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Fort William to Inverness
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lancastrian
Member
I am not sure where I read it, but I think it was in a railway history of Scotland. Both the Caledonian Railway as well as the North British Railway both tried to get lines to Inverness. The results of this were the Callander & Oban Line (Cal) and the West Highland & West Highland Extension Lines (NBR).
I also read that a line called the Glasgow & North Wetsern Railway was promoted to build a line through the Great Glen to Inverness. I found the following on the internet and it might be helpful.
Date
Nov 1882
Description
Engineer: T Walrond Smith. Lithographers: Robert J Cook & Hammond, Westminster.
1. Bound plans and sections of Glasgow and North Western Railway from junction with Highland Railway near Inverness to junction with North British Railway (Dumbarton and Helensburgh Branch) near Maryhill; including connecting line with North British Railway at Milngavie; junction with Forth and Clyde Junction Railway near Blackford; connecting line with Callander and Oban Railway at Tyndrum Station; and connecting line to Inverness: November 1882
The Highland Railway was very determined to keep other railways out of Inverness. The Great North of Scotland also tried many time to promote lines that by 'pure coincidance' also meant that they would have access to Inverness.
I hope that this is helpful to you.
I can't recall ever reading of any plans for a rail link between the two places. I have read quite lot about the railways of Northern Scotland, so if there had ever been any firms plans, I'm sure I would have come across them somewhere. If I am wrong I look forward to learning more!
rail-britain
Established Member
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The section between Fort Augustus to Inverness was not completed due to arguments between West Highland, North British, and Highland Railways
West Highland commenced and constructed the effectively cheap component, and linked into the steam boat service operated by North British
Ironically Highland Railway operated the route but that eventually ceased (which pretty much ended the planned extension)
As above, had the remainder of the route been completed the route may have remained for many years
lancastrian
Member
Don't worry about it we both posted at the same time. I am a bit of a railway history buff. I happen to have a book about planned railways in Great Britain & Ireland, but were not built. Very helpful.
pablo
Member
I think they were really frightened of monsters!
What is the book called? I'll look out for it!
lancastrian
Member
The book is called "An Historical Geography of the Railways of the British Isles" by Ernest Carter. It was published by Cassell & Co. Ltd, 35 Red Lion Square, London WC1. My copy was Published in 1959. So I am not sure as to if it is still in print. I bought my copy as a clear out item from my local library where I was living at the time, about 1985. It give an extremely comprehenisve coverage of all the lines that got an Act of Parliment, even though they were not built. It covers a period from 1801, the Surrey Iron Road, through to Nationalisation. It also cover Irish Railways, as well as having two lists of "Unregistered, Registered but Unauthorised by Act of Parlement, Defunct and Abandond railways," in great Britain & Ireland.
There is no railway linking Fort William with Inverness, but there is an almost-hourly bus service and both Fort William and Inverness bus stations are quite near the railway stations.
I don't know if there is any through ticketting via the bus link, but Highland and Scottish Rovers are valid on the service.
I don't know if there is any through ticketting via the bus link, but Highland and Scottish Rovers are valid on the service.
Thanks! I've made a note of it and I will keep a look out in second hand bookshops. I'm pretty sure it's not in the local library but I'll check that as well! I must say it sounds like the sort of book I would really enjoy reading.
It is a very handy bus link which I've used quite a few times. The best time was in 2006 in a blizzard!
flymo
Established Member
There are a few pictures and bits of information on the disused stations site.
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PaulLothian
Member
I think that the plans for the full Great Glen route more or less fell apart after the Highland Railway announced its direct route from Aviemore to Inverness. Prior to that, the planned Fort Augustus line had been viewed more strategically, as the original Highland main line via Forres was also a fairly circuitous route to Inverness.
matchmaker
Established Member
The Invergarry & Fort Augustus Railway ran from Spean Bridge on the West Highland to Fort Augustus on Loch Ness. It was locally promoted but it never made money and closed to passengers in 1933 and to goods in 1947.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invergarry_and_Fort_Augustus_Railway
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invergarry_and_Fort_Augustus_Railway
flymo
Established Member
From an outsiders point of view, the 1922 timetable shows a journey time for the 23 miles from Spean Bridge - Fort Augustus of anything from 50 minutes to 1 hour and 25 minutes. For a line purportedly built to main line standards, how on earth can a 23 mile journey take 85 minutes?.
lancastrian
Member
Leaves on the line??????????????????
