The Scottish Central Railway (SCR) 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 line immediately became part of the forming trunk railway network in Scotland, and amalgamation with other railways was considered, and in 1865 the Scottish Central Railway amalgamated with the Caledonian Railway.
The main line continues in use today as a major part of the Scottish Railway network carrying frequent passenger services and a significant freight traffic.
History
Conception In earlier years Perth had been an important trading town, but in the 1830s its significance was being overshadowed by the cities of central Scotland. There were short local railways in the area around Dundee, but connection to the emerging network further south, and potentially in England, seemed to be essential, and proposals were put forward from 1841 to achieve that. The opening of the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway (E&GR) in 1842 emphasised the need, and a railway connection from Perth to join the was an expedient way to satisfy it. In fact the early objective was to connect at the north end with the Dundee and Newtyle Railway,David Ross, The Caledonian: Scotland's Imperial Railway: A History, Stenlake Publishing Limited, Catrine, 2014, which had opened in 1831.Peter Marshall, The Scottish Central Railway: Perth to Stirling, Oakwood Press, Usk, 1998,
A meeting took place on 24 February 1844 to move the matter forward and a prospectus was issued in the following month. By April 1844 there were references to the Central Railway, and agreement to making a connection was reported; the Caledonian Railway too was becoming a reality, as the prime connection between central Scotland and the English network, and connection to the Caledonian would give that added access.
The Caledonian saw the synergy of a linkage with the Scottish Central and proposed an alliance, offering to pay certain parliamentary and other expenses. The Caledonian policy was aggressive expansion (even though it had not yet obtained authorisation for its first line); the price was that the Scottish Central would permanently ally with the Caledonian and give the Caley primacy as far north as Stirling. The declined the offer.
Surveys of the route were carried out, and a route selected following the present-day main line from Larbert to Perth, except for the location of the Perth station; and there was to be a branch line to Crieff. The bill for the line went to the 1845 session of Parliament, and the Scottish Central Railway obtained the (8 & 9 Vict. c. clxi) on 31 July 1845.Marshall in The Scottish Central Railway says 1 July 1845, on pages 25 and 243, quoting cap. 161. This seems to be a mistake; 31 July is given in An Act for making a Railway from the City of Perth, by Stirling, to the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway, to be called the Scottish Central Railway, cap. cxli, listed in The Statutes of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, 8 & 9 Victoriae, 1845, and in Carter, page 97 The engineers for the line were Joseph Locke and John Edward Errington.E F Carter, An Historical Geography of the Railways of the British Isles, Cassell, London, 1959
Negotiations When determining its route, the had assumed friendly terms with the would give it access to Glasgow over their line; but the had opposed the Scottish Central Railway Bill in Parliament, having its own designs on reaching Stirling. The newly incorporated therefore negotiated with the Caledonian, also newly incorporated. The Caledonian proposed to enter Glasgow from the south over the Glasgow, Garnkirk and Coatbridge Railway, a renamed and modernised incarnation of the early Garnkirk and Glasgow Railway (G&GR). This ran from Coatbridge in a broad northern sweep to a terminus at Townhead in Glasgow, and the Caledonian was going to lease or buy it. The Caledonian was receptive to the approach, no doubt preferring that the should ally itself with it rather than the hostile , and offered the the option of joint ownership of the GG&CR. Fearing too close a relationship with the Caledonian, the refused the offer. For the time being it had no assured route to Glasgow.
Interest had arisen in a line serving Callander, branching from the Scottish Central. This later became titled the Dunblane, Doune and Callander Railway but at this early stage its committee asked the for support. A feeder branch was welcome, but they wanted cash. Fearing that rejection would drive the Callander line into hostile hands the undertook to take a substantial shareholding.
The authorised capital of the had been £700,000, but it was now considered necessary to increase this to £850,000 by a share issueWhat is nowadays referred to as a rights issue. to cover the cost of a branch to Falkirk on the , which had evidently not been considered necessary before.
In September 1845 a frenzied series of negotiations took place with the Caledonian and the about access; these did not lead directly to an agreement, but in October 1845 the board agreed on amalgamation with the "on equal terms"; the Caledonian were informed, and in November the announced to them that they planned to merge with or lease the Scottish Midland Junction Railway. This was bad news for the Caledonian, which had planned to form close links with the and the SMJR, forming a "West Coast alliance". There had already been a non-encroachment agreement by which neither company would promote new lines into the other's natural area of influence, but as time went by this was not well adhered to.
