glasgow and Paisley. Wikipedia notes that “The Cathcart District Railway was promoted as an independent concern but heavily supported by the Caledonian. It opened in 1886 from Pollokshields to Mount Florida and Cathcart (the eastern arm of the present-day Cathcart Circle Line) in 1886, and was extended via Shawlands to form a loop in 1894. It was worked by the Caledonian, although the company retained its independence until 1923.” [3]
We have already noted the the Glasgow Central Railway which eventually became The ‘Argyle Line’. [3][25] “The Paisley and Barrhead District Railway was incorporated in 1897 and transferred to the Caledonian in 1902; it [linked] Paisley and Barrhead [to] enable a circular service from Glasgow. The line was substantially ready in 1902 but by now street tramways were electrically operated and eminently successful. It was plain that a passenger service would not be viable against tram competition and the intended passenger service was never started.” [3][30]
North of the River Clyde was both heavily populated and highly industrialised. Initiallt it was the preserve of the North British Railway and its satellites, but its importance encouraged the Caledonian to enter the area. “The Lanarkshire and Dumbartonshire Railway[33] was nominally independent, running from near Maryhill to Dumbarton, opening progressively between 1894 and 1896. In 1896 the Caledonian gained access to Loch Lomond with the opening of the Dumbarton and Balloch Joint Railway (originally built by the Caledonian and Dumbartonshire Junction Railway), built jointly with the NBR.” [3][33][36]
In 1888, the Lanarkshire and Ayrshire Railway opened a 6.5-mile (10.5 km) line “from Giffen on the Glasgow, Barrhead and Kilmarnock Joint Railway to Ardrossan. Its purpose was to shorten the route for Caledonian mineral traffic, and it was worked by the Caledonian. In 1903–04 it was extended eastwards to Cathcart and Newton, enabling the heavy mineral trains to avoid the Joint Line and the congested area around Gushetfaulds from the Lanarkshire coalfields to Ardrossan Harbour.” [3][21][34][35] Today, the only operational sections of the line are those between Newton and Neilston. Now two suburban branch lines (Newton to Glasgow Central via Kirkhill and Neilston to Glasgow Central via the Mount Florida side of the Cathcart Circle). Electrified in the early 1960s, these lines carry frequent suburban passenger trains. [35]
Around Edinburgh, an intersting development was the construction of theGranton Harbour Branch which opened in 1861, funded equally by the harbour authorities and the CR. Granton Harbour was a large industrial harbour built by lighthouse engineer, Robert Stevenson. [37]. In 1864, the Leith North Branch from the Granton line at Pilton to Leith was built, opening to passengers in 1879. [38] When, after 1900, “the port authorities built new modern docks to the east of the former Leith docks, and the Caledonian further extended its Leith line to reach the new facilities: the Leith New Lines opened in 1903. It had been planned to open a passenger service on the line, and passenger stations had been built, but tram competition made it clear that an inner suburban passenger railway was unviable and the passenger service was never inaugurated.” [3]
Wikipedia continues: “The Edinburgh main line passed close to numerous mineral workings, and several short branches and connections were made to collieries, iron workings and shale oil plants. The Wilsontown Branch from Auchengray, opened in 1860 was the most significant, and carried a passenger service.” [3] The Wilsontown Branch was a three and three-quarter mile long railway line that served the village of Wilsontown in Lanarkshire and several collieries, running from a bay platform at Auchengray Railway Station to Wilsontown Railway Station, which was the passenger terminus. [39]
The Wishaw and Coltness Railway, ran for approximately 11 miles from Chapel Colliery, at Newmains in North Lanarkshire … to the Monkland and Kirkintilloch Railway near Whifflet, giving a means of transport for minerals around Newmains to market in Glasgow and Edinburgh. built to 4ft 6 in gauge, it had several branches serving pits and ironworks. [40] The line was leased by the CR and re-gauged. In 1869, the line was extended from near Cleland Ironworks “to Midcalder Junction on the Edinburgh main line, passing through Shotts, Fauldhouse and Midcalder. This line connected to many further mines and industrial sites, and gave the Caledonian a passenger route between Glasgow and Edinburgh that competed with the North British Railway’s route through Falkirk.” [3]
The CR’s main line did not connect with a significant industiral area on the Water of Leith Southwest of Edinburgh. To address this, a branch line from Slateford to Balerno opened on 1st August 1874. [41] “The line was successful in encouraging residential building, especially at Colinton, and also leisure excursions: for a time it was known as ‘the picnic line’, but it too succumbed to more convenient transport facilities by road, and it closed to passengers in 1943.” [3]
Speculative residential development encouraged the construction of the Barnton Branch, Barnton was West of Edinburgh. “The branch line opened on 1st March 1894; the terminus was named Cramond Brig at first. The Caledonian intended to make the line into a loop, returning to the city by way of Corstorphine, but this idea was shelved.” [3][8][21]
The Callander & Oban Line was initially an independent company, it had been promised financial support by the Scottish Central Railway (SCR). The Caledonian absorbed the SCR in 1865 and the directors were dismayed at the level of commitment to a difficult construction scheme barely started. Construction took many years, reaching a station serving Killin in 1870 and Oban in 1880. The line ran on a shoestring – finances were always tight and the line was never profitable although it contributed greatly to the development of the town of Oban. A branch serving Killin was opened in 1886, [42] and another to serve Ballachulish, opened in 1903. [3][43] Articles about the Ballachulish Branch can be found here, [44] here, [45] and here. [46]
The western part of the line from Crianlarich to Oban remains open, connected to the ex-NBR West Highland Line, but the remainder has closed. [3][47][48] An article about the Callander & Oban Railway can be found here. [11]
The Strathearn Lines: “the Perth, Almond Valley and Methven Railway opened in 1858 to connect Methven to the SMJR network; it was extended to Crieff when the Crieff & Methven Railway opened in 1866.” [3][49] It eventually became part of the CR network through acquisitions and mergers.
“The upsurge in tourism in Strathearn encouraged many visitors, who used Crieff as a railhead and continued by road. In 1893 the Crieff and Comrie Railway made a short extension into Strathearn, and this encouraged ideas of completing a link right through to the Callander and Oban line. There were wild dreams of Irish cattle imports coming to Perth markets over the route. This became the Lochearnhead, St Fillans and Comrie Railway; due to serious problems raising capital, it took from 1901 to 1905 to open fully. The through traffic never developed and passenger connections at Balquhidder were poor, discouraging through travel.” [3][51]
The CR wanted the extension to Lochearnhead and the Callander and Oban line. “Moreover, it was concerned that the rival North British Railway would build such a line, abstracting much of its traffic in the area. When the Comrie company opened discussions with the Caledonian about selling their line, they found that the Caledonian was willing. In fact its offer was remarkably generous: they would repay the share capital in full, pay off the mortgage loan, and settle MacKay’s claim. This was put to a Special Shareholders’ Meeting on 9th February 1898. The shareholders agreed and the company was vested in the Caledonian Railway by Act of 1st August 1898.” [50][51]
Locomotives of the Caledonian Railway
The Caledonian Railway Locomotive Works were originally at Greenock but moved to St. Rollox, Glasgow, in 1856. Greenock Works and Shed opened in 1841 adjacent to the Greenock terminus of the Glasgow, Paisley & Greenock Railway (GP&GR). [53] The Caledonian Railway leased to GP&GR line in 1846 and at that time the Greenock Shed and Works wer enlarged to accommodate the CR’s needs. [53] The shed remained in use until 1885 when a railway extension from Greenock to Gourock required its removal and rellocation to Greenock Ladyburn Shed. [54]
“The class number used for Caledonian Railway engines was the stock number of the first member of the class to reach traffic. Hence earlier/lower numbered classes could well have appeared later in time. … Until the appointment of Dugald Drummond, unlike most other British railways, almost all engines had outside cylinders, and the 0-6-0 arrangement was quite rare, goods engines being of type 2-4-0 or 0-4-2. Passenger engines were normally 2-2-2.” [52][55]
Wikipedia tabulates all of the locomotives used by the Caledonian Railway under the names of the railway’s Chief Mechanical Engineers. The tables can be found here. [52]
Lightmoor Press published two excellent books about locomotives of the Caledonian Railway. The first by David Hamilton – Caledonian Railway Locomotives: The Formative Years – in 2019. [63] The second by H. J. C. Cornwell – Caledonian Railway Locomotives: The Classic Years – in 2020. [64]
The following series of images cover a range of examples of the Caledonian Railway’s motive power:
Drew comments that, “all Caledonian locomotives had to work hard. Every route, even Glasgow Central to Edinburgh, had its testing sections, and the Glasgow-Edinburgh expresses stopped relatively frequently to cater for outer-suburban passengers. Apart from the Glasgow-Carlisle main line, most Caledonian express passenger working involved getting away from the numerous stops necessitated by the sparse population. Some of the most exacting work was on the Clyde steamer boat trains, where every second counted in competition with the NBR and GSWR.” [1: p11]
Caledonian Railway Rolling Stock
Carriages: Lightmoor Press has released a book by Mike Williams which covers the passenger rolling-stock of the Caledonian Railway: Mike Williams; Caledonian Railway Carriages; Lightmoor Press, Lydney, 2015. [69] Mike Williams describes the carriages owned and operated by the Caledonian Railway from its opening until the 1923 Grouping, with 250 photographs and over 300 drawings. A well-produced and informative volume commensurate with the usual standard of Lightmoor Press publications.
Lightmoor Press describes the content: “The topics covered include the CR’s reaction to technological developments in railway passenger transport and the increasing attention paid to passenger comfort and convenience. The description of its carriage livery challenges some aspects of ‘received wisdom’ and deals with furnishing and internal décor. General service stock is reviewed to the end of McIntosh’s tenure in 1914, plus the carriages acquired from the West Coast Joint Stock fleet, the Pullman cars and the final designs in the Pickersgill regime. The CR Ambulance Train and other carriages in war-time service are described along with vehicles which were not part of general service stock. Saloons, Invalid carriages, Post Office vehicles, the Prison Van, Inchture horse bus and the Connel Ferry rail motor are all covered, along with some proposed designs that never saw service, including a steam rail motor. Appendices give information about the number of carriages in the fleet, their numbers, carriage orders and building dates and list the available drawings of carriages and components, with their location.” [70]
The Railway Wonders of the World article about the Caledonian Railway includes these paragraphs:
“The passenger work of the Caledonian is of high repute for speed and accommodation. As we have said enough of the West Coast service we will content ourselves here with the Grampian Corridor Express as an example. This train is made up of four varieties of coaches, composite, brake composite, brake third, and third. Each of these is 65 ft long in the body, and 68 ft 6-in over buffers, the width being 9 ft. The under-frames over headstocks are 64 ft 10-in, 44 ft between the bogie centres, and 7 ft 5-in over the sole bars, the wheel base being 56 ft.
In the composite the space between the partitions is 7 ft 4⅝-in in the first class, and 6 ft 4½-in in the third; in the brake composite it is 7 ft in the first class and 6 ft in the third, the brake compartment taking up 12 ft 2¾-in. In the brake third, in which the brake compartment occupies 27 ft 4½-in, it is 6 ft, and in the third it is 6 ft 2⅝-in. The composite seats 30 first-class passengers three aside and 24 third class four aside, the brake composite seats 18 first and 32 third, the brake third seats 40, and the third 72. The composite weighs 38 tons 4 cwt, the brake composite weighs 38 tons 11 cwt, the brake third weighs 35 tons 5 cwt, and the third 36 tons 10 cwt. These details are given to show, among other things, that appearances may be deceptive; in carriages seemingly alike there may be a difference in the knee-space making all the difference in the comfort, though in this case the smallest, 6 ft, is ample for any one of reasonable stature and attitude.
