Highland Railway

Introduction

This company provided services between Perth, Inverness, Elgin, Keith, Kyle of Lochalsh, Thurso and Wick. Most routes are still open and today passengers services are provided by ScotRail. The company came into being by a series of amalgamations. In particular, the Inverness and Aberdeen Junction Railway and Inverness and Perth Junction Railway merged to form the Highland Railway. The Highland Railway Society studies and preserves the memory of the former company.




Dates

  /  /1865Dugald Drummond
Became foreman erector in the Highland Railway's Lochgorm Works, under William Stroudley.
29/06/1865Inverness and Aberdeen Junction RailwayInverness and Perth Junction RailwayHighland Railway
Inverness and Aberdeen Junction Railway and Inverness and Perth Junction Railway merger: company named the Highland Railway.
31/12/1865Railway Clearing House
By this date, Cambrian Railways, Highland Railway, South Eastern Railway, London, Brighton and South Coast Railway and London, Chatham and Dover Railway join.
  /  /1866Scottish North Eastern Railway Caledonian Railway
Scottish North Eastern Railway absorbed by Caledonian Railway. Confirmation of running powers for the Highland Railway between Perth General and Stanley Junction. Confirmation of running powers for North British Railway, London and North Western Railway, Midland Railway and Glasgow and South Western Railway. The SNER's running powers over the Montrose and Bervie Railway are transferred to the Caledonian.
  /  /1866Highland Railway Scottish Central Railway
Highland Railway granted access to Perth Harbour over the former Scottish Central Railway.
  /  /1870Dugald Drummond
William Stroudley leaves to take up the post of locomotive, carriage and wagon superintendent of the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway. Drummond resigns from the Highland Railway to go with him.
19/06/1871Duke of Sutherland's Railway
Golspie (Sutherland Railway) to Dunrobin opened, Dunrobin becomes private station for the Duke of Sutherland. West Helmsdale to Helmsdale opened. Highland Railway works line.
24/04/1877Dingwall and Skye Railway
Highland Railway takes over steamer operations. (Including PS Carham.)
17/04/1880Dingwall and Skye Railway
Highland Railway abandons steamer operations in favour of David MacBrayne.
01/09/1880Dingwall and Skye RailwayHighland Railway
Amalgamation of the Dingwall and Skye Railway with Highland Railway.
  /  /1882PS Carham
Sold by the Highland Railway to the Bournemouth Steam Packet Company. (Date uncertain.)
  /11/1882Glasgow and North Western Railway
Glasgow and North Western Railway proposed, the Bill presented to Parliament to seek approval. The route was to have been a 167 mile long railway from Glasgow to Inverness via Fort William. Supported by the North British Railway and opposed by the Highland Railway, Caledonian Railway (part owners of the Callander and Oban Railway), Caledonian Canal, David MacBrayne and some landowners. The Bill was rejected in 1883. It was not built (a less ambitious variation of it, the West Highland Railway with an Act in 1889, did open).
  /  /1884Duke of Sutherland's RailwayHighland Railway
Duke of Sutherland's Railway absorbed by Highland Railway.
  /  /1884Sutherland RailwayHighland Railway
Sutherland Railway absorbed by Highland Railway.
28/07/1884Sutherland and Caithness RailwayHighland Railway
Sutherland and Caithness Railway absorbed by Highland Railway.
  /10/1885Clyde Locomotive Works
Begins work on locomotives for the Highland Railway.
10/10/1889Caledonian Railway Highland Railway
Highland Railway agreement with Caledonian Railway over land in Perth.
  /  /1890Scottish Midland Junction Railway
Agreement over land at Dovecotland (for Dovecotland Goods) between the Caledonian Railway and Highland Railway.
  /  /1894Sharp, Stewart and Co Highland Railway
Build a 4-6-0 for the Highland Railway, who number it 103.
  /  /1894Sharp, Stewart & Co
At the Atlas Works [2nd] work begins on the first of fifteen 'Jones' goods, 4-6-0s, the most power locomotives in Britain at the time, for the Highland Railway. (Loco no 103 survives today.)
  /  /1897West Highland Railway North British Railway
The proposed Bill by the West Highland Railway and North British Railway for extension of the West Highland to Inverness is rejected by the Commons. (The Highland Railway's route via Carrbridge was partly open and would be completed in 1989.)
01/07/1897Highland Railway
Bill for railway from Inverness to Fort Augustus is rejected in the House of Lords (was passed by the Commons).
06/03/1902Invergarry and Fort Augustus Railway
Working agreement with Highland Railway drawn up.
21/07/1903Highland RailwayInvergarry and Fort Augustus Railway
Act passed which allows the Highland Railway to operate the services over the Fort Augustus line.
22/07/1903Invergarry and Fort Augustus Railway Highland Railway
Line opened by Eliza Stewart Ellice of Invergarry House. The service was operated by the Highland Railway who were keen to keep the North British Railway away from Inverness. Connecting David Hutcheson and Co steamers operating along the Caledonian Canal connecting the line to Inverness via Loch Ness and the canal. Stations opened at Gairlochy, Invergarry, Aberchalder, Fort Augustus and Fort Augustus Pier. The Lovat Arms and Station Hotel was rebuilt and reopened in connection with new line.
17/12/1905Great North of Scotland Railway Highland Railway
Provisional order produced for the merger of the Great North of Scotland Railway and Highland Railway.
  /  /1906Great North of Scotland RailwayHighland Railway
Amalgamation of the Great North of Scotland Railway with the Highland Railway falls through.
30/04/1907Invergarry and Fort Augustus RailwayHighland Railway
Highland Railway withdraws locomotives and rolling stock from the Invergarry line and ceases its operation.
  /  /1920Dingwall and Skye Railway
Highland Railway purchases Loan Crossing from Admiralty.
01/01/1923Dundee and Newtyle Railway
Arbroath and Forfar Railway
Glasgow and Paisley Joint Railway
Caledonian Railway
Glasgow and South Western Railway
Callander and Oban Railway
Glasgow and Kilmarnock Joint Railway
Highland Railway
Cathcart District Railway
Killin Railway
Lanarkshire and Ayrshire Railway
Portpatrick and Wigtownshire Joint Committee
Brechin and Edzell District Railway
Dornoch Light Railway
Wick and Lybster Light Railway
Grouped into London, Midland and Scottish Railway.
  /  /1934Highland Railway
London, Midland and Scottish Railway withdraw locomotive 103.

