Crianlarich

Location type

Station

Names and dates

Crianlarich [WHR] (1894-1953)
Crianlarich Upper (1953-1967)
Crianlarich (1967-)

Note: text in square brackets is added for clarity and was not part of the location's name.

Station code: CNR National Rail ScotRail
Where: Stirling, Scotland
Opened on the West Highland Railway.
Open on the West Highland Line.

Description

This is an island platform station on the West Highland Railway where the lines to Oban (to the west) and Fort William divide. It is famous for its tearoom. Crianlarich Station Tearoom . The station is in Perthshire. Entry is by a subway at the north end of the station. The former signal box (closed 1985) is also at the north end of the station.

Alongside the tearoom, just to the south was the original station building. This was lost to a fire in 1962, but a small building, not dissimilar to the original, now exists. This was erected in 1999 replacing a rather ugly building of the intervening years.

There is a single road, single ended locomotive shed by the station, just to the south on the east side of the line and approached, by reversal, from the north. The shed and its sidings are a permanent way base.

There are sidings on the west side of the station, approached from the south. In the 2000s these were used for timber loading, the depot at Crianlarich Lower having closed. The sidings have not been used for regular traffic for some years.

The north end of the station was dominated by two water tanks, now removed.

At the north end of the station the spur to the Oban line runs off to the west and the Fort William line runs north over the Glenbruar Viaduct. The spur was only brought into regular use after the Second World War.

With the closure of the eastern half of the Callander and Oban Railway the station is the railhead for points east, such as Killin, for those wishing to take the train south to Glasgow.

Local

Before either the Callander and Oban Railway or West Highland Railway opened the Crianlarich Hotel was open, located at the road junction between the east-west Strathfillan road and the road south through Glen Falloch.

Crianlarich Hotel

Crianlarich Youth Hostel is on the east side of the station.

Crianlarich Youth Hostel

A diversion from the West Highland Way enters Crianlarich beside the station. Walking north west along the route reaches Tyndrum near Tyndrum Lower and walking south reaches Inverarnan, not far from Ardlui station.

Ben More (3,852 ft) and Stob Binnein (3,169 ft) are to the east.
Beinn Challum (3,363 ft) and Ben Challum South Peak (3,274) are to the north.

Tags

Station junction

External links

Canmore site record
NLS Collection OS map of 1892-1914
NLS Collection OS map of 1944-67

Facilities

Gaelic name: A^ Chrìon Làraich




Nearby stations
Crianlarich Lower
Loch Dochart [Private]
Upper Tyndrum
Tyndrum [1st]
Tyndrum Lower
Glen Falloch Platform
Luib
Ardlui
Killin Junction
Bridge of Orchy
Inveruglas
Glenoglehead Crossing
Kingshouse Halt
Balquhidder [2nd]
Strathyre
Crianlarich Shed
Crianlarich Junction
Glenbruar Viaduct
Fillan Viaduct
Lower Crianlarich Junction
Crianlarich West Box
Inverhaggernie Viaduct
Ewich Viaduct
Tourist/other
Inverhaggernie No 2 Level Crossing
Inverhaggernie No 1 Level Crossing
Glen Falloch Scots Pines
Stob Garbh
St Fillan^s Priory
Kirkton Farm Level Crossing
Cruach Ardain
Location names in dark blue are on the same original line.


Food Baskets


The station was famous for its breakfast and lunch baskets, provided for northbound passengers during the pause at the station.

Originally, from 1894 to 1895, the baskets were available at Arrochar and Tarbet.


Almost unused junction


Although Crianlarich became a junction in 1897 between the West Highland Railway and the older Callander and Oban Railway it was merely used for traffic exchange. Timetabled traffic only began in 1949, despite this providing a shorter route between Glasgow and Oban. It was not until closure of the line east in 1965 (following the Glen Ogle Rockfall) that it carried a regular service.


Navvy Camp


The fourth navvy camp, counting north from Craigendoran, was located here. This construction base was served by the Callander and Oban Railway. Stone from Ben Cruachan Quarry was brought in for construction of the viaducts.