This heavy train – the Grampian – does 30 miles an hour up Dunblane bank, part of which is 1 in 73, for Beattock is not the stiffest gradient on the line, that being the 1 in 40 on the Bonnybridge branch. It is the 10 a.m. out of Buchanan Street and the 9.30 out of Edinburgh joining at Perth, where the restaurant car is put on; and the Glasgow portion weighs over 250 tons. It is not the fastest on the line, that being the 10.5 from Forfar to Perth, 321 miles in 33 minutes, the longest non-stop being the 2.17 a.m. from Carlisle to Perth, 150¾ miles in three hours; but with the exception of the Granite City Express, leaving Glasgow at 5 p.m, it is perhaps the best known.” [73]
Drawings of the Caledonian Railway Coaching Stock can be found on the Caley Coaches Ltd. website. [85] Caley Coaches Ltd. provides drawings and photographs to support its range of kits including for: 57′ Non-corridor coaches; 57′ Semi-corridor coaches; 57′ Corridor coaches; Grampian Stock; 65′ Slip Coaches; Edinburgh & Glasgow Stock; and 4 wheel “Balerno Branch” Coaches.
Wagons and Non-Passenger Coaching Stock: Lightmoor Press has also released a book by Mike Williams which covers the non-passenger rolling-stock of the Caledonian Railway: Mike Williams; Caledonian Railway Wagons and Non-Passenger Caoching Stock; Lightmoor Press, Lydney, 2013. [71]
Mike Williams details the history of the Caledonian Railways wagons from 1847 until the grouping in 1923 when the Company became part of the LMS.
Lightmoor Press says that research for the book is “based on Board minutes and other official sources, whilst over 250 official drawings have been examined. The introduction details the sources of information used and a chapter on the industrial development of Scotland outlines its influence on the size and diversity of the wagon fleet. The types of wagons and numbers in service are tabulated and the financial pressures which hamstrung the modernisation programme begun in the early 1900s are also described. An overview is offered of technical developments, which discusses how two Locomotive Superintendents transformed the wagon fleet. The liveries of wagons and Non-Passenger Coaching Stock are next described, supplemented in each case by the systems used by the Caledonian to allocate running numbers. Photographic evidence and drawings depict a far more complex picture than that presented previously. Eleven chapters then deal with different types of wagons, ranging from those built by the thousand, to small numbers of wagons for special traffic. Building dates are given for each design, whilst design developments are described and supported by photographs and works drawings. Sample running numbers are included for modellers. A further chapter describes the Caledonian’s relationship with the private traders who ran wagons over the system. Appendices list the construction orders undertaken by the company and outside contractors. The surviving works drawings are listed, with their archive references, and the photographs in an official album dating from 1900 are described. A final appendix gives information about drawings for the modeller, supported by specially commissioned drawings of details characteristic of Caledonian wagons. Produced in association with the Caledonian Railway Association.” [72]
These next few images show a few different Caledonian Railway good wagons:
Two Caledonian Railway bogie flat wagons loaded with a large steel column and base, in Glasgow, circa. 1910. [88]
To Conclude …
Paul Drew concludes his article with these words: “The Caledonian achieved its zenith in the years 1900-14. There was no activity in which it did not shine; passenger stations such as Glasgow Central, Edinburgh Princes Street, Stirling, Dundee West. and (with the Great North of Scotland) Aberdeen Joint; hotels; signalling, both semaphore and the pioneer electro-pneumatic installation at Glasgow Central; and Pullman cars, which it ran on the Oban line (as observation cars), the Glasgow-Edinburgh service and elsewhere. … [It] undoubtedly justified its claim to be the premier line of Scotland.” [1: p11]
References
Paul Drew; Caledonian Retrospect; in, Brian Stephenson (ed.), Trains Illustrated No. 14, Ian Allan, Walton-on-Thames, 1975, p4-11.
D. A. Matheson; The New Clyde Bridge of the Caledonian Railway at Glasgow. (Including Appendix and Plates); in The Institution of Civil Engineers, Minutes of the Proceedings, No. 182, (Paper No. 3764) 1910, p4–58; via https://www.icevirtuallibrary.com/doi/10.1680/imotp.1910.16924, accessed on 18th March 2025.
John Thomas revised J. S. Paterson; A Regional History of the Railways of Great Britain: Volume 6, Scotland, the Lowlands and the Borders; David and Charles, Newton Abbot, 1984.
John Thomas; The Callander and Oban Railway; David and Charles, Newton Abbot, 1966
John Thomas and David Turnock; A Regional History of the Railways of Great Britain: Volume 15: North of Scotland; David and Charles, Newton Abbot, 1989.
Charles Rous-Marten; British Locomotives in 1903; in the Bulletin of the International Railway Congress.
R. Essery & D. Jenkinson; An Illustrated History of L.M.S. Locomotives, Volume Three: Absorbed Pre-Group Classes, Northern Division; Oxford Publishing Company, 1986.
David Hamilton; Caledonian Railway Locomotives: The Formative Years; Lightmoor Press Lydney, 2019.
H. J. C. Cornwell; Caledonian Railway Locomotives: The Classic Years; Lightmoor Press, Lydney, 2020.
In July 1923, The Railway Magazine carried an article about the Callander & Oban Railway (C&O) written by G.F. Gairns. [1]
Gairns commented that the C&O constituted the third of the three great mountain lines: the Perth-Inverness line of the Highland Railway; the West Highland Line of the North British Railway; and the Callander & Oban Railway (including the Ballachulish Extension).
The Callander & Oban Railway. [1: p11]
A short series of four articles about the Ballachulish line can be found here, [2] here, [3] here, [4] and here. [5]
The C&O had previously been written about in the Railway Magazine, specifically in the issues of September 1903, August 1904, and August and September 1912. Gairns leaves the detailed history to those previous articles, apart from a brief introduction, and focusses in 1923 on a journey along the line from Stirling to Oban and to Ballachulish.
An excellent presentation of the various scenes which preceded the Callander & Oban Railway can be found in the early pages of John Thomas’, ‘The Callander & Oban Railway‘. [62: p1-26]
Ultimately, an agreement was signed between the Scottish Central Railway (SCR) and the Callander & Oban (C&O) was signed on 17th December 1864 which affirmed that the SCR would subscribe £200,000 to the scheme. “The C&O was to have nine directors, five appointed by the Scottish Central and four by the promoters. The line was to be ‘made, constructed and completed in a good, substantial sufficient and workmanlike manner, and without the adoption of timber bridges and culverts’. … The rails were to weigh 75 lb per yard and were to be laid in 24 ft lengths on larch sleepers placed at an average distance of 3 ft.” [62: p26-27]
As part of the agreement, once at least 20 miles of line directly connected to the Dunblane, Doune & Callander Railway had been constructed and passed by the Board of Trade, the Scottish Central Railway undertook work it in perpetuity, on the basis that it would receive half of the gross revenue.
The Callander & Oban Railway bill was drawn up and presented in Parliament in January 1865. … The bill sought:
“First, a Railway commencing about Five Furlongs South-westwards from the Schoolhouse in the Town of Oban called the Oban Industrial School, and terminating by a Junction with the Dunblane, Doune and Callander Railway, about One and a Half Furlongs Eastward from the Booking Office of the Callander Station of the Railway.
Secondly, a Tramway commencing by a Junction with the Railway above described about One Furlong South-westwards from the said Schoolhouse, and terminating on the Pier on the East Side of the Harbour of Oban about Two Chains Eastward from the South-western end of the said Pier.” [62: p27]
148 railway bills were passed in a two-day session of Parliament on January 1865. These included the C&O and the Dingwall & Skye Railway. Both these schemes had a similar primary purpose – to reach ports on the West Coast of Scotland to give the fishing trade access to markets in the rest of Scotland and further South.
Thomas comments: “The Callander & Oban Railway Act was passed on 8th July 1865. The first sod was not cut for over fourteen months. Five years were to pass before a revenue-earning wheel was to turn on the line (and on only 17½ miles at that), and it would be fifteen years before a train entered Oban. … But even before the Act was passed sweeping changes had transformed the railway political scene. Ten days earlier, on 29th June, the Scottish Central had won permission to take over the Dunblane, Doune & Callander as from 31st July 1865; and the Central had enjoyed its new-found gains for one day. On 1st August 1865 the Central itself had been absorbed by the Caledonian, which acquired all its assets and liabilities including the obligation to finance and operate the Callander & Oban. At the outset the C & O directors found themselves with formidable new masters.” [62: p28]
As much as the Callander & Oban had looked attractive to the Scottish Central. “It was not at all attractive to the Caledonian, whose shareholders, had no stomach for squandering cash among the Perthshire hills. … The 1861 census had shown that Oban and Callander between them possessed fewer than 3,000 inhabitants, and the scattered hamlets between the two could produce barely a thousand more. The certain dividends lying in the coal and iron traffic of the Clyde Valley were infinitely preferable to the nebulous rewards from the fish and sheep of the West Highlands.” [62: p29]
From the beginning there was a faction on that Caledonian board which wished to drop expansion towards Oban at the earliest opportunity, “but the terms of the SCR-Caledonian amalgamation agreement forbade such a course. And there was another reason, if a negative one, why the Caledonian should use caution. The amalgamations of 1865 had given the Edinburgh & Glasgow to the North British, which as the result had now penetrated deep into traditional Caledonian territory – Glasgow and the Clyde coast; and the North British already possessed and exercised running powers into Callander. If the Caledonian abandoned its awkward foster-child on the Callander doorstep, it was reasonable to suppose that the North British would attempt to pick it up.” [62: p29]
The Callander & Oban directors had undertaken to find £400,000 along the route of the railway. This proved to be a monumental task. Their first attempts brought in 201 individual shareholders who subscribed for a total of £56,360 worth of shares! The C&O may well have been stillborn had it not been for the appointment of John Anderson as the Secretary to the C&O.
Given palpable hostility between the directors, Anderson “was left to conduct the line’s affairs single-handed.” [62: p32] Thomas goes on to describe in some detail the different methods he used to achieve progress. The machinations involved need not, however, detain us here
Gairns writes:
“The Callander and Oban Railway Company was constituted in 1865. The Dunblane, Doune and Callander Railway was already in existence, having been opened in 1858. The Callander and Oban line was opened: Callander to Killin Junction, 1870; Killin Junction to Tyndrum, August, 1873; thence to Dalmally, May, 1877; and to Oban, July, 1880. At Balquhidder, at first known as Lochearnhead, the line from Crieff makes connection. This route, with connecting lines, was opened, Perth to Methven, 1838; Methven Junction to Crieff, 1866; Gleneagles (previously Crieff Junction, 1856; Crieff to Comrie, 1893; Comrie to St. Fillans, 1901; St. Fillans to Balquhidder (Lochearnhead), 1905. The Callander and Oban line has always been worked by the Caledonian Company, and is now [1923] included in the London Midland and Scottish Railway.
