Construction on the Callander & Oban Railway began in 1866, but because of the mountain terrain through which the line passed, especially at Glen Ogle and at the Pass of Brander at Loch Awe, the line did not open until 1880. Designed to link Callander, near Stirling, soon to be absorbed into the Scottish Central Railway and then the Caledonian, with the west coast port of Oban, the line was never profitable although Oban developed as a fashionable resort after the arrival of the railway. Although the section of line between Crianlarich and Oban remains open as part of the West Highland Line,...

The Kyle of Lochalsh Line was opened in 1870 to connect the ferry terminus at Stromeferry on Scotland's west coast with Dingwall and Inverness on the east coast. It had been intended to reach Kyle of Lochalsh but the company ran out of money, and the Highland Railway would open an extension to the Kyle in 1897 to improve transport links for the fishing industry. At the time, the extension was mile for mile the most expensive railway ever built in Britain. The line passes through some of the most dramatic and beautiful scenery in Britain and although it was marked for closure by Doctor...