Fort William Junction

Location type

Junction

Names and dates

Banavie Junction [1st] (1895-1901)
Mallaig Junction (1901-1988)
Fort William Junction (1988-)

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

Station code: National Rail
Opened on the West Highland Railway.

Description

This is the junction between the Glasgow to Fort William line and the Mallaig Extension (West Highland Railway) (originally the Banavie Branch of the West Highland Railway).

A signal box remains open here, one which has seen its name change twice. The box is in the 'V' of the original junction (Mallaig line to north and Glasgow Queen Street High Level line to south). However it is surrounded by lines as the approach to Fort William Junction Yard starts from the Glasgow line and runs parallel to, and then joins, the Mallaig line.

Just to the west the line, on its approach to Fort William, the line is crossed by a bridge of the former Lochaber Narrow Gauge Railway. This bridge was built for double track, but carried one - the southern track which would have been the westbound line, but was bidirectional. Land was taken for two tracks throughout between the pier and aluminium works. Just to the south was a second bridge, crossing the main road. It was removed in 1978 with closure of the narrow gauge line.

Directly to the west are the currently unused Fort William Oil Sidings.

Note by John McGregor:
The first sidings in the Junction 'V' were early additions, together with urgent alterations at the old fort yard and the south side (loading bank) loop there. Besides putting in more sidings for WW2 traffic, the LNER had two (three?) of then looped up. In the 1950s, summer coaching stock/local holiday excursion stock was stabled there, taken to and fro by the duty pilot, which used the looped lines to run round. Engines stabling/picking up ballast trains may have done so too, sometimes. I'm not 100% sure when the Junction loop was first installed. I donâ??t have a copy of Major Marindin's inspection of the Banavie branch in 1895.

Major Pringle's 1901 inspection of the Mallaig line doesnâ??t mention it (I think) so I assume it was there already.

Tags

Junction
03/03/2021

Facilities

Listing: B




Chronology Dates

06/05/1896West Highland Railway
Derailment at Banavie Junction [1st] (now Fort William Junction).
30/03/1901West Highland Railway
Mallaig Extension (West Highland Railway)
Banavie Junction [2nd], Banavie Canal Bridge, Tomonie Signal Box, Glenfinnan, Lochailort, Arisaig, Mallaig signal boxes opened. Banavie Junction [1st] signal box and junction renamed Mallaig Junction.
02/09/1939West Highland Railway
Banavie Pier to Fort William (Banavie Junction [2nd]) closed to passengers. By closure the service was meagre - a service from Fort William [1st] on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays and a reverse working on Tuesday, Thursdays and Saturdays. Banavie Junction [2nd] to Mallaig Junction remains open to passengers as part of the Mallaig Extension (West Highland Railway).
06/08/1951West Highland Railway
Banavie Pier to Fort William (Banavie Junction [2nd]) (excluded) closed to goods and completely. Banavie Junction [2nd] to Mallaig Junction remains open to passengers as part of the Mallaig Extension (West Highland Railway).

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