Dunblane is the ordinary junction for theCallander and Oban line, but trains which are not through to or from Glasgow use Stirling as their southern terminus. In some instances, ordinary Caledonian main line engines work the trains to and from Callander, the special C. and O, engines being attached or detached there, though this is mainly a traffic arrangement, convenient in the case of certain trains. At Dunblane there is an island platform on the down side, thus enabling branch trains to wait on the outer side to make connections. To Doune is double track, and the country mainly pastoral. Thence to Callander is single line, controlled by electric train tablet, as is the whole of the Callander and Oban line. The scenery continues to be of lowland character, though picturesque, but signs of the mountain country beyond show themselves. Between Doune and Callander is an intermediate crossing place – Drumvaich Crossing – to break up the long section of nearly 7 miles between stations. The original line diverged into what is now the goods station at Callander, the present station having been built when the Oban line was made. Callander station is distinctly picturesque, an ornamental clock tower surmounting the footbridge, and the station buildings being neat and attractive, while the platforms are decorated florally. It also has refreshment rooms on the platforms. On the up and down sides there are short bay lines from which locals can start as required. For down trains there is also a ticket platform, half a mile or so short of the station, but this is now used only by a few trains.” [1: p10]
Wikipedia tells us that “closure [for Callander Station] came on 1st November 1965, when the service between Callander and Dunblane ended as part of the Beeching Axe. The section between Callander and Crianlarich (lower) was closed on 27th September that year following a landslide at Glen Ogle.” [8]
This is an embedded link to a Flickr image of Callander Railway Station (seen from the road bridge at the East end of the Station) in 1973, (c) David Christie. [10]A very similar view in the 21st century. [Google Streetview, October 2016]The road bridge at the East end of Callander Raiway Station in 1967 (Ancaster Road Bridge). (c) J.R. Hume, Public Domain [11]Callander Railway Station forecourt in the 1940s, seen from the East. This image was shared on the Callander Heritage Society Facebook Page on 18th December 2023, (c) Public Domain. [12]A similar view in the 21st century. [Google Streetview, October 2016]Lookin West from Callendar Railway Station after the lifting of the rails. The tall signal box allowed for visibility beyond Leny Road Bridge which is just off the scene to the left. This image was shared on the Callendar Heritage Facebook Page on 27th September 2023. [14]
The old railway passed under Leny Road, Callander at the western end of the station site. The first image below shows the alignment of the railway looking Northeast from Leny Road. The pelican crossing marks the location of the old bridge. The second image shows the public footpath which follows the old railway to the South side of Leny Road.
The location of Leny Road Bridge, Google Streetview, July 2023]The location of Leny Road Bridge, Google Streetview, July 2023]
The first length of the railway to the West of Callander is shown on the RailMapOnline.com image below.
The route of the Callander & Oban Railway to the West of Callander as shown on the satellite imagery provided by RailMapOnline.com. Loch Lubnaig is at the top-left of this image. [15]
This embedded image from the Canmore National Record of the Historic Environment looks Northeast along the Callander & Oban railway towards Callander Railway station. The Bowstring Girder Bridge in the foreground is mentioned by Gairns below. The stone-arch bridge in the distance is the bridge that carried Leny Road over the old railway, (c) J.R. Hume. [16]
Gairns mentions the Pass of Leny and the Falls of Leny, below. The falls are shown on the map extract immediately below. The Falls can be seen in the right half of the extract.
The Falls of Leny and the Callander & Oban Railway. Note that the river – Garbh Uisge – is crossed twice by the railway. These bridges were bowstring Girder bridges like that seen above. [17]
This image is embedded from Flickr and shows one of the two girder bridges shown on the map extract above. The photograph was taken shortly before the closure of the line. (c) locoman1966. [18]
Gairns continues:
“Crossing the River Leny [Garbh Uisge] by a bowstring girder bridge, mountain country is entered in the Pass of Leny, and Ben Ledi and Ben Vane on the one side (the former skirted by the line), Ben Each, and, in the distance, Ben Vorlich, on the other, give evidence of the nature of the country traversed. The Falls of Leny can be seen on the right providing the intervening foliage is not too full. St. Bride’s Crossing, at the head of the Pass of Leny, is now only used as a crossing place at periods of special pressure. For nearly two miles the line then proceeds along the western shore, and almost at the water’s edge of Loch Lubnaig ‘the crooked lake’. A short distance beyond St. Bride’s Crossing is Craignacailleach Platform, used by children of railway servants going to school in Callander the 5.40 a.m. from Oban and the 6.45 pm from Callander, daily except Saturdays. At the picturesque little station of Strathyre, both platforms are adorned by ornamental shrubs, and on the up side there is a fountain, rockeries, rustic gate ways, etc.. lending further interest to this pretty station among its beautiful natural surroundings.
Before reaching Strathyre station the River Balvag is crossed. It keeps close company with the railway until near Kingshouse Platform, where a glimpse is had of the hills encircling Loch Val. Kingshouse Platform is used as a halt, trains calling as required, for the convenience of visitors to the Braes o’ Balquhidder.” [1: p10-11]
The adjacent RailMapOnline.com satellite image shows the railway running up the West side of Loch Lubnaig. Strathyre, mentioned by Gairns above, can be seen to the North of the Loch.
This portion of the old railway has been metalled to support its use as National Cycleway No. 7. South of the Loch, there is now a car park close to the upstream of the two bridges noted above.
The old railway formation is now the National Cycle Route No. 7. The blue line marks the route of the railway. The River Garbh Uisge is to the right of this North facing photograph. [Google Streetview, March 2009]Another North facing view, this time alongside Loch Lubnaig. The tarmacked cycle route follows the line of the old railway. [Google Streetview, May 2022]
North of Loch Lubnaig, the old railway ran North through Strathyre, first crossing the river to the East bank and few hundred metres short of the Railway Station.
This extract from the 6″ Ordnance Survey of 1898, published in 1901 [19] shows the small village of Strathyre, its railway station and the bridge over the River Leny [Garbh Uisge].
Looking South from the main platform at Strathyre Railway Station towards Callander in September 1956, (c) T. Morgan and made available for use here under a Creative Commons Licence (CC BY-SA 2.0). [20]Looking back through the station site from a minor road just to the North. [Google Streetview, July 2023]Looking North along the old railway from the same minor. [Google Streetview, July 2023]
North of Strathyre the line continued North-northeast towards Balquhidder.
RailMapOnline.com again – the satelitel image shows the route of the line North from Strathyre through Balquidder. [15]
King’s House Inn on the modern A84 had its own Halt – Kingshouse Platform. This was a request halt serving both King’s House Inn (just to the east of the line) and the road to Balquhidder Glen (to the west). The halt was built at the expense of the King’s House Inn. It was a single platform, on the east side of the line, with a waiting shelter. Both platform and building were built in timber. Traffic handled included passengers, children using the school train and milk churns. As can be seen below, the halt was located south of the road to the glen.
Kingshouse Platform (Halt) as shown on the 6″ Ordnance Survey of 1898, published in 1901. [21]Looking back along the line towards Strathyre from the road up the Glen. [Google Streetview, July 2023]Looking Northeast along the line towards Lochearnhead Railway Station from the road up the Glen. [Google Streetview, July 2023]
A short distance Northeast of Kingshouse Platform was Lochearnhead Railway Station sited some distance South of the community of the same name.
Lochearnhead Railway Station. [22]Lochearnhead Railway Station as it appears on the 25″ Ordnance Survey of 1898, published 1901. [23]The same location in the 21st century, as it appears on the ESRI satellite imagery provided by the NLS. The old railway ran from bottom-left to top-middle of this extract. [24]
The station was renamed Balquhidder Station on 1st July 1904, when the line to Crieff, Gleneagles and Perth was completed. The station then became the junction station. The branch came in from the North, paralleled by the Oban line for some distance, from the head of Loch Earn. Balquhidder station had an island platform on the up side to provide for connecting trains. A new station was built on the branch to serve Lochearnhead village. [25]
Balquhidder Railway Station looking Southwest towards Callander on 27th September 1961. The branch line was off to the left of this image, (c) Ben Brooksbank and authorised for reuse under a Creative Commons Licence (CC BY-SA 2.0). [26]
Gairns continues:
“Leaving Balquhidder the Oban line climbs steeply along the hillside as it finds its way up Glen Ogle, overlooking, in the ascent, the Crieff line as it follows the shores of Loch Earn eastward, and giving views over the waters of the Loch, amidst their mountain setting, which are said to be the finest in the British Isles. … Nearly 8 miles separate Balquhidder and Killin Junction stations, though there is an intermediate crossing – Glenoglehead. This was the site of the original Killin station, before the opening of the Killin Branch Railway. The whole length of ‘gloomy’ Glen Ogle – a wild rocky valley, four miles in length, described as the Khyber Pass of Scotland – is traversed, with its rocky boulder-strewn slopes, the railway being carried in places on brick or masonry viaducts around the face of the rock where the cutting of a ledge was well-nigh impossible. For most of the ascent the view from the train is down almost precipitous slopes, continued upwards on the other side.” [1: p11]
The Oban line runs South to North on this extract from the RailMapOnline.com satellite imagery. The branch turns away to run East along the North side of Loch Earn which just peeps into this satellite image at the bottom-right. [15]Four pictures of Glen Ogle Viaduct. The first was taken from the opposite side of the valley, (c) Euan Reid, Octobr 2024. [Google Maps, November 2024]Summer (c) Craig McArdle. (2023)Autumn (c) Sky T. (2021)Winter (c) Ken Schwart (2022)This next extract from RailMapOnline.com’s satellite imagery shows that to the North of Glen Ogle the old railway turned to the West. The line entering the extract from the top and meeting with the Callander & Oban Railway is the Killin Branch. [15]
Gairns continues:
“At the northern end of the Pass the line curves westward, overlooking the Loch Tay branch which runs from Killin Junction to the little town of Killin, with an extension of about a mile to a pier on Loch Tay to connect with the railway steamers which serve the whole length of the Loch, glimpses of which are had from the Oban train. The branch is on a lower level and its track can be seen for a long distance from the main line. The branch railway is one of very heavy gradients. At Killin Junction it makes connection with the main line which has descended from Glenoglehead to meet it. The station here has the usual island platform on the up side, to accommodate the branch trains clear of the main line.” [1: p11-12]
Looking South towards Lochearnhead, the A85 and the route of the old railway run immediately adjacent to each other alongside Locham Lairig Cheile which is just off the right side of this photograph. [Google Streetview, May 2022]Looking North towards Glenoglehead Crossing at the smae location as the image above. Lochan Lairig Cheile ican be picked out on the left of the image. [Google Streetview, May 2022]
Glenoglehead Crossing permitted two trains on the line to pass each other.
A Google Maps satellite image extract showing the location of Glenoglehead Crossing in the 21st century. It was once known as Killian Railway Station (even though over 3 miles from Killin) and was at that time the northern terminus of the Callander & Oban Railway. [Google Maps, November 2024]
From Glenoglehead the line dropped down to Killin Junction. The two map extracts above come from the same 6″ Ordnance Survey sheet surveyed in 1899 and printed in 1901. [27]
The location of Glenoglehead Railway Station with the original station building in private hands. [Google Streetview, May 2022]The route of the old railway descending from Glenoglehead. [Google Streetview, May 2022]The line ran West on the Southern slopes of Glen Dochart. {Google Streetview, May 2022]An enlarged extract from the 6″ Ordnance Survey of 1899 showing the location of Killin Junction. [27]A similar length of the line on the RailMapOnline.com satellite imagery. [15]Killin Junction Railway Station and Signal Box. This view looks Southwest through the station towards the Signal Box. This image is one of a number which scroll across the screen on [28]Killin Junction Railway Station. This view looks Northeast. The image is one of a number which scroll across the screen on https://railwaycottagekillin.co.uk/history [28]
Just to the Southwest of Killin Junction the line was carried over the Ardchyle Burn on a stone viaduct – Glendhu Viaduct.
Glendu Viaduct carried the old railway over the Ardchyle Burn, (c) Richard Webb and made available for resue under a Creative Commons Licence (CC BY-SA 2.0), [29]
A short distance to the West of the viaduct, a farm acess track was carried over the railway on a stone arched bridge.
