Callander and Oban Railway

Callander and Oban Railway
Locale Scotland Dates of operation 5 July 1865 – 31 December 1922 Successor line London, Midland and Scottish Railway Track gauge 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in)
Legend
Ballachulish Ballachulish Ferry Kentallen Duror Appin Creagan Barcaldine Benderloch North Connel Oban Connel Ferry Ach-na-Cloich Taynuilt Falls of Cruachan Loch Awe - - Ben Cruachan Quarry Branch Dalmally Tyndrum Crianlarich Junction - - West Highland Railway Crianlarich (Upper) (WHR) Crianlarich (Lower) - - West Highland Railway Luib Killin Junction - - Killin Railway Glenoglehead - - Lochearnhead, St Fillans and Comrie Railway Balquhidder Kingshouse Strathyre Callander Callander (original) DD&CR) Callander & Oban Junction - - Dunblane, Doune and Callander Railway

The Callander and Oban Railway company was formed in 1864 with the objective of linking Callander, Scotland to the west coast port of Oban over challenging terrain, particularly at Glen Ogle and the Pass of Brander at Loch Awe. Callander had been reached in 1858 by the Dunblane, Doune and Callander Railway (soon to be absorbed into Scottish Central Railways and then Caledonian Railway). Starting in 1866, the single track line passed Killin in 1870, reaching Tyndrum in 1873 and Dalmally in 1877. Following completion in 1880, Oban developed as a fashionable resort, though economically the railway was never really profitable.

In 1923, the Railway became part of LMS.

Branch lines and connections to other lines

Major constructions came when a branch line was built to Ballachulish.

There were also connections to the:

• Dunblane, Doune and Callander Railway at Callander and Oban Junction (Callander).
• Comrie, St Fillans & Lochearnhead Railway at Balquhidder Junction
• Killin Railway
• West Highland Railway at Crianlarich

Dunblane, Doune and Callander Railway

The Dunblane, Doune and Callander Railway had opened in 1858. It was formally closed with the eastern section of the Callander and Oban Railway on 5 November 1965.

Killin Railway

The five mile Killin Branch opened on 13 March 1886. The branch to Loch Tay at Killin was privately owned and funded by local landowners as the Killin Railway required viaducts over the rivers Dochart and Lochay.

Ballachulish Branch

The 1903 branch to the Ballachulish slate quarries spanned Loch Etive with a spectacular cantilever bridge at Connel, and also Loch Creran.

Comrie, St Fillans & Lochearnhead Railway

The Comrie, St Fillans & Lochearnhead Railway connection (following the take-over by the Caledonian Railway) from Crieff along Loch Earn reached Balquhidder Junction on 1 May 1905 with the Kendrum Viaduct over Glen Ogle at Lochearnhead.

West Highland Railway

The chord between Crianlarich Upper and Crianlarich Lower Junction was opened in 20 December 1897, connecting to the West Highland Railway, however it did not see its first regular passenger services until 23 May 1949.

Ben Cruachan Quarry Branch

The Ben Cruachan Quarry Branch was a short freight-only line that connected east of Loch Awe railway station. It closed in 1916.

Glasgow - Oban express in Pass of Leny, near Callander in 1961

Closures and current operations

Only the Crianlarich - Oban section remains open today as a branch of the West Highland Line.

The eastern section was scheduled for closure on 1 November 1965; however, the section between Callander and Crianlarich (along with the Killin branch) was closed following a landslide in Glen Ogle on 27 September 1965 and never reopened. Much of the eastern section has been converted to a cycle path known as the Rob Roy Way, with the Kendrum viaduct (on the Lochearnhead, St Fillans and Comrie Railway) restored in 2001 (the girders spanning the river having been scrapped).

Nearly all the stations on the Callander to Crianlarich section of the route have been demolished, with Callander station site now occupied by a car park and Strathyre by housing. The site of Crianlarich Lower is now occupied by the Crianlarich Community Centre. Balquhidder and Luib stations are now caravan parks. The island platform at Killin Junction survives, though the area is now obscured with trees and undergrowth. Only Glenoglehead station building still stands, now in use as a private house.

Most of the underbridges have been removed and/or destroyed. However, the impressive Glen Ogle viaduct still survives.

Parts of the trackbed between Killin Junction and Crianlarich have been obliterated by improvements to the A85 road.

The Ballachulish branch closed on 28 March 1966. Connel Bridge and Creagan (Loch Creran) Bridge are now used for road traffic, the latter following an almost complete reconstruction in 1999.

References

Sources

• Awdry, Christopher (1990). Encyclopaedia of British Railway Companies. Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 1-8526-0049-7. OCLC 19514063. 
• Fryer, Charles (1989). The Callander and Oban Railway. Oxford: Oakwood Press. ISBN 0-8536-1377-X. OCLC 21870958. 

• Jowett, Alan (March 1989). Jowett's Railway Atlas of Great Britain and Ireland: From Pre-Grouping to the Present Day (1st ed.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 1-8526-0086-1. OCLC 22311137. 
• Sanders, Keith; Hodgins, Douglas (1998). British Railways Past and Present No 31 - North West Scotland (1st Edition ed.). Great Addington, Kettering, Northants: Past & Present. ISBN 1-8589-5090-2. OCLC 41019274. 
• Sanders, Keith; Hodgins, Douglas (2001). British Railways Past and Present No 31 - North West Scotland (Revised edition ed.). Great Addington, Kettering, Northants: Past & Present. ISBN 1-8589-5090-2. OCLC 54022071. 

• Thomas, John (1966). The Callander and Oban Railway (1st ed.). Newton Abbot: Devon: David & Charles. OCLC 2316816. 
• Thomas, John; Farrington, J.H. (1990). The Callander and Oban Railway (2nd ed.). Newton Abbot: Devon: David St John Thomas. OCLC 60059451. 
• Thomas, John (2000). The Callander and Oban Railway (3rd ed.). Newton Abbot: Devon: David St John Thomas. ISBN 0-9465-3761-5. OCLC 228266316. 

• Thomas, John (1976). Forgotten Railways: Scotland (1st edition ed.). Newton Abbot: Devon: David & Charles. ISBN 0-7153-7185-1. OCLC 3103506. 
• Thomas, John (1981). Forgotten Railways: Scotland (2nd edition ed.). Newton Abbot: Devon: David & Charles. ISBN 0-7153-8193-8. OCLC 13641185. 

• RAILSCOT on Callander and Oban Railway