Ordnance gazetteer of Scotland > Volume 4

HIGHLAND RAILWAY
yards. At Dalguise the line crosses the Tay on a hand-
some lattice-girder bridge of 360 feet span. From here
to Guay (21 J miles) the line passes through a fine valley,
with hill and wood and river, making up a beautiful
scene. Beyond Guay there is a fine view of the district
of the junction of the Tay and the Tummel ; and Ballin-
luig Junction (24 miles) is reached, where the Aberfcldy
line branches off. This branch, 9 miles long, crosses both
rivers on lattice -girder bridges, the Tay in two spans of
136 feet and two of 40 feet, aud the Tummel in two spans
of 122 feet and two of 35 feet each. There are on the
branch upwards of forty bridges, and also a number of
heavy cuttings and embankments. There is a station
at Grandtully (4J miles) and at Aberfeldy, the latter
being 33 miles from Perth. The next station on the
principal line is Pitlochry (2S| miles), beyond which
the railway traverses the famous and picturesque ' Pass of
Eilliecrankie,' with Killiecrankie station, 32J miles from
Perth. Just before entering a short tunnel at the head
of the pass, the railway passes over a remarkable bit of
engineering, being carried on a lofty viaduct of stone
about five hundred yards long, and open below in ten
arches, generally dry, but provided in case of damage
from flood. This viaduct rises 40 feet above the bed
below, and as it curves round towards the tunnel, it
affords the traveller a very interesting view of the wild
pass and its surrounding hills. At Blair Athole (35J
miles) is seen the old house or castle of Blair, originally
a singularly plain building, but now very much altered
and improved by the present Duke of Athole. The
trees along the railway grounds, planted originally to
shut out the railway, now effectuall}' shut out the view
of the castle except at one or two points, where a
momentary glimpse of it can be obtained. At a few
miles' distance the river Bruar is crossed. The famous
' petition ' made by Burns to the Duke of Athole has
been granted so fully that the beautiful falls on the
stream are now quite concealed from public view. Nu-
merous walks and bridges have been made to display
their beauties. We now enter upon the more remote
aud bleak portion of the line. The river Garry is seen
on the right, fretting and tossing over a very rocky bed ;
while on the left ranges of magnificent hills fill up the
scene. At Struan or Calvine station (40 miles) the rail-
way is carried across the river Garry on a fine stone
bridge of three arches 40 feet in height. Below the
centre span, which is 80 feet wide, the old road is
carried across the river Garry on an old bridge. Ap-
proaching Dalnaspidal station, the railway is carried
through a very heavy rock cutting. Looking westwards
a fine glimpse is obtained of Loch Garry. There is a
good road from Dalnaspidal by the foot of Schiehallion,
one of the most striking of Highland mountains. The
road skirts Loch Rannoch and Loch Tay on its route
to Aberfeldy. Before reaching the next station, the
line ascends by steep gradients to its summit-level on
the boundary of the counties of Perth and Inverness,
the height being 1462 feet above sea-level. The scenery
here is wild and desolate, presenting scarcely a sign of
human occupancy, or even of animal life save that of
grouse, for which the district is famous. We are here
traversing the forest of Drumouchter or the ' cold ridge.'
Crossing the watershed, the line descends rapidly for a
short distance, and then with a gentler gradient reaches
Dalwhinnie (58 miles), where, in the midst of a scene
of great desolation, the traveller is astonished to find
a busy railway station, with many passengers joining
and leaving the train, this being the centre of a wide
district at which many roads converge. Two pro-
minent hills on the left are called respectively the Sow
of Athole and the Boar of Badenoch. The next station
is Newtonmore (6SJ miles), the distance of 10J miles
between those stations marking the desolate character
of the district through which the railway is here carried.
The township of Kingussie (71 j miles) occupies an im-
portant position as a half-way station on the journey to
Inverness, and also as the point from which the coach runs
daily by Loch Laggan and Spean Bridge to Fort William.