Farm access bridge over the old railway. This image was shared on the Re-Appreciate the Callander & Oban Line Facebook Group by John Gray on 6th October 2018. [32]
Along the length of the old railway between Killin Junction and Luib Railway Sation two more structures are worthy of note. First, Ledcharrie Viaduct at around the half-way point between Killin Junction and Luib spans the Ledcharrie Burn. [33] The second is Edravinoch Bridge which was a girder bridge which once spanned the Luib Burn. The aboutments remain but the girders were removed for scrap on closure of the line. [34] Bothe the pictures below were taken by John Gray and shared by him on the Re-Appreciate the Callander & Oban Line Facebook Group on 4th October 2018. John Gray’s photographs are reproduced here with his kind permission.
Ledcharrie Viaduct. [33]Edravinoch Bridge. [34]
The next station on the old railway was Luib Railway Station in Glen Dochart.
River, road and railway in close proximity at Luib Railway Station. The 6″ Ordnance Survey of 1898, published in 1901. [30]The site of Luib Railway station is, in the 21st century, Glen Dochart Holiday Park. [15]
This view looking West from Luib Railway Station is embedded from Ernie’s Railway Archive on Flickr, (c) J.M. Boyce. Note the signal box and the stone water tower base. [31]The old road alignment and under bridge to the West of the Luib Railway Station site. [35]Just to the West of Luib Railway Station the line crossed what became the A85. There is no clear indication on the groud of the location of the bridge as road improvements have swept away the vestiges of the old railway in the immediate vicinity. [Google Maps, November 2024]
Gairns continues:
“Westward past Luib to Crianlarich, Glen Dochart is traversed, with the River Dochart, until it merges into Loch Iubhair, succeeded in turn by Loch Dochart, and the public road, for company close alongside. Here splendid views are hard on both sides, bare mountain slopes being relieved by wooded areas, while rushing burns and streamlets add further interest. On both sides are peaks of considerable height, notably Ben Dheiceach (3,074 ft.) to the North, Ben More (3,843 ft.) immediately ahead, and Stobinian (3,821 ft.) to the South, with many others in the distance.
Crianlarich is important as it provides for interchange traffic with the West Highland line to Fort William and Mallaig, which here crosses. The stations are within a short distance, and there is siding connection for interchange goods traffic. The Callander and Oban station is a neatdouble-platformed station with rather attractive buildings on the down side, Just beyond the station the North British Railway crosses by an overbridge, and Crianlarich Junction is then reached, this controlling the connection with the West Highland line.” [1: p12-13]
Two different railways crossed at Crianlarich. The Callander & Oban Railway ran East-West. The West Highland Line ran North-South. The East-West line and station were opened on 1st August 1873 by the Callander and Oban Railway. This was the first railway station in Crianlarich. The station was originally laid out with two platforms, one on either side of a crossing loop. There were sidings on the south side of the station. After the West Highland Railway opened in 1894, Crianlarich could boast two railway stations. The West Highland Railway crossed over the Callander and Oban Railway by means of a viaduct located a short distance west of the Lower station. The West Highland Railway’s Crianlarich station was (and still is) located a short distance south of this viaduct. [36]The two lines plotted on the modern satellite imagery provided by RailMapOnline.com. The blue line being the Callander and Oban Railway, the red line being the West Highland Line. The link line between the two stations/railways was put in by the West Highland Line and is shown in red. [15]
Crianlarich Junction was situated half a mile west of Crianlarich Lower station. Opened on 20th December 1897, the junction was located at one end of a short link line that ran to Crianlarich station on the West Highland Railway. There were two signal boxes: “Crianlarich Junction East” (32 levers) and “Crianlarich Junction West” (18 levers). Following closure of the line east from Crianlarich Lower, the line between there and Crianlarich Junction was retained as a siding, with the link line becoming the main line for trains to and from Oban. [37]
Crianlarich Lower Railway Station on the Callander and Oban Railway. The picture appears to have been taken in circa. the 1920s. Note that by this time the second platform and the loop had been removed. It is also [possible to see the high level viaduct which carried the West Highland line over the road (A85), the Callander and Oben Railway and the River Fillan. This image was shared by Brian Previtt on the Disused Stations Facebook Group on 25th October 2024, (c) photographer not known, Public Domain. [38]
The line to the West of Crianlarich Junction remains in use in the 21st century.
Gairns continues his description of the line:
“Onwards through Strath Fillan magnificent views are had, and for some miles the West Highland line runs parallel, but on the opposite side of the valley, climbing up the hillside, after crossing the viaduct over the River Fillan until both lines are almost on the same level, with the valley between. Both lines have stations at Tyndrum (a favourite mountain resort), though these are some half-a-mile apart. The Callander and Oban station is a neat tree-shaded [location], with the goods yard at a lower level.” [1: p13]
The Callander & Oban Railway’s Tyndrum Railway Station sat to the South of the Hotel which the West Highland Line’s station to the North. [39]
Wikipedia tells us that Tyndrum Lower Station “opened on 1st August 1873 as a terminal station. This was the first railway station in the village of Tyndrum. Until 1877, it was the western extremity of the Callander and Oban Railway. In 1877, the Callander and Oban Railway was extended from Tyndrum to Dalmally. Concurrently, the station was relocated 301 yards (275 m) west, onto the new through alignment. The new station was on a higher level, as the line had to climb steeply to reach the summit about 0.6 miles (1 km) to the west. The old terminus then became the goods yard. The through station was originally laid out with two platforms, one on each side of a passing loop.” [40]
Tyndrum Lower and Upper Tyndrum Railway Stations can be seen on this extract from RailMapOnline.com’s satellite imagery. The image shows the route(also in blue) of a tramroad which served Tyndrum Lead Mines and Glengarry Lead Smelter (a little to the East of Tyndrum). After the closure of the smelter transfer to wagons of the Callander & Oban Railway took place at Tyndrum Lower Railway Station. [15]Tyndrum Lower Railway Station in 2015 – a single platform Halt. The platform is on the North side of the line. This view looks East toward Crianlarich, (c) Alex17595 and made available under a Creative Commons Licence (CC BY-SA 4.0). [41]Looking West along the line from the access road/carpark at Tyndrum Lower Railway Station. [Google Streetview, April 2011]
Gairns’ description of the line continues:
“Passing Tyndrum station a final view is had of the West Highland line [before] it turns its course northwards, while the Callander and Oban line makes a long sweep southwesterly through Glen Lochy, wild and bare. An intermediate crossing, Glenlochy breaks the 12-mile run from Tyndrum to Dalmally. Approaching the rather pretty station at the latter place, Glen Orchy is joined, fine views being had along it. Dalmally, at the foot of Glen Orchy, has been described as ‘the loveliest spot in all that lovely glen’. A short run of less than 3 miles crossing the Orchy and rounding a bay on Loch Awe, and incidentally giving beautiful views up the Loch, and Loch Awe station is reached, right on the water side, and with a pier alongside for the steamers which ply along the Loch. For four miles or so the line runs high on the base at Ben Cruachan and follows the shores of the Loch through the gloomy Pass of Brander in which the waters of the loch merge into the brawling River Awe most turbulent of Highland salmon streams, Three miles beyond Loch Awe station the Falls of Cruachan Platform is a convenience for visitors to the celebrated Falls, a glimpse of which is had from the train in passing. The crossing place is, however, Awe Crossing, a mile or so beyond. A further run of 41 miles and Taynuilt is reached, beyond which the shores of Loch Etive are followed to Connel Ferry, a run of 64 miles, with one intermediate station – Ach-na-Cloich – and providing lovely views over the loch and the hills and mountains. beyond.” [1: p13]
Glenlochy Crossing, which Gairns describes as “An intermediate crossing, Glenlochy breaks the 12-mile run from Tyndrum to Dalmally.” This image shows what is recorded on the 6″ Ordnance Survey of 1898, published in 1900. [41]The same location as it appears in the 21st century on the ESRI satellite imagery provided by the NLS. The site of Glenlochy Crossing is in the trees close to the centre of this image. which runs diagonally down the centre portion of the imageof this image. The A85 runs to the West of the old railway’s route which runs diagonally down the centre portion of the image. The River Lochy passes immediately to the West of Glenlochy Crossing (left of centre). [41]
Glenlochy Crossing was a passing loop opened in 1882 to increase the capacity of the line. It broke the singl-track section between Tyndrum Lower and Dalmally. The building shown just to the East of the line was similar to that found at other crossings (such as Drumvaich Crossing and Awe Crossing0. It combined a railway cottage with a signal cabin. When first built the loop had two trailing sidings one at each end of the loop. We know that the loop was lifted in 1966 when the building was also demolished. There is still a footbridge across the River Lochy which gave access to the Crossing but that is now locked against public access. [42]
The Callander & Oban Railway closely followed the South bank Of the River Lochy, only turning away to the South to cross Eas a Ghaill (a tributary which approached the River Lochy from the South) by means of Succoth Viaduct.
Succoth Viaduct. This is an embedded link to an image on the GetLostMountaineering.co.uk webpage. The viaduct carries what was the Callander & Oban Railway over Eas a Ghaill. [43]
The line runs almost due West from Succoth Viaduct at a distance from the River Lochy until it reaches Dalmally Railway Station.
Dalmally Railway Station as it appears on the 6″ Ordnance Survey of 1897, published in 1900. [44]Dalmally Railway Station as it appears on the satellite imagery provided by RailMapOnline.com. [15]Looking West through Dalmally Railway Station, this mage was shared by Donald Taggart on Google Maps, (c) Donald Taggart (March 2020)A similar view of the station buildings at Dalmally from Platform No. 2, (c) Anna-Mária Palinčárová. (June 2017), shared by her on Google Maps.
This photograph was taken from the Road overbridge at the West end of Dalmally Railway Station site, (c) inett (November 2017) and shared on Google Maps.
the road overbridge at the West end of Dalmally Station site seen from the ned of Platform No. 1, (c) Marian Kalina (November 2017) and shared on Google Maps.
The Station approach, seen from the West, Dalmally. [Google Streetview, November 2021]The road over the bridge at the West end of Dalmally Railway Station site. [Google Streetview, May 2022]
West of Dalmally the line ran on towards a viaduct which crossed the River Lochy at Drishaig. However, we need to note that the road layout in this immediate area is considerably different to what was present at the turn of the 20th century.
The Southeast approach to the viaduct over the River Orchy as it appears on the 1897 Ordnance Survey, published in 1900. [46]The smae area as it appears on the 21st century RailMapOnline.om satellite imagery with two roads appearing where non were evident at the turn of the 20th century. [15]The view East from the bridge carrying the A819 over the railway. [Google Streetview, November 2021]The view West from the bridge carrying the A819 over the railway. [Google Streetview, November 2021]
Just a short distance to the West, the line crossed the River Orchy at the East end of Loch Awe.
Further West of Dalmally, the line bridged the River Orchy at Drishaig. The mineral Railway which branched off the Callander & Oban Railway at Drishaig served the Ben Chruachan Quarry which was high on the East flank of Ben Chruachan. [45]The same location as it appears in satellite imagery in the 21st century. [15]An aerial image of Lochawe Railway Bridge with the A85 bridge behind. This aerial image was shared on Google Maps in September 2022, (c) Kevin Newton. [Google Maps, November 2024]Lochawe Railway Bridge seen from ground level. This image was shared on Google Mpas in April 2021, (c) Wojciech Suszko. [Google Maps, November 2024]
The Ben Cruachan Quarry Branch was standard-gauge and ran North from Drishaig. It is shown here as it appears on the 6″ Ordnance Survey of 1897, published in 1900. The line North from Drishaig appears on the map extract on the left. [47]
Ben Cruachan Quarry itself, shown on the next 6″ OS Map Sheet. The quarry was on the eastern slopes of Ben Cruachan. The full extent of the quarry’s internal railways is not shown. [48].
