The West Highland Railway Line
Contents
- Short History Of The Line
- The Route
- The Line Today
- The Stations
- Dumbarton Central Station
- Former Craigendoran station
- Helensburgh Upper Station
- The line to Rhu
- Former Rhu and Shandon stations
- Garelochhead Station
- Former Glen Douglas and Whistlefield stations
- Arrochar and Tarbet Station
- Fatalities around Arrochar during construction
- Ardlui Station
- The line north of Ardlui
- Crianlarich Station
- The Crianlarich viaducts
- The line north of Crianlarich
- Tyndrum Upper station
- Bridge of Orchy Station
- Rannoch station
- The snow shed and old snow fence near Rannoch station.
- Corrour station
- Loch Treig derailment, June 2012
- Loch Treig tunnel
- Former Fersit station
- Tulloch station
- The line north of Tulloch station
- Roy Bridge station
Short History Of The Line
The West Highland Line was opened by The West Highland Railway Company in 1894. It was taken over by the North British Railway in 1908. The NB was later taken over by the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) as a result of the national grouping of railway companies in 1923.Most of the stations were of a similar single island design, with a chalet style building, many of which survive today.
If you have a few hours to kill, you might find this youtube video of the journey from Queen Street to Mallaig, taken from a cab, of interest Link .
The Route
The line runs from Craigendoran, near Helensburgh on the north bank of the Firth of Clyde in Central Scotland to Oban and Mallaig in the West Highlands. The other major town on the route is Fort William which was the northern terminus until the Mallaig Extension opened in 1901.The line splits into separate branches for Oban and Fort William at Crianlarich. Both lines from Crianlarich run through separate stations in neighbouring Tyndrum (Upper and Lower) which make Tyndrum the smallest village in the world to have two main line stations.
Crianlarich also had a junction with the Callendar & Oban Railway which closed in 1966.
The section of line over Rannoch Moor was a challenge to the builders who decided to "float" the line over the moor on a bed of timber and earth.
The major engineering work on the line is the Glenfinnan Viaduct.
The Line Today
The line is single track for most if its length, with passing places at some stations. It is maintained by Network rail Link and the services are run by First Scotrail Link. There are three services in each direction each day, with trains splitting at Crianlarich to go to Oban in the west or Fort William & Mallaig in the north. The trains are joined together at Crianlarich for the south-bound journey.Scotrail also runs the Caledonian Sleeper Link from various points in Scotland, including Fort William and the stations to the south.
The stations are small, but well maintained, kept in picture postcard condition which befits a line which was voted the most scenic in the world in 2009 and 2010 by readers of the independent travel magazine Wanderlust Link .
The Stations
Officially, the route begins at Craigendoran, but the services run from Glasgow Queen Street or London Euston (sleeper only). For the purposes of this journey, we catch the train at Category A Listed Link Dumbarton Central station which opened in 1854.Dumbarton Central Station
Our train approaches from Glasgow Queen Street.Some general views of the station and trains.
Former Craigendoran station
Craigendoran station and pier were opened in 1882 by the Glasgow, Dumbarton and Helensburgh Railway company. There were two platforms, including one on the pier itself. When the West Highland line opened in 1894, two additional platforms were added to serve this line. These platforms became known as Craigendoran Upper station.The upper station closed in 1964, along with several other stations which were served by local trains which ran from here to Arrochar and Tarbet. The station was a few hundred yards west of the junction with the Helensburgh line which marks the beginning of the West Highland Line proper.
The pier closed to commercial traffic in 1972 and has since been removed (there were actually two parallel piers).
The photo below shows the West Highland Line in the foreground, with the Helensburgh line beyond.
View SW under the line to Helensburgh Upper, Arrochar and Fort William and then the branch to Helensburgh Central: ex-North British Glasgow Queen Street - Fort William 'West Highland' line, Helensburgh Central being the western terminus of the electrified North Clyde Lines of Strathclyde Transport, to The left being Dumbarton, Clydebank and Glasgow, then Shettleston, Coatbridge and Airdrie.
by Ben Brooksbank
Some more photos of Craigendoran station and peir.
Helensburgh Upper Station
Opened in 1894, this is the first station on the line. It is one mile up the hill from Helensburgh Central which is on a different line. The difference in character between the two stations is quite striking; busy Helensburgh Central is a terminal station in the middle of town, with fairly extensive buildings and platforms, whereas Helensburgh Upper is akin to a country station high on the hill in the affluent suburbs.The station is convenient for the nearby Hill House which was designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh and is open to the public Link .
The span of the road bridge in the second photo below shows that the line was once double track here.
The line to Rhu
Former Rhu and Shandon stations
There were originally stations at Rhu (opened in 1894 as Row, closed 1956, reopened 1960, closed again 1964) and Shandon (closed 1964) between Helensburgh Upper and Garelochhead.From this section of the line, we get the first glimpse of the West Highland scenery for which the line is famed.
Garelochhead Station
As the name suggests, Garelochhead is at the head of the Gareloch, which is a sea loch and is home to the UK submarine fleet at Faslane where there was a short branch to the base. There was originally a station at Faslane, but it is now closed. The station opened in 1894.Former Glen Douglas and Whistlefield stations
The line passes through closed stations at Whistlefield (opened 1896, closed 1964) and Glen Douglas on the way to Arrochar and Tarbet. There is little if any evidence of those stations remaining today.This photo shows the line at Whistlefield in 2009. Here is a Link to a local website which has photos of the station when it was in active use.
The West Highland Line heading towards Garelochhead station. Trees have been felled on either side of the railway recently.
by Mark Nightingale
A push-pull local train at Glen Douglas in 1958. Glen Douglas station closed in 1964. Here is a Link to the RailScot web site which has photos of the site of the station in more recent times.
Until the 1960s, the main line service between Glasgow and Fort William was supplemented by a shuttle service between Craigendoran and Arrochar and Tarbet. Here one of these trains approaches Glen Douglas on its way to Craigendoran, where connections were available to Glasgow.
by Flying Stag
Get your camera ready as we approach Arrochar.
Arrochar and Tarbet Station
Opened in 1894, the station is located in a bit of a no-mans-land between the two villages. Arrochar is at the head of Loch Long (another sea loch with military installations) and Tarbet is at Loch Lomond, which is the largest fresh water lake in Britain.This photo from 1963 shows the station buildings, most of which have since been removed.
Some more recent photos of the station.
Fatalities around Arrochar during construction
There were many deaths amongst the teams of navvies who built theline in this area. This local website Link provides great detail about
the casualties and the successful efforts of the local community
to erect a memorial to mark the centenary of the tragic events.
Between Arrochar & Tarbet and Ardlui, the line passes through mature oak woods and crosses Inveruglas Water at Inveruglas. There was a temporary station at Inveruglas (opened 1945) to serve construction of the nearby hydro-electric power scheme. The line crosses the hydro-electric pipelines at Inveruglas power station to the north of the site of the old station. There is also a sizeable stone-built viaduct just north of Inveruglas, by the A82.
( Page 1 2 3 4 5 next >> )