Chronology Dates

28/07/1884Inverness and Aviemore Direct Railway (Highland Railway)
Act passed. This was partly in response to the proposed incursion of the North British Railway's Glasgow and North Western Railway from Glasgow to Inverness via Loch Lomond, Crianlarich, Glencoe, Fort William and the Great Glen.
31/07/1894West Highland Railway
Helensburgh Upper, Shandon, Garelochhead, Glen Douglas, Arrochar and Tarbet, Ardlui, Crianlarich, Tyndrum [WHR], Bridge of Orchy, Gorton, Rannoch, Corrour, Inverlair, Roy Bridge, Spean Bridge signal boxes opened.
07/08/1894West Highland Railway
Public opening from Fort William to Craigendoran. Stations opened at Craigendoran Upper, Helensburgh Upper, Row, Shandon, Garelochhead, Arrochar and Tarbet, Ardlui, Crianlarich, Tyndrum [WHR], Bridge of Orchy, Gortan (private), Rannoch, Corrour (private), Inverlair, Roy Bridge, Spean Bridge and Fort William [1st].
20/12/1894Callander and Oban Railway
Spur from Crianlarich station (West Highland Railway) to Crianlarich Junction [CandO] opened. New passing loop at Crianlarich Junction [CandO] allows removal of up platform and loop at Crianlarich [CandO] station.
17/09/1964Callander and Oban Railway
Closed to goods from Callander Dreadnought (excluded) to Luib (excluded). Goods traffic is re-routed via Crianlarich Upper.
27/09/1965Callander and Oban Railway
Landslide in Glen Ogle blocks railway; line closed between Callander and Crianlarich. (Glen Ogle Rockfall).
27/09/1965Killin Railway
Killin [2nd] to Killin Junction closed to passengers and completely. Due to the rockfall in Glen Ogle in the early hours the Callander and Oban Railway was closed and the branch service had no trains to meet. The final train from Killin [2nd] was hauled by 80093 with three carriages and 13 wagons - although this was too heavy and the wagons had to be left temporarily while the carriages were taken to Killin Junction before the locomotive returned for the wagons. Once re-combined the train, unusually, ran through to Crianlarich and then south to Glasgow. Loch Tay Shed facilities closed.
01/11/1965Callander and Oban Railway
Crianlarich Lower to Callander Dreadnought officially closed to passengers (the Glen Ogle Rockfall closed the line on 28/09/65 and beyond Callander there was a replacement bus service until the end, trains continuing on the portion east of Callander). Following withdrawal of the bus service no public passenger service at all (bus or train) was available between Crianlarich and Killin [2nd]. Official closure of Callander Dreadnought, Strathyre, Kingshouse Platform, Lochearnhead, Killin Junction, Luib, Crianlarich Lower and Killin [2nd]. Crianlarich Lower to Luib remains open to goods.
08/12/1985West Highland Railway
Crianlarich signal box closed.
27/03/1988West Highland Railway
Garelochhead, Glen Douglas, Arrochar and Tarbet, Ardlui, Crianlarich block posts eliminated by RETB.
30/07/1998West Highland Railway
Derailment at Crianlarich.

News items

27/09/2023Helensburgh train disruptions planned for this weekend [Helensburgh Advertiser]
20/06/2023Herald letters: ScotRail selling us short with abysmal West Highland Line service [The Herald]
14/06/2023A86 reopens as ScotRail disruption continues on West Highland Line between Fort William and Crianlarich [STV]
28/12/2022Met Office yellow warning of icy patches as fault on train cancels trains from Oban [Press and Journal]
15/02/2022West Highland line blocked for second time within week due to a broken down engineering vehicle [Press and Journal]
18/10/2019'Round-the-clock' revamp of West Highland Line completed [BBC News]
08/08/2019Flood-damaged rail route from Ardlui to Crianlarich to stay closed [BBC News]
05/08/2019Caledonian Sleeper forced to cancel service as West Highland Line closes due to landslip [Press and Journal]
05/08/2019Weather warnings as heavy rain causes landslides [BBC News]
14/06/2018Caledonian Sleeper reintroduces Oban bus link after successful trial [Press and Journal]

Books

All Stations to Mallaig!: West Highland Line Since Nationalisation
Argyll and the Highlands Last Days of Steam

Argyll and the Highlands' Lost Railways

Ben Nevis and Fort William, The Mamores and The Grey Corries, Kinlochleven and Spean Bridge (OS Explorer Map)

History of the Railways of the Scottish Highlands: West Highland Railway v. 1

History of the Railways of the Scottish Highlands: West Highland Railway v. 1

Iron Road to the Isles: A Travellers and Tourist Guide to the West Highland Lines

Iron Roads to the Isles: A Travellers and Tourists Souvenir Guide to the West Highland Lines

Mountain Moor and Loch on the Route of the West Highland Railway

On West Highland Lines

Railway World Special: West Highland Lines

Rannan Rathad Iarainn nan Eilean =: The West Highland Line

Road To The Isles Dvd: Part One The West Highland Line Between Crianlarich to Fort William, From the Drivers Cab Of A Class 37, With The Caledonian Sleeper
The Mallaig Railway: The West Highland Extension 1897-1901 (RCAHMS Broadsheet)
The New Railway: The Earliest Years of the West Highland Line

The Story of the West Highland

The Story of the West Highland: The 1940s LNER Guide to the Line

The West Highland Railway

The West Highland Railway (Railways of the Scottish Highlands)

The West Highland Railway 120 Years

Trossachs and West Highlands: Exploring the Lost Railways (Local History Series)

Victorian Travel on the West Highland Line: By Mountain, Moor and Loch in 1894

Walks from the West Highland Railway (Cicerone Guide)

West Highland Line: Great Railway Journeys Through Time

West Highland Railway
West Highland Railway (History of the Railways of the Scottish Highlands v. 1): West Highland Railway v. 1
West Highland Railway: Plans, Poltics and People