Ben Cruachan Quarry was multi-levelled and was accessed by the railway which zig-zagged to gain height. The RailScot website rells us that”The ground frame for this short Ben Cruachan Quarries Branch (Callander and Oban Railway) was released by a tablet from Loch Awe station for the section to Dalmally. The quarry had its own pair of 0-4-0ST locomotives.” [49]
Just a short distance Southwest of Drishaig was the Lochawe Hotel which had its own railway station alongside the Loch.
Lochawe Railway Station and Hotel in 1897 as shown on the 6″ Ordnance Survey sheet of that year. [50]The same location as shown on the satellite imagery of RailMapOnline.com. [15]A postcard view of Lochawe Railway Station and Hotel, (c) Public Do9main. [52]Lochawe Railway Station in 2015. The removed second platform can be seen easily, (c) Tom Parnell and licenced for reuse under a Creative Commons Licence (CC BY-SA 2.0). [51]
The line ran across the North shore of Loch Awe to a Halt named for the Falls of Cruachan – Falls of Churachan Platform.
The Falls of Cruachan Platform as shown on the 6″ Ordnance Survey of 1897. [50]The same location in the 21st century. There is a significant hydro electric scheme at this location which has a visitor centre and its own Railway Station – Falls of Cruachan Railway Station. [15]A train approaching Falls of Cruachan Railway Station from the West in 2024, (c) Alex Morgan. (July 2024)The Falls of Cruachan Railway Station sat immediately above and t the North of the A85, (c) Alex Morgan. (July 2024)
The line continues West/Northwest along the Northside of the River Awe. It crosses the river just North of The Bridge of Awe. Just prior to reaching the Viaduct the line bridged the minor road which served properties on the North side of the River Awe.
The bridge over the minor road mentioned above – seen from the Southwest. [Google Streetview, May 2022]The bridge over the minor road mentioned above – seen from the Northeast. [Google Streetview, May 2022]
A matter of not much more than a couple of hundred metres to the West of the minor road, the line bridges the River Awe.
The Bridge of Awe with the Railway Viaduct just to the North, as they appear on the 6″ Ordnance Survey of 1897, published in 1900. [53]
The same location on RailMapOnline.com’s satellite imagery. [15]An aerial image of the railway viaduct. [54]
The railway viaduct over the River Awe. Network Rail Undertook a £3.5m project to refurbish Awe viaduct in 2024/25. The viaduct is a three-span wrought iron viaduct, completed in 1879. During the 7-month project, engineers replaced the timber deck (which supports the track). They removed the old paint, carry out repairs to the metallic parts of the structure and repainted those parts of the structure to protect against rusting. [54]
Over the river, the line heads for Taynuilt.
The A85 runs directly alongside the line on the approach to Taynuilt. This photograph looks Northwest along the road/railway. [Google Streetview, May 2022]Taynuilt village and Railway Station as they appear on the 6″ Ordnance Survey of 1897. [53]The same length of the line as it is shown on the RailMapOnline.com satellite imagery. [15]
On the way into Taynuilt the line crosses a minor road which serves the East end of the village. That road can be seen at the righthand side of the satellite image and the map extract above.
The minor road bridge seen from the Northwest. [Google Streetview, Novermber 2021]The minor road bridge seen from the Southeast. [Google Streetview, May 2022]
The next bridge spans the railway adjacent to Taynuilt Railway Station it carries the B845.
The view East along the line from the B845 overbridge. [Google Streetview, May 2022]The view West from the B845 into Taynuilt Railway Station. [Google Streetview, May 2022]The view East from Taynuilt Railway Station to the bridge carrying the B845 over the line, (c) Robert Hamilton (October 2017). [Google maps, November 2024]Taynuilt Railwaty Station forecourt. [Google Streetview, November 2021]The view East from the A85 towards Taynuilt Railway Station. [Google Streetview, May 2022]The view West from the A85. [Google Streetview, May 2022]
A little further to the West the railway passes under the A85 again.
The bridge over the railway in 1897. [53]The bridge over the railway in 2024. [53]Looking West along the A85 showing the parapets of the bridge over the Callander & Oban Railway. {Google Streetview, November 2021]
The line now drops down to the shores of Loch Etive and in due course arrives at Auch-na-Cloich.
In 1897, the station at Auch-na-Cloich bore the name ‘Ach-na-Cloich, as the 6″ OS map extract shows. It bore that name right through to closure on 1st November 1965. [55][56]The remaining buildings at Ach-na-Cloich, seen from the public road adjacent to Loch Etive. [Google Streetview, April 2011]
The line continues to hug the shore of Loch Etive passing over the A85 a couple of local roads on its way to Connel Ferry Railway Station.
The next bridge over the A85,seen from the Northwest. [Google Streetview, November 2021]
The next image comes form Gairns’ article in The Railway Magazine and shows a train approaching Connel Ferry from the East.
In its heyday when it served a branch to Ballachulish, Connel Ferry Railway Station had three platforms, a goods yard and a turntable. Later this was reduced to just the single platform, after the branch closed in 1966, [64] as it remains today. [63][65]
As we have already noted, the journey along the branch can be followed by reading articles elsewhere on this blog. We will continue our journey with Gairns along the main line to Oban. ….
Gairns continues
“At Connel Ferry, junction for the Ballachulish line, there is a wide island platform serving the up and down main lines, and a single platform on the up side designed for branch trains, though generally these use the main platform to facilitate passenger and luggage transfer. The station has sidings and [a] goods yard. Its height above the village entails high viaducts both on the Oban line and on the approach to the famous Connel Ferry bridge, crossed by Ballachulish trains. Fine views are had of the bridge from the Oban line as it pursues its course high up on the hillside until it cuts inland to attain the summit of Glencruitten. This is at the top of the 3-mile incline at 1 in 50 by which the line zig-zags down to reach the shore at Oban, giving views now over Oban and the landward hills above it, and then, with final sweep round, over the Kerrera Sound and Kerrera Island, to the mountains of Mull and the Firth of Lorne.
Before reaching the terminus a stop is usually made at Oban ticket platform, adjacent to the goods yard and engine shed. Oban station has picturesque build ings surmounted by a clock tower, and the circulating area is adorned with hanging flower baskets. Refreshment and dining rooms are provided. The three main platforms are partly covered by a glazed all-over roof, though their outer curved portions are open. Alongside are two open arrival platforms permitting cabs, &c., to come directly alongside the trains, The station is immediately alongside the steamer pier and harbour premises, the location being peculiarly convenient to the principal hotels, the sea front, and the Corran Esplanade.
Oban – ‘a little bay’ – so widely favoured as a holiday resort, as a boating and yachting centre, and as headquarters for touring the Highlands and the Hebrides in all directions, has been described as the ‘Charing Cross of the Highlands’. Whether readers will agree with this as a happy choice or not, it certainly justifies it as a great steamer traffic and touring centre. Messrs. David MacBrayne, Ltd., operate steamers between Oban, the Sound of Mull and Tobermory to Castlebay and Lochboisdale (‘Inner Island Service’), Ardrishaig via the Crinan Canal, to Staffa and Iona, to Ballachulish, Kentallen and Fort William, and thence via the Caledonian Canal to Inverness, besides many local trips and excursions.” [1: p13-15]
Connel Ferry is the last station before Oban. The railway line runs behind (South of) Connel and then turns away from the coast and the A85.
The line Southwest of Connel Ferry Railway Station, as shown on railmaponline.com’s satellite imagery. [15]This extract from the 6″ Ordnance Survey of 1897, published in 1900 shows the next bridge on the line where a local road passes under the railway. [66]A similar area in the 21st century. [Google Maps, December 2024]The bridge shown on the Ordnance Survey extract and on the modern satellite image from Googlee Maps. This view looks Northwest along the lane under the bridge from the Southeast. [Google Streetview, November 2021]Looking Southeast along the lane this time. Google Streetview, November 2021]The next length of the line as shown on the 6″ Ordnance Survey of 1897, published in 1900. [66]
Trains encounter a number of accommodation bridges/underpasses which allow field access under the line of the railway. The one shown below, at the highest magnification possible from the public highway, is typical of one type of culvert.
A narrow lane approaches the railway from the Northand an underpass sits to the East of the road where there is a slight gaps in the trees. [Google Maps, December 2024]A typical farm/field access under the railway. [Google Streetview, November 2021]
Just a short distance Southwest is another underpass, this time of stone arch construction.
A further underbridge constructed as a stone arch. [Google Streetview, June 2011]The narrow highway is in the top-left of this staellite image – the stone-arch bridge is just to the right of centre. [Google Maps, December 2024]The next length of the line as shown on railmaponline.com’s satellite imagery. [15]
Another few hundred metres to the Southwest a further underpass is a girder bridge.
The highway and the railway are in close proximity at this location. [Google Maps, December 2024]Looking Southeast under the railway, rather than being a stone arch this underpass is a girder bridge. [Google Streetview, June 2011]
The next underpass is a stone arched structure.
The next underpass is only just visible from the road. [Google Streetview, June 2011]It is located bottom-right of this image. [Google Maps, December 2024]
These two locations appear on the 6″ Ordnance Survey of 1897. …
The next length of the railway as shown on the 6″ Ordnance Survey of 1897, published 1900. [67]These two extracts (this and the one above) from the 6″ Ordnance Survey take us as far along the railway as the last railmaponline.com satellite image above. [68]The railway cottages in the 21st century. [Google Streetview, November 2021]The railway cottages in the 21st century. [Google Maps, December 2024]The next loength of the line as it appears on railmaponline.com’s satellite imagery. The outskirts of Oban can be seem on the left of the image. [15]Two extracts from the 6″ Ordnance Survey take us almost as far at the length of line on the railmaponline.com satellite imagery above. [68]This third extract from the 6″ Ordnance Survey completes the length covered by the railmaponline.com satellite image above and covers the length on the right on the satellite image below. [69]The final length of the line into Oban as shown by railmaponline.com. [15]This extract from the 6″ Ordnance Survey of 1898 covers the length of the line on the bottom half of the satellite image above. [69]Looking South out of Oban along the A816, Soroba Road, The railway crosses the road on a simply supported girder bridge. [Google Streetview, May 2022]This extract from the 6″ Ordnance Survey of 1898 shows the final length of the line and the two stations (passenger and goods) which existed at the turn of the 20th century. [69]The same area as it appears on Google Maps in the 21st century. Glenshellach Terrace marks the north side of what was the Goods Station. [Google Maps, December 2024]
Running into Oban the line is crossed by three road bridges:
For the sake of completeness, we note that Gairns’ narrative returns to Connel Ferry for commentary on the Ballachulish Branch.
“Commencing at Connel Ferry station, the branch train reaches the famous bridge by a viaduct approach over the village of Connel Ferry. The Connel Ferry bridge, claimed to be the Forth Bridge’s ‘biggest British rival’, was opened for traffic on 21st August 1903. The bridge, which is of cantilever type (hence the analogy suggested with the Forth Bridge), has a length of 524 ft. between the two piers, the clear span being 500 ft., and the headway above high-water level, 50 ft. Extreme height from high water to the topmost point of the bridge is 125 ft., while the middle span, carried by the two cantilever spans, has a length of 232 ft. This bridge not only enabled a district hitherto most inconveniently situated in regard to rail traffic to be placed in communication with the Callander and Oban Railway at Connel Ferry, but provided a means of crossing Loch Etive, where previously a very lengthy detour had to be made to get from one side to the other, the only alternative being a very uncertain ferryservice,
The difficulty having been solved from the railway point of view, there still remained the problem of providing for the transit of motor-cars and other road vehicles across the Loch, and for several years after the opening of the bridge the Caledonian Railway Company conveyed private motor-cars across the bridge by placing them on flat trucks and hauling them, passengers included, by road motor vehicles adapted to run on rails across the bridge.
