Dunblane, Doune and Callander Railway
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The Dunblane, Doune and Callander Railway was opened in 1858 to connect
Callander Callander (; gd, Calasraid) is a small town in the council area of Stirling, Scotland, situated on the River Teith. The town is located in the historic county of Perthshire and is a popular tourist stop to and from the Highlands. The town ser ...
and
Doune Doune (; from Scottish Gaelic: ''An Dùn'', meaning 'the fort') is a burgh within Perthshire. The town is administered by Stirling Council. Doune is assigned Falkirk postcodes starting "FK". The village lies within the parish of Kilmadock and mai ...
with the Scottish railway network. When promoters wished to make a connection to
Oban Oban ( ; ' in Scottish Gaelic meaning ''The Little Bay'') is a resort town within the Argyll and Bute council area of Scotland. Despite its small size, it is the largest town between Helensburgh and Fort William. During the tourist season, th ...
, Callander was an obvious place to start, and from 1880 Callander was on the main line to Oban. The railway network was reduced in the 1960s and the line closed in 1965. Oban is now served by a different route.


History

The
Scottish Central Railway The Scottish Central Railway was formed in 1845 to link Perth and Stirling to Central Scotland, by building a railway line to join the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway near Castlecary. The line opened in 1848 including a branch to South Alloa. The ...
obtained its Act of Incorporation on 1 July 1845, the same day as the
Caledonian Railway The Caledonian Railway (CR) was a major Scottish railway company. It was formed in the early 19th century with the objective of forming a link between English railways and Glasgow. It progressively extended its network and reached Edinburgh an ...
. The two railways connected end-on at Greenhill Junction, and together (when they were completed) would connect Carlisle and Perth, and with other railways London and Aberdeen were to be brought into the network. During the long process of planning their lines, the promoters came to see that extension of their railways would be beneficial, and lucrative, and already in 1845 there was talk of extending through Callander to Dalwhinnie. In the same year the ''Stirling, Callander and Tillicoultry Railway'' published a prospectus, with glowing and exaggerated descriptions of the towns this ambitious east–west line would serve, but it came to nothing. The benefits to townspeople of a railway connection were plain to see, in greatly reduced cost of commodities like coal and lime (for agriculture) and for the delivery of manufactured products, and the residents of
Doune Doune (; from Scottish Gaelic: ''An Dùn'', meaning 'the fort') is a burgh within Perthshire. The town is administered by Stirling Council. Doune is assigned Falkirk postcodes starting "FK". The village lies within the parish of Kilmadock and mai ...
and
Callander Callander (; gd, Calasraid) is a small town in the council area of Stirling, Scotland, situated on the River Teith. The town is located in the historic county of Perthshire and is a popular tourist stop to and from the Highlands. The town ser ...
—a weaving village with a population of 1,671 in 1861—considered how they could get a railway branch line. The topography was well suited for that: the Royal Burgh of
Dunblane Dunblane (, gd, Dùn Bhlàthain) is a small town in the council area of Stirling in central Scotland, and inside the historic boundaries of the county of Perthshire. It is a commuter town, with many residents making use of good transport links ...
lay ten miles (16 km) to the east along the valley of the
River Teith The River Teith is a river in Scotland, which is formed from the confluence of two smaller rivers, the '' Garbh Uisge'' (River Leny) and '' Eas Gobhain'' at Callander, Stirlingshire. It flows into the River Forth near Drip north-west of Stirlin ...
. In 1846 the ''Dunblane, Doune and Callander Railway'' was promoted, with a more moderate line from Dunblane. This scheme obtained its Act of Parliament on 16 July 1846, with authorised capital of £80,000, and power to lease the line to the Scottish Central. However the year 1846 was a time when capital for railway schemes suddenly became impossible to find, and notwithstanding support from local business people, not enough money was put forward to make the line, and the scheme was dropped. The Dunblane, Doune and Callander Railway scheme was revived in 1856, when an Act of 21 July authorised the scheme, this time with capital of £60,000. The Scottish Central was anxious to encourage a line that might be a launching pad for entry to the highland areas as yet unserved by railway connection, and it subscribed £13,400. The line opened to traffic on 1 July 1858. The significance of tourism to the line is indicated by the fact that the train service was five trains a day in summer and two a day in winter. The line was worked by the Scottish Central Railway. The company was absorbed by the Scottish Central Railway by Act of 29 June 1865, and amalgamated with the Caledonian Railway by Act of 5 July 1865.