Or possible the staff used the time for their benefit rather than the passengers. I have read of footplate men who used to set traps and snares along the railway line, to supliment their diet and food. Amitedly this was down in England, but why would things be any different up in Scotland, also possibly they did some fishing, I beleive that Scotish Salmon is very popular.
PaulLothian
Member
Mixed trains? I think the quality of the construction of the line has little to do with the way it was used!
The site at Fort Augustus is very overgrown. I know - I've been there! (with Nick W and DaveNewcastle). We cycled from Inverness to Fort William.
There is clear evidence of the formation and the platforms, and the Great Glen Way path takes the route of the old line at this point, but it really is very overgrown. There are trees growing out of the platforms.
It is unsurprising that it was never completed to Inverness. It is more surprising that it got as far as Fort Augustus!
There is clear evidence of the formation and the platforms, and the Great Glen Way path takes the route of the old line at this point, but it really is very overgrown. There are trees growing out of the platforms.
It is unsurprising that it was never completed to Inverness. It is more surprising that it got as far as Fort Augustus!
flymo
Established Member
Yes quite possibly. I was looking at it from a passenger train point of view, forgetting all about mixed trains..
blackfive460
Member
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I seem to recall such a proposal; was it in the 70s or 80s?
The idea was to ease the transport of logs to the pulp & paper mill at Corpach while allowing Crianlarich to Tulloch to be closed.
PaulLothian
Member
Good chapter about the strange history of this line in John Thomas's Forgotten Railways: Scotland. (I have just found my copy.)
Poor on the details of the rail services offered during the line's inevitable decline, but fascinating in many ways.
Poor on the details of the rail services offered during the line's inevitable decline, but fascinating in many ways.
sprinterguy
Veteran Member
Yes. In 1894 the West Highland Railway looked into a route from Tulloch across to Kingussie on the Highland Railway, a distance of 32 miles. The proposal was thwarted with ease by the Highland.
The Highland Railway mainly fought a rearguard action against proposals for a railway into Inverness via the Great Glen once it had its’ headquarters set up in the Highland capital, with limited interest itself in the potential of such a route. The Glasgow & North Western Railway surveyed a route up the Great Glen in 1882, but this scheme was ably defeated by the Highland. The scheme was promoted by the North British, and would have run along the opposite side of Loch Lomond to the course the West Highland took, then up through Glen Falloch, Chrianlarich and Tyndrum, but instead of traversing Rannoch Moor the line would have climbed to the Black Mount and then descended into Glen Coe and on to Ballacullish before running along the shores of Loch Linnhe until reaching a through station at Fort William and then onwards to Inverness via the Great Glen. The North British again proposed a, less ambitious, railway to Inverness from Fort William in 1893, when the West Highland line was under construction. The Highland then announced their own identical scheme from the opposite end of the Great Glen. The plans were dusted off once more in the following year in a renewed attack. And then in 1896 the Invergarry and Fort Augustus Railway arrived on the scene:
The Invergarry & Fort Augustus Railway was a completely separate enterprise from the West Highland Railway and was realised largely through the efforts and personal finance of a Lord Burton, who was the chairman of the line. Construction of the line was originally costed at £350,000, but ended up costing £1 million, with one third of the capital spent on the first mile from Spean Bridge and the final mile from Fort Augustus town station to the pier station, which included an expensive swing bridge over the Caledonian Canal.
The railway could have been open for traffic from 1901, but disputes and complications over the running of the line meant that the first passenger train didn’t run until 27th July 1903. The Highland Railway was originally contracted to provide locomotives and rolling stock for the line at a cost of £2000 per half year to the Invergarry and Fort Augustus, as the charges stipulated by the more logical choice of the North British Railway with whom the I&FA made a connection with at Spean Bridge, were prohibitively high. The Highland Railway provided “Skye bogie” No.48 and 4-4-0T No.52 to work the line. The railway never came close to turning a profit. In its’ first six months it produced a total revenue of £907. In the half year ending on 31st July 1904, the railway made £976 in revenue but spent a total of £5,473 in capital.