This … was continued for a considerable time, but, several years ago, the Caledonian Railway Company adopted the alternative method of adapting the bridge also for the passage of motor vehicles, cycles, etc., under their own power. There is not, however, sufficient room for a roadway clear of the railway track, so that it is necessary to restrict the passage of road vehicles to periods when no train is signalled. At eachend of the bridge, therefore gates under the control of the bridge keeper, are provided to close the bridge to road traffic when a train is due, and the tablet instruments are controlled by electric circuits in connection with the road gates, to ensure that unless the gates are properly closed, a tablet cannot be used. The roadway over the bridge comes close up to the rails, there being just sufficient room for a vehicle to pass between the rails and the side of bridge, and the bridgekeeper has to see that vehicles from both directions are not allowed on the bridge at the same time. These facilities apply only to private motor-cars and horse-drawn vehicles, and not trade vehicles, of either class. Cyclists and pedestrians also use the bridge. In each case the crossing of the bridge is subject to toll, the men in charge at the Connel Ferry and Benderloch ends acting as toll-keepers. … In August [1922], the bridge was used by 6,009 foot passengers, by 852 motor-cars, and by 290 cycles. [1: p15-16]
Gairns continues:
“Passing North Connel halt, at the North end of the bridge, the line follows the shore to Benderloch station. At Barcaldine Crossing a platform is provided, where trains call as required. So far, the country traversed has been ‘comparatively’ flat and uninteresting, but as it crosses a peninsula to reach the shores of Loch Creran, mountain vistas again open up. Short of Creagan station the line crosses the Narrows to the Loch by a two-span girder bridge with approach viaducts, fine views being had on both sides.
Again crossing a peninsula. Appin is reached, and for the remainder of the journey the line follows closely the shores of Loch Linnhe. As it curves round after leaving Appin station, a good view is had of the ruins of Castle Stalker. Alongside the Loch splendid views are had, and Duror and Kentallen stations are sufficiently picturesque to harmonise with the general character of the scenery. At Ballachulish Ferry station tickets are collected, and the line then curves round to follow the shores of Loch Leven to the terminus at Ballachulish. This is a neat two-platformed station, with dining and refreshment rooms, and the district is impressively mountainous. A short distance from the station is a small harbour, whence a David MacBrayne steamerused to ply three times daily to and from the Kinlochleven wharf of the British Aluminium Company, for goods, passenger and mail traffic. This steamer service has now been withdrawn, a road having been built by German prisoners during the [First World War] and opened for traffic at the end of [1922].” [1: p16]
As noted close to the start of this article, the Ballachulish Branch has been covered extensively in an earlier series of articles which can be found here, [2] here, [3] here, [4] and here. [5]
Gairns goes on to reflect on the use of the Callander and Oban line. He says that its use is “complicated by the fact that its gradients are systematically so severe.” [1: p16] Indeed 1 in 50 gradients occurred:
“several times for considerable distances, curves are numerous, and in several places reduced speed is necessary owing to the danger of tumbling rocks, notably alongside Loch Lubnaig in Glen Ogle and the Pass of Brander, and automatic alarm wires are erected on some stretches, a fall of rock encountering them causing warnings to be given in adjacent signal cabins and watchmen’s huts, and putting the special signals to danger. On the steep grades both goods and passenger trains are operated under special restrictions, stops being made at the summits and brakes tested, or, on goods trains, a proportion pinned down before descending. Mountain mists and fogs, occasional torrential rainstorms or cloudbursts and other ‘episodes’ peculiar to mountain lines, also complicate the working at times. But even in winter there is a steady traffic in meeting the transport needs of the wide areas rendered accessible by this line, of the various townships and villages (many are centres for other places within a considerable radius), country houses, castles and large estates, and in carrying mails, supplying coal and, in due season, conveying cattle and other live stock.
The winter train services are, naturally, much reduced as compared with those of the summer, but even the winter service provides four through trains each way daily, a local each way between Oban and Dalmally, and several additional trains between Callander and Glasgow. Sleeping cars and through carriages are provided between Euston and Oban in winter on Fridays only from London, returning on Mondays. The down vehicles are conveyed on the 8.25 a.m. from Stirling, due in Oban at 12.15 p.m. It is also possible to reach Oban at 4.45 p.m. from London by the 11 p.m. from Euston the night before, and by the 5 a.m. from Eustonat 9.50 p.m., the same night, though not, of course, with through carriages.” [1: p16-17]
Gairns goes on to cover train movements on the line in some detail. While the copious detail he provided need not detain us here, it is worth noting the care with which connections to the various railway branches, steamer and motor-coach services associated with the main line were arranged. There were also a significant number of excursions and tours to suit passenger’s differing budgets.
Gairns’ final paragraph concentrated on the motive power in use on the line in the early 1920s and is worth recording here:
“The locomotives generally employed are the well-known ‘Oban’ 4-6-0s, with 5-ft. coupled wheels, together with Mr. Pickersgill’s new ‘Oban’ class recently introduced, though odd trips are taken by 0-6-0 goods engines, which also render assistance on the steep grades. On the Killin branch and the Ballachulish extension 0-4-4 tank engines of the 4 ft. 6 in. class are used. Between Dunblane and Callander main line 4-4-0 locomotives from Glasgow or Stirling and 0-6-0 goods engines are used, as well as the Oban 4-6-0s on the through trains, a change being sometimes made at Callander. The Callander and Oban line and the Ballachulish extension are controlled by electric train tablet apparatus. Ordinary train staff is used on the Killin branch.” [1: p18]
References
G.F. Gairns; The Callandar and Oban Railway; in The Railway Magazine, London, July 1923, p10-17
John Thomas; The Callander &Oban Railway: The History of the Railways of the Scottish Highlands – Vol. 4; David St. John Thomas Publisher, Nairn, Scotland, 1966, 1990 and 1991.
This is the second article in a series about the Border Counties Railway. The first can be found here. [3]
An online acquaintance pointed me to a film made in the mid-1980s, ‘Slow Train to Riccarton’ which records something of the lives of people associated with this railway line:
The film shows different lengths of the line and records a number of people speaking about their life on and around the line.
This first image is a still from the film which denotes where we are starting this next length of the journey along the line. A few more ‘stills’ will help to locate us as we travel along the line.
The line travelled on, Northwest from Chollerton, much of the time in deep cutting as far as Dallabank Wood, by which time it was running on a northerly course. Soon after the wood, the line turned towards the Northwest, passed under the local road (Dalla Bank), crossed a short but high embankment under which Barrasford Burn was culverted, and entered Barrasford Railway Station.
The red line shows the route of the old railway immdiately to the North of Chollerton Railway Station. [Google Maps, October 2024]The cutting South of Dalla Bank, Facing towards Chollerton in 2013, (c) Mike Quinn and licensed for reuse under a Creative Commons Licence (CC BY-SA 2.0). [15]The line continued on as marked by the red line under Dalla Bank and on to Barrasford Station which was located at the top left of this extract from Google’s satellite imagery. [Google Maps, October 2024]The view along the old railway line North-northwest from Dalla Bank. [Google Streetview, August 2023]Barrasford Railway Station name-board. [2]
Barrasford Railway Station opened on 1st December 1859 by the North British Railway. The station was situated on a lane to Catheugh, around “200 yards northeast of the centre of Barrasford village. A siding adjoined the line opposite the platform and there was a further loop to the northwest. Both of these were controlled by a signal box, which was at the northwest end of the platform. The station was host to a camping coach from 1936 to 1939.” [4]
“Barrasford station was closed to passengers on 15th October 1956 but remained open for goods traffic until 1st September 1958, although it was downgraded towards an unstaffed public siding.” [4]
A short distance Northwest of Barrasford Railway Station, was Barrasford Quarry which was provided with its own siding.
The line Northwest of Barrasford Railway Station. [Google Maps, October 2024]The track bed of the old railway a little to the Northwest of Barrasford Railway Station, looking back along the line towards the station in December 2013, (c) Mike Quinn and licensed for reuse under a Creative Commons Licence (CC BY-SA 2.0). [12]Looking back towards Barrasford Station from Chishill Way. The line was carried at high level over the road. Only the embankments remain. [Google Streetview, August 2023]A wintertime view along the old railway to the West from the East side of Chishill Way, in December 2013, (c) Mike Quinn and licensed for reuse under a Creative Commons Licence (CC BY-SA 2.0). [13]Looking West from Chishill Way. The railway embankment is to the right of the trees. [Google Streetview, August 2023]The track bed further West from Chswell Way, in December 2013, (c) Mike Quinn and licensed for reuse under a Creative Commons Licence (CC BY-SA 2.0). [14]Barrasford Quarry Sidings and Tramway. [7]Tarmac’s quarry at Barrasford is a much larger affair in the 21st century. [Google Maps, October 2024]The entrance to Barrasford Quarry. The red line indicates the approximate route of the old railway which is treelined to the West of the quarry road and through open fields to the East of the quarry road. The siding was on the North side of the line. [Google Streetview, August 2023]Just to the Northwest of Barrasford Quarry Siding was a branch line to Camp Hill, Gunnerton Quarry.This branhc was about 2 miles in length and is recorded on some maps as an old Waggonway. [8]The same location in the 21st century with the old railways superimposed. [Google Maps, October 2024]
The Camp Hill Branch as shown on satellite imagery from Railmaponline.com. The branch was a short industrial line serving a relatively small quarry to the North of Barrasford Quarry. It appears to have been disused by 1920 as one of the local OS Map sheets across which the line travels shows the line lifted by that time and referred to as an ‘Old Waggonway”. The line is present on map sheets surveyed in 1895.
A short section of the Camp Hill Branch Line as shown on the 1920 25″ Ordnance Survey which was published in 1922. [18]
A little further to the Northwest, the access road to Short Moor crossed the old railway. Just before that lane there was another stone bridge which gave access between fields either side of the line.
Stone bridge Southwest of the Short Moor access road in December 2013, (c) Mike Quinn and licensed for reuse under a Creative Commons Licence (CC BY-SA 2.0). [28]Two bridges crossed the line close to Short Moor. [29]
A distant view from the Southwest of the bridge carrying the access road to South Moor which is on the left of this image. The stone-arched bridge is just to the right of centre. [Google Streetview, April 2011]
Further to the Northwest, the line as shown on the railmaponline.com satellite imagery. {17}The line ran on to the Northwest and this is the next significant point on the old railway. Close to Chipchase Castle the line was bridged by a minor road. [20]The view across the old railway bridge from the Northeast. [Google Streetview, June 2009]This next roadoverbridge carries an access road over the Border Counties Railway close to Kiln Plantation shortly before the highway turns away from the railway to the West along the North side of the plantation. [21]The view from the South of the road bridge in the map extract above. [Google Streetview, April 2011]The same structure in a photograph taken by Paul Hill and shared by him on the Border Counties Railway Facebook Group on 17th August 2020. [23]
A short distance to the Northwest another access road runs off the highway and crosses the Border Counties Railway.
This map estract shows the lane leading to Comogon in 1920, which was carried over the old railway by means of a private access bridge. [24]The access road is private and this is the closest view of the old line at this location that is possible. The red lines show its route which was in a slight cutting to the right of the access road and a slight embankment to the left of the road. [Google Streetview, April 2011]Wark Railway Station as shown on the 25″ Ordnance Survey of 1895. [25]The view Southeast along the Border Counties Railway through Wark Railway Station. [Google Streetview, June 2009]The Goods Shed at Wark Railway Station. [Google Streetview, June 2009]Wark Signal Box when still in use. It sat just Northwest of the station platforms. This image was shared by Ian Farnfield on the Border Counties Railway Facebook Group on 6th April 2022. The provenance of this image is not known. [26]Wark Signal Box in the 21st century. This image was taken by Ian Farnfield and shared by him on the Border Counties Railway Facebook Group on 6th April 2022. [26]
A short distance Northwest from Wark Railway Station the Border Counties Railway passed under another minor road.