Books


37's in the Highlands

A History of Highland Locomotives

Argyll and the Highlands Last Days of Steam

Argyll and the Highlands' Lost Railways

Britain's Scenic Railways: Exploring the country by rail from Cornwall to the Highlands

Cock o' the North: Aberdeen to Kyle of Lochalsh - Study in Diesel Power Through Its Various Stages

Dornoch Light Railway: History of a Highland Railway Branch Line

Heilan Line: The Portessie Branch of the Highland Railway

Highland Miscellany

Highland Railway (Railway History)

Highland Railway (The David & Charles series)

Highland Railway Album

Highland Railway Album: No. 1

Highland Railway Album: No. 2

Highland Railway Carriages and Wagons

Highland Railway Liveries: Dathan na Gaidhealtachd

Highland Railway Locomotives, Book 2: Drummond, Smith and Cumming Classes

Highland Railway Locomotives: Early Days to the Lochs Bk. 1

Highland Railway: People and Places - From the Inverness and Nairn Railway to Scotrail

Highland Railways: Four Decades of Diesel traction North of Perth (Britain's Railways Series)

Highland Steam: A Scrapbook of Images from the 'Kyle, Mallaig and Highland Lines

Highland Survivor

History of the Railways of the Scottish Highlands: Highland Railway

History of the Railways of the Scottish Highlands: Skye Railway v. 5

Insider Rail Guide: Inverness to Kyle of Lochalsh (The Insider Rail Guide)

Lairds in Waiting: Highland Railway Private Stations and Waiting Rooms and the Families who Used Them

Locomotives of the Highland Railway (Britain's Pre-Grouping Railways)

Lost Stations on the Far North Line: The Impact of the Railway Closures North of Inverness in 1960

On Highland Lines.

OS Explorer Map (428) Kyle of Lochalsh, Plockton and Applecross (OS Explorer Active Map)

Pioneers of the Highland Tracks: William & Murdoch Paterson - A biography of two Railway Engineers

Rails to Kyle of Lochalsh: Story of the Dingwall and Skye Railway Including the Strathpeffer Branch (Oakwood Library of Railway History)

Scotland from the Rails: A Window Gazer's Guide (Bradt Travel Guides (Bradt on Britain))

Scottish Highland Railways

Spanning the Gaps: Highland Railway Bridges and Viaducts

The Dingwall & Skye Railway: A Pictorial Record of the Line to Kyle of Lochalsh

The Highland Main Line

The Highland Railway

The Highland Railway

The Highland Railway (Britain in Old Photographs)

The Highland Railway : The History of the Railways of the Scottish Highlands - Vol 2

The Highland Railway : The History of the Railways of the Scottish Highlands v. 2: Highland Railway v. 2

The Kyle of Lochalsh and Far North Lines

The Kyle of Lochalsh Line: Great Railway Journeys Through Time

The Last Days of Steam in the Scottish Highlands
The Perth and Dunkeld RailwayThe Railway Through the Central Highlands
The Rough Guide to the North Coast 500 (Compact Travel Guide with Free eBook) (Rough Guides)
Track Plans from the Highland Railway, 1900