Scottish Midland Junction Railway

v t e Scottish Midland Junction Railway
Legend
Arbroath & Forfar Rly Forfar North Junction Dundee & Forfar Direct Line Forfar Forfar West Junction Forfar & Brechin Rly Kirriemuir Junction Kirriemuir Junction Kirriemuir Glamis Leason Hill Eassie Kirkinch Meigle Junction to Newtyle Alyth Railway Alyth Junction Newtyle, Eassie & Glamiss Railway Washington (Tayside) Ardler Coupar Angus Stormont Loch Halt Rosemount Halt Blairgowrie Woodside and Burrelton Cargill Ballathie Perth & Dunkeld Rly Stanley Junction Stanley Junction Stanley Bankfoot Bankfoot Railway Strathord Luncarty Muirton Perth, Almond Valley and Methven Railway Almond Valley Junction Dundee & Perth Rly Perth Scottish Central Railway

The Scottish Midland Junction Railway was authorised in 1845 to build a line from Perth to Forfar. Other companies obtained authorisation in the same year, and together they formed a route from central Scotland to Aberdeen. The SMJR opened its main line on 4 August 1848. Proposals to merge with other railways were rejected by Parliament at first, but in 1856 the SMJR merged with the Aberdeen Railway to form the Scottish North Eastern Railway. The SNER was itself absorbed into the larger Caledonian Railway in 1866. The original SMJR main line was now a small section of a main line from Carlisle and central Scotland to Aberdeen.

The original route was well aligned for fast running, but it by-passed numerous towns and many branches were built to serve them. The rival North British Railway had its own route from the south to Aberdeen, and spectacular competition for the fastest journey from London to Aberdeen was generated in the final decades of the nineteenth century. In the 1960s there were some reflections of those days when powerful steam engines, displaced by diesel locomotives from other routes, operated a fast Glasgow - Aberdeen passenger service for some years.

In the mid-1960s the move to rationalise duplicate routes led to closure of the SMJR main line in 1967 except for a residual goods service to intermediate locations. Now the entire SMJR network has closed, except for the section from Perth to Stanley Junction, serving the main line to Inverness.