This next extract from the 1895 25″ Ordnance Survey shows that bridge mentioned above crossing the old railway. [27]The bridge mentioned above. [Google Streetview, July 2023]
From this point, the line turns to a more northerly direction as this next extract from the railmaponline.com satellite imagery shows. An accommodation track and Blind Burn next passed under the line of the railway. The image below shows the location.
The view Northeast along Piper Gate towards what was a bridge carrying the Border Counties Railway over the Burn and road. [Google Streetview, Aril 2011]
Northwest of Piper Gate a private access road follows the track bed to a private dwelling. Further North another access track passed underneath the line (shown in the first map extract below)
Continuing North from Countess Park alongside the River North Tyne, the Border Counties Railway reaches Redesmouth Railway Station which was a junction station.
Redesmouth as shown on the OS Explorer Map Sheet. The dismantled railways can easily be seen. The Border Counties Railway bears Northwest from the Station and crosses the River North Tyne.
The two images immediately above focus on the railway infrastructure at Redesmouth which spreads over quite a large site surrounding the hamlet of Redesmouth. [Google Maps, October, 2024] [36]
The featured image above was included in a Steam Days article in September 2021. Crossing the River Tyne on approach to Border Counties Junction is Gresley ‘K3’ class 2-6-0 No 61897, a St Margarets allocated locomotive that has worked through, and the stock is different too, ex-LNER and cascaded down from main line work. In due course the condition of the Border Counties Bridge and the predicted cost of repairs was a major factor in the abandonment of this ex-NBR route, with passenger trains ceasing to run on 13th October 1956, although the passage of goods trains continued through to 1 September 1958. [37]
At the end of August 2024, we visited Kielder Water Reservoir, passing through Bellingham on the way. We noticed a disused railway for which a good number of structures and embankments/cuttings remained in place.
This was the Border Counties Railway (BCR), a line connecting Hexham in Northumberland, with Riccarton Junction on the Waverley Route in Roxburghshire. [1]
The BCR was also known as the North Tyne Railway as it ran beside the River North Tyne for much of its length.
The line between Kielder and Falstone is now under the waters of the Kielder Water Reservoir.
“In 1844 the North British Railway (NBR) was authorised to build a line from Edinburgh to Berwick to join an English line there. The NBR line ran close to the coast avoiding most high ground and opened in 1846. In 1845 the Caledonian Railway was authorised to construct a line from both Glasgow and Edinburgh to Carlisle, crossing the Southern Uplands at Beattock Summit, 1,033 ft (315 m) above sea level.” [1][2][3][4]
In 1853, talk was of a significant coal seam around Plashetts and in 1854, Robert Nicholson was engaged to survey a railway route to serve this coalfield. “His line was to run from Hexham, … through Reedsmouth to Bellingham, and on to the coal deposits at Falstone. His work was remarkably quickly done, for a bill for the Border Counties Railway was submitted to Parliament for the 1854 session. … The scheme was authorised when the Border Counties Railway (North Tyne Section) Act 1854 (17 & 18 Vict. c. ccxii) was given royal assent on 31st July 1854. The capital was to be £250,000.” [1]
The line was built as a single line, but land was acquired for later doubling, and all the bridges except the Hexham bridge, were built for double-track The full length of the authorised line was initially not built before “a public train service started on 5th April 1858; there were four passenger trains each way Monday to Saturday, and two on Sunday. They ran from Hexham to Chollerford, with an intermediate station at Wall.” [1]
It was to be only a further 16 months before the remaining length of the line was authorised when the Border Counties Railway (Liddesdale Section and Deviations) Act 1859 (22 & 23 Vict. c. xliii) got royal assent on 11th August 1859. The authorised capital for the whole line was increased by £100,000. The North British Railway were authorised to make a working arrangement with the BCR.
“From Wark, the line approached Reedsmouth, and there was a temporary goods terminus at Countess Park there while the river bridge was completed. The passenger service terminated at Wark. There was a demonstration train from Newcastle to Countess Park run on 1st December 1859. Public opening was expected ‘within the week” but this proved to be inaccurate, and the opening throughout to Falstone was delayed until 2nd September 1861.”
By 1860 the BCR was seriously short of cash; “the authorised capital had never been fully raised and the hoped-for coal reserves at Plashetts were disappointing. There seemed little chance of raising more capital now. The North British Railway was expansive, and was happy to take over the local line, and the result was the North British and Border Counties Railways Amalgamation Act 1860 (23 & 24 Vict. c. cxcv), passed on 13th August 1860; … the act regularised the use by BCR trains of Hexham station of the Newcastle and Carlisle Railway. The BCR network was known now as the NBR (Border Counties Section).” [1]
The construction of the line throughout to Riccarton was completed by mid-April 1862, but the opening of the line to Riccarton did not take place until 24th June 1862 for goods, and 1st July 1862 for passengers. [1]
On 1st May 1865, “the Wansbeck Railway was opened, between Morpeth and Reedsmouth. The Wansbeck Railway had been promoted independently but was taken over by the North British Railway in 1863.” [1]
Hexham sits on what was once the Newcastle to Carlisle Railway (NCR) and which is, in the 21st century, known as the Tyne Valley Line.
Hexham Station was opened on 9th March 1835 by the NCR which became part of the North Eastern Railway (NER) in 1862.
The original station was probably designed by the architect Benjamin Green of Newcastle-upon-Tyne. It was altered and extended between 1835 and 1871 and again by 1901. It is now a Grade II listed structure and stands in a conservation area. The station was restored in 1998/1999. [5]
After the NCR had been absorbed by the NER, the station became a junction, with the opening of the first section of the BCR, between Hexham and Chollerford in April 1858. The first section of a second branch, the Hexham and Allendale Railway, was opened for goods in August 1867. Initially promoted to serve lead mines, that line opened for passengers in March 1869. [6][7]
Since the closure of the Hexham and Allendale Railway to passengers in 1930 (completely in 1950), as well as the BCR in 1956 (completely in 1958), the station has diminished in size and importance. Both lines met with the Tyne Valley Line to the West of the station. [6][7][8: p134]
The Disused Stations website covers Hexham Station in some detail. [9]
A straight length of line brings the railway to the banks of the Tyne. The line curves round toward the West and follows the South bank of the Tyne as far as Border Counties Junction where trains for Riccarton Junction and Hawick left the Borders Railway and crossed the Tyne on an angled viaduct.
A short distance beyond the viaduct on the Border Counties Railway was a private colliery line which served Acomb Colliery.
“Mining at Acomb seemed to stop and start between the mid 19th century until 1909, when a larger complex opened until 1952.” [20]
There were various owners before the pit was taken on at nationalisation by the NCB. … Messrs. Stobart & Co. (1840s), J. Morrison & Co. (1860s), Messrs. Morrison (1880s), Tynedale Coal Co. Ltd. (1910s), Acomb Coal Co. Ltd. (1920s), National Coal Board (1947). [20]
For more information about the coal workings on the site, please consult the Durham Mining Museum. [21]
It is worth noting that the half-mile long line was worked by one engine, Black Hawthorn 0-4-0ST No. 1068 for over 30 years until closure of the mine in 1952. [13: p12]
These works sat alongside the line, just a few hundred metres North of the Acomb Colliery Railway.
Howford Brick & Tile Works. [23]The location of Howford Brick & Tile Works hosts Heidelberg Materials Ready mixed Concrete plant in the 21st century. The route of the old railway is shrouded in trees. [Google Maps, September 2024]
North Tyne Colliery
Some distance further North, North Tyne Colliery sat adjacent to the line.
North Tyne Colliery was served by a 500yd. loop off the Border Counties Railway, it also had a tramway linking it to the road network (A6079). Messrs Walton & Cooper worked a drift mine here from 1906 to 1922. This extract comes from the 25″ Ordnance Survey of 1921. [13: p13][23]Approximately the same area as shown on the OS map extract above. The site of the colliery is now heavily wooded. [Google Maps, September 2024]
For further information about this colliery, please consult Durham Mining Museum. [22]
Wall Railway Station
Wall Railway Station was 1/3 mile from the village. It sat alongside the River North Tyne on its East bank a few hundred metres North of North Tyne Colliery.
There is good coverage of Wall Railway Station on the Disused Stations website. [25]
Humshaugh Railway Station
North of Wall Railway Station there was little to interest us until the BCR reached Humshaugh Railway Station. Darsley & Lovett say that “the station was opened as Chollerford on 5th August 1858 and was the BCR’s first temporary terminus. Sidings once led to a lime depot, where a tramway, inclined at 1 in 5, led to Brunton kilns. Another tramway led to the quarry. They closed in 1895.” [13: p18]
Historic England say that the grade II listed kilns were located North of Brunton Bank near Chollerford were probably built in the early 19th century. [29] Nearby was Brunton Bank Quarry. There is no evidence of a tramway, in the immediate vicinity of the station, leading to these two sites on the Ordnance Survey of 1896.
Only a short distance beyond Humshaugh Railway Station, the old railway passed under what became the A6079 and then passed a Limekiln at the bottom of a tramroad which served Cocklaw Quarry.
Another extract from the 25″ Ordnance Survey completed before the turn of the 20th century. Shows both the location of the road bridge and the Limekiln. [28]The same location on 21st century satellite imagery. The line of the BCR can easily be made out, as can the location of the limekiln at the junction of the tramroad and railway. [Google Streetview, September 2024]An enlarged extract from the 25″ Ordnance Survey which shows the loop provided by the NCR at the limekiln. [28]This extract from the 25″ Ordnance Survey at a small scale than the previous extracts shows the full length of the tramroads serving Cocklaw Quarry. This was a 3ft gauge tramroad with an incline. [28]
A short distance further North the line bridged a road and stream at the same location. …
An enlarged extract from the 25″ Ordnance Survey of 1895/6 which shows the next significant structure on the BCR. [32]The same location in the 21st century. [Google Maps, September 2024]The line bridged both road and stream by means of a stone-arched structure. This photo of the bridge is taken from the Southeast. [Google Streetview, July 2021]Another extract from the 25″ Ordnance Survey. Another bridge, this time spanning both the road which became the A6079 and a tributary to the River North Tyne. [34]The same area on 21st century satellite imagery. [Google Maps, September 2024]The viaduct which carried the BCR over what became the A6079. [Google Streetview, July 2023]The view from the North on the A6079 of the same viaduct. [Google Streetview, July 2023]
Chollerton Railway Station
“The station was opened on 1st December 1859 by the North British Railway. It was on the west side of the A6079 at the junction with an unclassified road and immediately southwest of Chollerton village. A goods loop and a coal depot were to the south. A small goods shed was sited at the south end of the platform. Instead of extending the platform, the NBR built a new one to the north with a wooden waiting shelter. The original buildings remained in use and the siding was adjusted so that one of the two docks used the old platform. There was a three-ton crane in the goods yard. The station closed to passengers on 15th October 1956 and closed completely on 1st September 1958.” [33]
Shortly after crossing the viaduct above the line entered Chollerton Railway Station. The station sat opposite the village church, St. Giles. [35]The same area on modern satellite imagery. [Google Maps, September 2024]The northern end of Chollerton Railway Station looking North. [36]A view of the site of Chollerton Railway Station from the East on the A6079. [Google Streetview, July 2023]
Chollerton Railway Station is the end of this first part of the journey along the Border Counties Railway.
