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Civil Engineering heritage: Scotland - Highlands and Islands

Date 2007

Event ID 934168

Category Descriptive Accounts

Type Publication Account

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/934168

West Highland Extension Railway

(Institute Civil Engineers Historic Engineering Works no. HEW 0084/02)

The West Highland Railway, originally worked by the North British Railway, is one of the world’s most scenic railways. It could also be said to be the last considerable piece of railway building in Britain, its single track

snaking north-west 140 miles from Craigendoran on the Clyde to the fishing port of Mallaig. The 100-mile Craigendoran to Fort William section was begun in 1889 and opened in 1894, and the 40-mile Mallaig extension, was begun in 1897 and completed in 1901.

The Craigendoran–Fort William section was engineered by Formans & McCall, and the main contractor was Lucas & Aird, a prominent London firm whose driving force was John Aird, an MP of crofting stock. The summit is at Corrour, 1345 ft above sea level on Rannoch Moor. The

methods of crossing the waterlogged moor on brushwood were developed from traditional experience.

Spectacular viaducts include Glen Falloch (NN 3170 2020) 145 ft high, and two in the great Horseshoe Curve above Tyndrum (NN 3350 3620).

Financially the line fared precariously during construction and had to be rescued on one occasion by a director, J. H. Renton, using his private fortune. In gratitude his head was sculpted on a massive rock at Rannoch Station by navvies using only the tools of their trade. It is still there.

The Mallaig extension, built to support the fish trade, struggles westwards through inhospitable mountainous country and winding inlets of the sea. The line has gradigradients as steep as 1 in 40 and curves of 12 chains radius (800 ft) both of which impose drastic limits on speed of trains. Much of its length is on embankment, bridges or hewn out of the living rock in cuttings and tunnels. Today the line is a major tourist attraction with many

steam ‘specials’ in addition to regular services. In engineering terms the line is renowned for the early use of mass concrete in bridge construction. The structures were originally planned to be constructed in masonry, but

the local rock ( mica schist) was too hard and difficult to dress. Concrete offered a cheap alternative solution. In consequence of his usage of this material Robert McAlpine became known as ‘Concrete Bob’. The line’s most notable elements are Glenfinnan and Loch nan Uamh viaducts and Borrodale Arch. The railway was designed by Simpson & Wilson, consulting engineers, and the contractor was Robert McAlpine & Co.

R Paxton and J Shipway, 2007.

Reproduced from 'Civil Engineering heritage: Scotland - Highlands and Islands' with kind permission from Thomas Telford Publishers.

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