The timetable provided four trains each way daily. Two of these started at Fort Augustus pier station, and one train from Spean Bridge terminated there. At the end of the 1906 summer timetable the service between Fort Augustus town and the pier station was withdrawn and never resumed: It saw just three years of active use!
The Highland Railway withdrew its’ support from the I&FA on April 30th 1907, and the Fort Augustus line had to very quickly go begging to the North British to provide locomotives and rolling stock to work the railway, with the contract starting on May 4th 1907.. Under North British control the Invergarry & Fort Augustus line used LNER C15 4-4-2 tanks and Drummond R class 4-4-0Ts. The timetable was for four return passenger trains a day in the summer and two in the winter. The majority of trains were timetabled to take exactly an hour to traverse the route, with stops at the three intermediate stations at Gairlochy, Invergarry and Aberchalder.
Lord Burton, who had been chief amongst those filling in the deficit between the Invergarrys’ revenue and expenditure using his own private fortune, died in 1909 and on 31st October 1911 the North British pulled out of operating the Fort Augustus line, but after much negotitation and discussion the Invergarry and Fort Augustus Railway became the property of the North British Railway on August 28th 1914 and train services resumed. The last passenger train ran on 30th November 1933, which was the 12:05 Fort Augustus to Spean Bridge. In the final full year of operation only 1,911 passengers travelled on the line and total revenue was only £179. Freight services continued until 31st December 1946, which in the final years dwindled to a once weekly coal train, although the line saw increased traffic during WW2 with a daily freight train carrying timber and munitions for the military base at Fort Augustus.
All information taken from “The West Highland Railway” by John Thomas; long out of print I shouldn’t wonder!
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CallySleeperKid
Member
I have had a quick look around, and there are a couple of copies available to buy, but not cheap, but the cost only reflects how much you actually want the item. It sounds like a very interesting read.
http://www.alibris.co.uk/search/books/qwork/2928454/used/An%20historical%20geography%20of%20the%20railways%20of%20the%20British%20Isles.
There is also this from Suffolk Libraries https://sld.suffolkcc.gov.uk/02_Catalogue/02_005_TitleInformation.aspx?searchTerm=Carter%2C+E.+F&searchTerm2=&searchTerm3=&searchTerm4=&searchType=0&Page=1&media=1&branch=&authority=&language=&junior=&rcn=B5915463++&fr=tl
matchmaker
Established Member
Still in print. £9.58 from Amazon
In fact, all of the "Railways of the Scottish Highlands" series still seem to be available!
sprinterguy
Veteran Member
Im quite surprised by that! Mines third edition, 1984 (Making it older than I am): At that point the 37/4s werent even resident on the West Highland line!Still in print. £9.58 from Amazon
In fact, all of the "Railways of the Scottish Highlands" series still seem to be available!
I also have The Highland Railway book from the same series, which is another excellently informative and interesting read, its purely coincidence that I had taken to re-reading the WHL book about a week before this thread came up.
I've got a copy of West Highland Railway in front of me here - just over a year old - 4th edition. I found it a really interesting read, and there's a section at the back "The West Highland Up To Date" which includes details of the near-withdrawal of the Sleeper and how they salvaged it, details of the line's centenary in 1994 etc etc. Some good photos as well. See my review on Amazon!
www.abebooks.co.uk
Cheapest copy of "An Historical Geography of the British Isles" by Ernest Carter available from Minstergates bookshop, York...£20
Cheapest copy of "An Historical Geography of the British Isles" by Ernest Carter available from Minstergates bookshop, York...£20
kentuckytony
Member
Just FYI, Abe Books (USA) (http://www.abebooks.com has about six copies of "An Historical Geography of the Railways of the British Isles" (after I bought one!).
I got mine for the equivalent of £18 ($29.00) - with free shipping.
(The rest were higher and had shipping). And all from US booksellers.
Hope you can find similar in the UK as caliwag has shown above.
I got mine for the equivalent of £18 ($29.00) - with free shipping.
(The rest were higher and had shipping). And all from US booksellers.
Hope you can find similar in the UK as caliwag has shown above.
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