Some superb diagrams showing the operation of water troughs were included on page 4 of the January 1934 edition of The Railway Magazine.
The effective operation of water troughs. [1: p4]
The Railway Magazine commented: “Long non-stop runs necessitate either the use of large tenders, such as are used in America … or the provision of track water troughs from which the tender can be replenished while the train is travelling. As long ago as 1859, … locomotive engineer, John Ramsbottom, … designed the type then and ever since used, with but minor modifications, such as the substitution of metal for wood in their structure.” [1: p5]
Figure 1 shows a typical cross-section. The length was been 0.25 and 0.5 miles and had to be on a completely level length of track.
Figure 2 “shows diagrammatically the arrangements made for rapidly refilling a trough after a locomotive has taken water from it. The familiar ball-valve control is used to regulate the flow from a tank alongside the track to the trough. When the water in the trough reaches the correct level, the ball valve, in a small tank at rail level, rises and cuts off the supply. Steam heating has to be used to prevent freezing in frosty weather where traffic is infrequent and the troughs are in exposed positions.” [1: p5]
Figure 5: Section through a LNER eight-wheel tender which shows the arrangement of the water pick-up gear. [1: p6]
I love some of the diagrams in these early editions of The Railway Magazine. The one above is no exception, Figure 5 illustrates a typical form of water pick-up apparatus on a LNER eight-wheel tender. “The inclined delivery shoot will be seen to have a hinged foot-like scoop, curved to face the direction of travel and capable of being held clear of, or depressed into the troughs – which are centrally placed between the rails – by means of the system of rods, cranks and levers shown, these being under the control of the fireman. Warning boards are erected to enable him to be prepared to lower the scoop as the trough is approached, speed seldom being appreciably reduced over the troughs. The scoop is usually lowered before the trough is reached, a slight gradient being arranged in the track, by which the scoop drops below the water level, and is similarly raised at the far end of the trough, should the crew not have lifted it out earlier. To aid in raising the scoop when the tender gauge shows the tank in it to be full, steam or compressed air is often used.” [1: p5]
A speed through the toughs of 25 mph was sufficient to ensure the take-up of water, although higher speeds were more effective. But express speeds tended to waste water and could result in damage to the permanent way. Maintenance costs with the amount of flooding which occurred were high.
The LMS made use of a tender which had an observer’s compartment to study what happened at water troughs and, as a result, designed a simple device which significantly reduced the spilling of water. “Briefly, the passage of the scoop through the trough causes the water in it to pile up and overflow at each side, and to neutralise this a pair of slightly converging deflector vanes are fixed 1 ft. 4 in. in advance of the scoop, which force the water towards the centre of the trough and make it pile up there instead of at the sides (Figures 3 and 4). Some 400 gallons are saved every time these deflector vanes are used, and the quantity of water required is reduced by about 20 per cent.” [1: p5]
Figure 6: Water Pick-up Troughs on the East Coast Main Line (LNER) [1: p7]
Figure 6 is a map showing the distribution of water troughs along the main LNER. route to Scotland, and Figure 7, those on the LMS, both on the LNWR (West Coast) and the Midland routes.
Figure 7:The Water Troughs on the two LMS routes to Scotland. [1: p7]
The water troughs on these long distance routes obviated the need for larger tenders and the need for time-wasting water stops. 3,500 to 5,000-gallon tenders were more than adequate. It also appears to have been true that the use of water troughs generally meant that water purity was higher which minimised boiler maintenance and also reduced the need for water-softening plants. [1: p5]
The GWR Capital Programme
The Railway Magazine noted, “A special programme of extensions and improvements, involving a cost of over £8,000,000, was put in hand by the GWR under the Development (Loan Guarantees and Grants) Act, 1929, in anticipation of its future requirements, for the purpose of assisting in the relief of unemployment. … The Railway Gazette, issued on [8th December 1933] a profusely illustrated Special Supplement dealing comprehensively with these works. A notable feature of this supplement is the wealth of drawings, including a double-page map of the G.W.R. system, with inset detail plans of the new works.” [1: p74]
Earlier in the January 1934 edition, The Railway Magazine carried an advert over two pages from The Railway Gazette for the supplement to their magazine (which, when bought separately, cost the princely sum of 1s).
The first page of the advert about the GWR Capital works programme and the Railway Gazette supplement. [1: pXIV]The second page of the advert about the GWR Capital works programme and the Railway Gazette supplement. [1: pXV]
The Campbeltown & Machrihanish Light Railway
The Campbeltown and Machrihanish Light Railway was one of only four 2 ft 3 in (686 mm) narrow gauge railways in the UK. The other three were/are in Wales: the Corris Railway, the short-lived Plynlimon and Hafan Tramway and the Talyllyn Railway. [3]
In its January edition, the Railway Magazine reported that “an Order dated [7th November 1933], by the Minister of Transport, appeared in The London Gazette of 7th November, declaring that the Campbeltown & Machrihanish Light Railway Company shall be wound up.” [1: p74] The line, which was closed about eighteen months earlier was 6 miles 29 chains in length and of 2ft 3in gauge. The rolling-stock comprised three locomotives, six passenger and and two goods vehicles. “The company was incorporated on 8th May 1905, and the line opened on [17th August 1906] of the following year. This isolated railway, in the Mull of Kintyre, suffered particularly severely from road motor competition,” [1: p74] and, a few years previously, an attempt was made to meet road competition with its own bus service, but that failed.
‘Atlantic’ was the last locomotive built for the Campbeltown and Machrihanish Light Railway. It was an Andrew Barclay 0-6-2T, built in 1907. Seen here in charge of a train of four coaches leaving Campbeltown for Machrihanish. [2]
A canal was first constructed to bring coal from pits close to Machrihanish to Campbeltown. It was in use from 1794. There were no locks as the canal traversed relatively flat terrain. It was three miles in length, running from Mill Dam in the West to Campbeltown. Only two barges plied its length which carried around 40 cartloads of coal each day to Campbeltown. However, “the extent to which the canal was used or cared for seems doubtful. … It had fallen into disuse and been virtually abandoned by 1856 and when, about 1875 the colliery changed hands, the new owners … found it choked with weeds and difficult to clear. … In the Company’s prospectus of 1875 it was stated that a railway was to be built.” [4: p7-8]
The new railway was a little over 4 miles in length at first, running between the pits and a coal depot on Argyle Street, Campbeltown. In 1881 the length was extended to 4.7 miles. “There were a number of level crossings, all originally gated but subsequently left open, protected only by cross trenches to keep cattle and sheep off the line.” [4: p8]
At first, only a single loco worked the line, an Andrew Barclay 0-4-0T engine named ‘Pioneer’. After the line was extended to a new colliery business “became so brisk that in 1885 a second locomotive was bought from Barclays, an [0-4-0ST initially, later altered to an 0-4-2ST] named ‘Chevalier’.” [4: p9]
In 1901 and 1902, two high-speed turbine steamers brought “increasing numbers of day trippers to Campbeltown where … many of them were conveyed to Machrihanish … by horse-drawn carriages.” [4: p11]
The railway saw significant changes as a result. Both to carry passengers and to enhance the delivery of coal to boats at the New Quay in Campbeltown, the line was extended East to New Quay and West to the Golf links at Machrihanish. A new company, the ‘Argyll Railway Company’, was formed to manage the line.
The new railway was to be close to 6.4 miles in length and was opened to passenger traffic in 1906. By “August 1913 there were seven trains each way daily. … The war naturally led to a curtailment of services, … until the early months of 1917 saw the line’s minimum service of one daily train in each direction. … After the war … the tourist trade soon picked up again and before long the summer months saw eight regular trains a day in each direction. … Although the 20s saw increasing competition from buses, the time tables continued to show eight trains daily in each direction right up until the withdrawal of services in 1931.” [4: p23]
Commenting on the closure of the line, A.D. Farr says: “When the railway finally closed the prime reason was the loss of revenue following the closure of the colliery in 1929, but a major factor was also the bus competition. To meet this second-hand buses had been bought by the railway, but the experiment was to no avail and they were soon sold to the competing road transport concern.” [4: p23]
The line owned a total of five locomotives at different times: ‘Pioneer’, a Barclay 0-4-0T; ‘Chevalier’, a Barclay 0-4-0ST which may have been converted to an 0-4-2ST; ‘Princess’, a Kerr-Stuart 0-4-2T; ‘Argyll’, a Barclay 0-6-2T; and ‘Atlantic’, another Barclay 0-6-2T. [4: p41]
Six passenger coaches were employed on the line, all built by R.Y Pickering & Co., of Wishaw, Lanarkshire. All were bogie ‘cars’ and “were externally very attractive models of the tramways type, 43 ft 6 in long and with two 4-wheel bogies, 30 ft centre to centre carrying 1ft 11in diameter wheels. At each end was a covered platform, guarded by a wrought-iron balcony and ‘telescopic gates’, and with steps on either side to within a foot or so of the ground.” [4: p43]
The coal company owned a series of wagons which carried the ‘C.C.C’ lettering. But it seems as though the railway company owned only a heavy goods brake van and one other wagon, although little is known about that vehicle. [4: p45]
The Welsh Highland Railway
The Railway Magazine reported that the “Joint Committee representing the local authorities with investments in the Welsh Highland Railway has decided to ask the debenture-holders to close down the line. Carnarvonshire County Council has £15,000 in the venture, Portmadoc Urban District Council £5,000, and the Gwyrfai, Glaslyn and Deudraeth Rural District Councils £3,000 each. At a recent meeting of the Portmadoc Council, Mr. Oswald Thomas said it was important that if the railway were closed, the rails should not be taken up, particularly between Portmadoc and Croesor Bridge, as it was hoped before long to see quarries in the district working again. Captain Richard Jones said it might be arranged for the Portmadoc Council to take over that part of the railway.” [1: p74]
West Monkseaton Railway Station Waiting Shelter
The Railway Magazine picked a rather modest platform building at West Monkseaton for praise.
West Monkseaton Railway Station, LNER – a new waiting shelter – January 1934. [1: p75]
“Here is precise repetition used rhythmically; the units are a nine-light window and a half-glazed door; the rhythm is 2-door-2-door-2-door-2. The designer is to be congratulated in that he has been careful to keep the horizontal glazing bars of doors in line with those of the windows; the horizontal effect of the windows; therefore unbroken. The portions of the window panes are The proportion good, being about 5 to 3. The key-note of the design is the restful cornice band running round the structure; unpretentiously it ties in the whole composition; its horizontality is repeated by the edges of the weather-boarding under the windows, and is balanced by the white base upon which the building stands; this cornice band also sets off, and is set off, by Mr. Eric Gill’s standard LNER lettering. Thought has evidently been expended upon the design of this shelter, and it gives us pleasure to illustrate such a satisfactory and pleasing little piece of station architecture, especially when we consider what the perpetuation of railway custom might have produced.” [1: p75]
Check Rails and Ramps
By 1934, it was common practice “to provide safety devices at viaducts and other important bridges to reduce to a minimum the risk of vehicles, which may have become derailed, falling over the edge. Special guard rails, fixed either inside or outside the running rails and usually at a slightly higher level, are laid across the viaduct, with some splayed arrangement at both ends to direct derailed vehicles from the edge toward the rails. An ingenious elaboration of this is shown in the accompanying illustration. It consists of converging rails with a steel ramp between them rising to rail level. Any derailed wheels would run up this and should automatically become re-railed at the top.” [1: p74]
The steel-ramp approach to a short viaduct at Midfield. [1: p74]
References
The Railway Magazine; Westminster, London, January 1934
Roger Farnworth 
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