The Strathendrick and Aberfoyle Railway was a railway line in

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

. The line was operated by the

North British Railway The North British Railway was a British railway company, based in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was established in 1844, with the intention of linking with English railways at Berwick. The line opened in 1846, and from the outset the company followe ...

and then, after 1923, by the

London and North Eastern Railway The London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) was the second largest (after LMS) of the " Big Four" railway companies created by the Railways Act 1921 in Britain. It operated from 1 January 1923 until nationalisation on 1 January 1948. At th ...

. Unable to compete in the face of road competition, the line was closed to passengers by

British Railways British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most of the overground rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the Big Four British rai ...

in 1951 and completely in 1959.

History

On 12 August 1880Awdry (1990), page 164 the Strathendrick and Aberfoyle Railway was authorised to extend the

Blane Valley Railway The Blane Valley Railway was a railway line in Scotland to the east of Glasgow. It is now closed. In 1891 the railway company was absorbed by the North British Railway, which had operated the line and been a major shareholder from the start.Aw ...

to Aberfoyle, running for part of the way between Gartness Junction and Buchlyvie Junction over the metals of the

Forth and Clyde Junction Railway The Forth and Clyde Junction Railway was a railway line in Scotland which ran from Stirling to Balloch. It was built with the expectation of conveying coal from the Fife coalfields to a quay at Bowling on the Clyde for onward transport, but th ...

which had opened in 1856, and was also operated by the

. The line opened two years later on 1 August 1882. A new station a little nearer the village took on the Killearn name, with the existing Blane Valley Railway Killearn station renamed after the celebrated hill of that name. A focus for the line was very much on visitors coming to see the natural beauty of the area, the

Trossachs The Trossachs (; gd, Na Tròiseachan) generally refers to an area of wooded glens, braes, and lochs lying to the east of Ben Lomond in the Stirling council area of Scotland. The name is taken from that of a small woodland glen that lies at the ...

, and

Loch Katrine Loch Katrine (; or ) is a freshwater loch in the Trossachs area of the Scottish Highlands, east of Loch Lomond, within the historic county and registration county of Perthshire and the contemporary district of Stirling. The loch is about lon ...

, which had been popularised by

Sir Walter Scott Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet, playwright and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European and Scottish literature, notably the novels '' Ivanhoe'', '' Rob Roy' ...

since the 1810s. This route had originally been proposed in the plans for the Blane Valley Railway, but had not been pursued when money had fallen short. Plans had also called for the railway to be extended along

Loch Ard Loch Ard (Scottish Gaelic: Loch na h-Àirde) is a loch, located in Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park, Stirling council area, Scotland. Overview The name of the loch comes from ''àird'', the Scottish Gaelic word for a ''promontory, ...

towards

Inversnaid Inversnaid (Scottish Gaelic: ''Inbhir Snàthaid'') is a small rural community on the east bank of Loch Lomond in Scotland, near the north end of the loch. It has a pier and a hotel, and the West Highland Way passes through the area. A small pas ...

Loch Lomond Loch Lomond (; gd, Loch Laomainn - 'Lake of the Elms'Richens, R. J. (1984) ''Elm'', Cambridge University Press.) is a freshwater Scottish loch which crosses the Highland Boundary Fault, often considered the boundary between the lowlands of Ce ...

, but this was blocked by the objections of the major landowner in the area, the

Duke of Montrose Duke of Montrose (named for Montrose, Angus) is a title that has been created twice in the Peerage of Scotland. The title was created anew in 1707, for James Graham, 4th Marquess of Montrose, great-grandson of famed James Graham, 1st Marquess ...

. The Strathendrick and Aberfoyle Railway was absorbed by the North British Railway by Act of Parliament on 5 August 1891.

Closure

By summer 1950 Aberfoyle was being served by three trains a day. The line was closed to passengers the next year, on 1 October 1951. Both the Forth and Clyde Junction Railway and Strathendrick and Aberfoyle Railway closed completely eight years later.

References

Notes

Sources

* * {{Historical Scottish railway companies North British Railway Closed railway lines in Scotland Railway companies established in 1880 Railway companies disestablished in 1891 Railway lines opened in 1882 1880 establishments in Scotland Transport in Stirling (council area) British companies established in 1880