Highland Railway
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The Highland Railway (HR) was one of the smaller British railways before the Railways Act 1921; it operated north of Perth railway station in Scotland and served the farthest north and south of Britain. It was absorbed into the London, Midland and Scottish Railway in 1923.
Contents |
[edit] History
- The Inverness and Nairn Railway (INR): 15 miles (24km) in length, was incorpated in 1854; the first train ran 5 November 1855; it was the original part of the HR;
- A railway between Nairn and Keith opened in 1858; in 1861 this was amalgamated with the INR to become the Inverness and Aberdeen Junction Railway (I&AJR);
- Two railways were to follow:
- Lines to north were also being opened; all were merged with the HR by 1884:
- 23 March 1856 the Inverness and Ross-shire Railway, Inverness to Invergordon; it was extended to Bonar Bridge in 1864;
- 13 April 1868: the Sutherland Railway, Bonar Bridge to Golspie;
- 19 August 1870: the Dingwall and Skye Railway, Dingwall to Stromeferry and Kyle of Lochalsh opened throughout; the
- 19 June 1871: the Duke of Sutherland's Railway, Golspie to Helsmdale built by the Duke of Sutherland;
- 28 July 1874: the Sutherland and Caithness Railway, Helmsdale to Wick and Thurso completed the line.
- 1 November 1898: the "direct line" between Aviemore and Inverness opened, reducing the journey from 60 miles (96km) to 35 miles (56km).
- There were also several branch lines of the HR. From the south, these were:
- the Aberfeldy branch;
- the Portessie branch: opened 1 August 1884, closed 7 August 1915
- the Fochabers Town branch: closed 14 September 1931
- the Hopeman branch: also closed 14 September 1931
- the Findhorn branch: opened 1860, closed 1869 as being a failure
- the Fort George branch: also closed 14 September 1931
- the Fortrose branch: closed 1 October 1951
- the Strathpeffer branch: closed to passengers 23 February 1946, closed to freight 26 March 1951
- There were two light railways opened and run by the HR:
[edit] Company Officers
[edit] Chairman
1911 William Whitelaw
[edit] General Manager
- 1865-1896 Andrew Dougall
- 1896-1898 Charles Steel
- 1898-1910 Thomas Wilson
- 1911-1922 Robert Park
[edit] Chief Engineer
The Chief Engineer (CE) of the originally proposed Perth and Inverness Railway was Joseph Mitchell. He held the same post for the Inverness and Nairn railway, the Inverness and Aberdeen Junction Railway, the Inverness and Perth Junction Railway (that is the three that merged to form the Highland Railway). He relinquished the post in 1863. The work was then carried out by a private company (which just happened to be the one run by Mitchell), and arrangement that was terminated in June 1865 when the merger that formed the Highland Railway took effect.
June 1865 - 1869 J W Buttle (with title of 'Superintendent of Permanent Way'); later CEs included Peter Wilson 1870-1874; Murdoch Paterson 1875-1897; William Roberts 1898-1913 and Alexander Newlands 1914-1922.
[edit] Chief Mechanical Engineer
Inverness and Nairn railway
| Start | End | Engineer | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| December 1854 | May 1865 | Alexander Allan | Worked through a local representative - his nephew William Barclay. |
| May 1865 | Dec 1865 | David Jones | temporary appointment |
| Jan 1866 | Jan 1870 | William Stroudley | |
| Jan 1870 | 1896 | David Jones | |
| 1896 | Dec 1911 | Peter Drummond | |
| Dec 1911 | Aug 1915 | F.G. Smith | |
| Sept 1915 | 1922 | Christopher Cumming | |
| 1922 | D.C. Urie |
[edit] See also
[edit] References
The Railway Year Book for 1912, The Railway Publishing Company Ltd
[edit] Further reading
For further reading into this subject, The Highland Railway by H.A.Vallance (ISBN 1-899863-07-9)
[edit] External links
| Major constituent railway companies of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway: |
|
Caledonian | Furness | Lancashire & Yorkshire | Glasgow & South Western | London and North Western | Midland | North Staffordshire |