The next station is Boat of Inch (77£ miles). On leaving
HIGHLAND RAILWAY
Kingussie, the ruined barracks of Ruthven are seen upon
a mound to the right ; aud further on the left, on the
side of a wooded hill, are seen Belville House and the
monument erected to Macphersou of Belville, the trans-
lator aud editor of Ossian. The line is now completely
in rear of the Grampians, and at this part of the journey
splendid views of the northern ranges in Inverness-shire
are obtained. Two miles from Boat of Inch the railway
passes Tor Alvie, on the top of which is placed a cairn
in memory of Highlanders wdio fell at Waterloo, and on
the Hill of Kinrara a tall pillar to the memory of the last
Duke of Gordon. Further on the opposite side the mass
of the Hill of Craigellachie is seen to the left. Aviemore
station (834 miles) is next reached. Along this portion
of the line have been executed some difficult engineering
works, including a considerable amount of embanking,
to guard the railway against the floods on the impetuous
river Spey. Passing on to Boat of Garten station (88£
miles), the railway forms there a junction with the
Strathspey railway (see Great North of Scotland
Railway). Re-entering Inverness-shire, the railway
reaches Broomhill or Abernethy station (92| miles), and
here, bending more to the northward, takes leave of the
Spey, whose course it has followed for many miles, and
reaches Grantown (96 miles), beyond which it enters
upon heavy rock cuttings, and ascends by steep gradients
to an inferior summit-level on the Knock of Brae
Moray. Dava station (104i miles) lies on the northern
slope of the range, the line here descending by rapid
gradients. Five miles from Dava the railway crosses
the river Divie on a large stoue bridge of seven spans,
and of great height. Like the other large viaducts
on this line, this bridge is flanked by battlemented
towers at each end. Beyond Dunphail station is the
descent towards Forres, in the course of which a fine
view is in clear weather obtained from the train, ex-
tending over the Moray Firth, and showing beyond the
broken coast-line and fine mountain ranges in Ross,
Sutherland, and Cromarty. The train passes through a
deep cutting, and immediately thereafter crosses a
gigantic embankment of 77 feet high, and it then
descends to Forres Junction (119J miles), where the
lines to Keith and Inverness diverge.
At Keith station (149J miles from Perth) there is a
through connection over the Great North of Scotland
railway to the south. The stations between Keith and
Forres are Mulben (5 miles), Orton (8J), Fochabers
(Hi), Lhanbryde (14J), Elgin (17|), Alves Junction
(23), and Kinloss (27) from Keith respectively. At
Orton there is a nominal junction with the Moray-
shire branch of the Great North of Scotland railway,
which is now disused. From Alves the Burghead
branch, 5 miles long, strikes off,, with a stopping
place at Coltfield platform, and from Kinloss a short
branch leads to Findhorn. At present (18S3) the
company is constructing a branch 13J miles long to
connect the important harbour of Buckie with the
system at Keith. Resuming the main journey towards
Inverness, we cross the Findhorn river on a handsome
girder bridge of three large spans. To the right are
seen glimpses of the Culbin sands, which many years
ago covered over a fertile tract of country. The first
station is Brodie (122| miles from Perth), at which
Nairnshire is reached, and the river Nairn is crossed on
a stone bridge of four 70-feet spans, reaching Nairn
station (128j miles). The line then proceeds to Fort
George station (134i miles), near the military depot of
that name, to Dalcross (137J), and Culloden (140|),
reaching the central station at Inverness (144), where
are placed the administrative offices and the exten-
sive workshops of the company. Leaving Inverness
the line crosses the Ness by a line stone bridge,
and afterwards crosses the Caledonian Canal by a
swing bridge, so as not to interfere with the traffic of
the canal. The line in this part of its course follow?
in some measure the indentations of the coast, skirt
ing in succession the Beauly Firth, Cromarty Firth,
and Dornoch Firth, till Bonar-Bridge, at the head oi
the last named, is reached. The stations are Bunchrew
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