On to Oban

If the earlier proposal to launch from Callander into the Highlands of Scotland seemed fanciful, the years following the opening of the Callander line redoubled those ideas, and the
Callander and Oban Railway The Callander and Oban Railway company was established with the intention of linking the sea port of Oban to the railway network. This involved a long line from Callander through wild and thinly populated terrain, and shortage of money meant that ...
(C&OR) was formed. It was promoted independently, using Callander as its starting point. The C&OR was woefully short of money throughout its existence, and opened to a "Killin" station (later Glenoglehead) in 1870, and finally reaching Oban in 1880. The Callander terminus of the DD&CR was at the eastern edge of the town, immediately to the north of Stirling Road, near the present-day Murdiston Avenue. Built as the terminus of a short local line it was obviously inconvenient for a main line, and the Oban Company constructed a new, larger station behind (and north of) the Dreadnought Hotel. (For a period, this was referred to officially as Callander Dreadnought station, but this designation was not used in timetables.) The DD&CR station became a goods depot. The passenger train service in 1895 consisted of three through trains between Stirling (possibly Glasgow or Edinburgh) and Oban and two short workings from Dunblane to Callander. However substantial goods and perishables carryings took place, and a passing loop was constructed at Drumvaich, halfway between Doune and Callander. The section between Dunblane and Doune was doubled in 1902 to improve capacity.


Closure

The Caledonian Railway became a constituent of the
London, Midland and Scottish Railway The London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMSIt has been argued that the initials LMSR should be used to be consistent with LNER, GWR and SR. The London, Midland and Scottish Railway's corporate image used LMS, and this is what is generally u ...
(LMS) in 1923, and became part of
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 1948. During the 1960s a report was produced on rationalisation of loss-making railways; this led to the so-called
Beeching cuts The Beeching cuts (also Beeching Axe) was a plan to increase the efficiency of the nationalised British Rail, railway system in Great Britain. The plan was outlined in two reports: ''The Reshaping of British Railways'' (1963) and ''The Develop ...
, and this part of the line was closed on 1 November 1965. Oban continues to be served by another route. A short spur survived at the Dunblane end to serve Springbank Mill, but when the mill closed, this section closed as well, in 1971.


Since closure

Part of the trackbed south of Doune and another south of Callander have been converted into a footpath and cyclepath. About a mile west of Dunblane, the trackbed has been severed by the A9 Dunblane by-pass, while in Dunblane itself most of the line has been obliterated by new housing. The station building at
Doune Doune (; from Scottish Gaelic: ''An Dùn'', meaning 'the fort') is a burgh within Perthshire. The town is administered by Stirling Council. Doune is assigned Falkirk postcodes starting "FK". The village lies within the parish of Kilmadock and mai ...
was demolished in 1968, although the former station master's house survives; the site is now occupied by housing, as is the site of the original Callander station. Callander engine shed, closed in 1924, was demolished in 1974. The former goods yard at
Dunblane Dunblane (, gd, Dùn Bhlàthain) is a small town in the council area of Stirling in central Scotland, and inside the historic boundaries of the county of Perthshire. It is a commuter town, with many residents making use of good transport links ...
is now occupied by a car park, a supermarket and some sheltered housing. Many of the underbridges along the route have been removed, but the stone bridge over the Keltie Water south of Callander and some of the metal bridges south of Doune survive.


Topography

Despite following the River Teith, the line had challenging gradients. From Dunblane the line climbed for a mile at 1 in 107, and then fell at a ruling gradient of 1 in 105 to Doune. From there the line climbed steadily to Callander at a ruling gradient of 1 in 127.


Connections to other lines

*
Scottish Central Railway The Scottish Central Railway was formed in 1845 to link Perth and Stirling to Central Scotland, by building a railway line to join the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway near Castlecary. The line opened in 1848 including a branch to South Alloa. The ...
at
Dunblane Dunblane (, gd, Dùn Bhlàthain) is a small town in the council area of Stirling in central Scotland, and inside the historic boundaries of the county of Perthshire. It is a commuter town, with many residents making use of good transport links ...
*
Callander and Oban Railway The Callander and Oban Railway company was established with the intention of linking the sea port of Oban to the railway network. This involved a long line from Callander through wild and thinly populated terrain, and shortage of money meant that ...


References


Sources

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Further reading

* {{Historical Scottish railway companies Pre-grouping British railway companies Closed railway lines in Scotland Early Scottish railway companies Beeching closures in Scotland Railway companies established in 1846 Railway lines opened in 1858 Railway companies disestablished in 1865 Dunblane 1846 establishments in Scotland