The junction with the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway at Greenhill gave satisfactory access for Scottish Central trains to Glasgow Queen Street, but was inconvenient for Edinburgh. In the 1846 parliamentary session, the submitted a bill for the Stirlingshire Midland Junction Railway, which was to build from Polmont to a junction near Larbert, giving a direct connection.Thomas & Paterson, 1984, page 76. The Stirlingshire Midland Junction Railway Act 1846 (9 & 10 Vict. c. clxv) was passed on 16 June 1846. It was a creature of the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway and was absorbed by the before completion of construction in 1850. The gave the accommodation at Sighthill, near Glasgow, for its goods traffic.Thomas & Paterson, 1984, page 84.
In the 1846 session of Parliament, several branches were authorised by acts of Parliament: the (9 & 10 Vict. c. cxci) for a branch to Crieff from what was later Gleneagles (capital £160,000); the (9 & 10 Vict. c. clxxx) for a branch to Denny from Larbert (capital £50,000); the (9 & 10 Vict. c. cl) for a branch to South Alloa from a junction north of Larbert (and to Tillicoultry by ferry at Alloa, capital £115,000); and the (9 & 10 Vict. c. clxxxix) for a branch to Perth Harbour and other facilities there (capital £80,000). The location of the Perth main station was also finalised; earlier proposals to site it (and three other railways' terminus stations) at the high-amenity South Inch had led to strenuous opposition in Perth; now it would be located to the west. However one important bill failed: the amalgamation with the required parliamentary approval and this was withheld on 29 July 1847.
While construction of the line was proceeding, the board considered how they could best get access to Glasgow and Edinburgh, and amalgamation with the Caledonian Railway now seemed to be the way forward. The London and North Western Railway (LNWR) and the Lancaster and Carlisle Railway were joining with the Caledonian in arguing the case: the future West Coast alliance was forming after all. The shareholders would receive 7% on their capital. This drew strong opposition from the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway, which had assumed a working arrangement would be possible, and they threatened opposition in Parliament; and indeed in June 1848 a bill to authorise leasing the Scottish Central line to the Caledonian was rejected. The Scottish Central had promised the Caledonian a loan of £6,000 towards their building of a branch to Castlecary, to join the Scottish Central there. The offer was now withdrawn.
The Scottish Central had finalised an agreement to work the Scottish Midland Junction Railway (SMJR), which had been authorised on the same day as the Scottish Central; it was to run from Perth to Forfar, connecting with a line to Aberdeen. As it was expected to open later in 1848 there was a sudden burst of activity to acquire the rolling stock necessary to work that line. This was at a time when final payments to the 's own construction contractors were becoming due, and finding the cash was for a while a significant problem.
Construction and openings
The building of the line took longer than the board had hoped; it had once been promised for April 1847. A combination of landowners delaying the release of their line, a series of hard winters, and difficulties in tunnel construction combined. In 1848 Captain Wynne of the Board of Trade made an inspection on 5 January 1848; he found the line not quite ready but after a second inspection it was indicated that the line could be opened from Stirling to the southern end, that is the junction at Greenhill with the Edinburgh and Glasgow. The opening took place on 1 March 1848; the shareholders had voted against Sunday operation.
The northern section of the main line was ready in May and a ceremonial opening took place on 15 May 1848; the public opening was made on 22 May 1848.John Thomas and David Turnock, A Regional History of the Railways of Great Britain: Volume 15: North of Scotland, David & Charles (Publishers), Newton Abbot, 1989, The intermediate stations were incomplete and goods facilities were not initially available, so that at this stage the line was open for passengers only, until 15 June 1848. The Perth General station was a considerable structure, having been designed by William Tite; the Scottish Central had been in the lead for design and construction, but the Edinburgh and Northern Railway and the Dundee and Perth Railway were given accommodation at the station. The permanent building was not ready for the opening of the line and a temporary platform was provided.
The Caledonian Railway opened its connection at Greenhill on 7 August 1848, connecting London with Perth, and beyond. A fourteen-hour journey was advertised. Cattle could be conveyed to market in London in 24 hours where previously they had gone to London on the hoof, taking several weeks. The Dundee and Perth Railway was already open, and the Scottish Midland Junction Railway, open from 20 August 1848 and associated lines gave access through to Forfar. The trains to Glasgow continued to run to Queen Street over the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway.
The South Alloa branch opened on 12 September 1848, from a junction at Plean.
The Dundee and Perth changed its name to the Dundee and Perth and Aberdeen Railway Junction Company and opened its wooden bridge (replaced by today's Tay Viaduct) crossing the Tay at Perth on 8 March 1849.
Financial difficulties