[1][page needed] In 1846 the Dunblane, Doune and Callander Railway was proposed for a ten-mile (16 km) line along the valley of the River Teith.

Promoters now considered whether Callander would make a good starting location for a line penetrating the Highlands, and reaching the western sea at Oban 71 miles (114 km) away, with relatively few settlements in between.

The Scottish Central was prepared to put up £200,000, and this was confirmed by agreement of 17 December 1864; the route from Crianlarich would accordingly go east to Callander and Dunblane.

The Scottish Central had committed to a major investment in the Callander and Oban, and the Caledonian now assumed that obligation; when they examined the situation they were not happy with what they had acquired.

[7][page needed] Despite the negative impact of the act, the first part of the line was nearing completion: it ran to the top of Glen Ogle, at an altitude of 944 feet (288 m).

Anderson had arranged for (road) coach connections at Killin for tourists and others; he described Glen Ogle as the Khyber Pass of Scotland.

At the end of the summer, the timetable reverted to two trains daily; but the season had brought an income of £2,511 (equivalent to £300,000 in 2023)[5] and the company was able to declare a dividend of 1%.

[4][page needed] Caledonian hostility to the C&OR had abated in time, and it was persuaded, against the wishes of some of its shareholders, to proceed with an extension to Tyndrum.

[7][page needed] Anderson continued to expend considerable energy in arranging tourist excursions by steamer and coach, making circular tours over the railway by several different routes.

[4][page needed] The extension to Tyndrum seems not to have brought about the improvement that was hoped for, so far as the financial results were concerned, and it was clear that only extending to Oban would resolve the matter.

The English London and North Western Railway had issued through tickets when the Dalmally extension started operating, and it cemented its interest in the line by taking £50,000 of shares.

Various schemes were put forward locally, all of which would have cost the C&OR money, and the company resolved the controversy by deciding to build its own Railway Pier at the south end of the town.

The opening coincided with the summer season at a time when working people were getting holidays with pay, and huge numbers of passengers were carried, especially from the cities and towns of the central belt of Scotland.

[4][page needed] The network of wires produced a humming sound in the wind, and local railway people nicknamed the system Anderson's piano.

[4][page needed] In the 1880s Stornoway was a centre of the fishing trade; the product had to be transported to market, and the Highland Railway had had a monopoly of the rail traffic.

If approved it would seriously erode the C&OR income: Fort William business came to Oban by steamer, and Tyndrum, to be served by the new line, was a railhead for considerable sheep traffic.

People in Oban saw that there was a potential route to Glasgow that was 17 miles (27 km) shorter over the West Highland from Crianlarich than over the C&OR via Callander, but apart from a few tourist excursions this was not agreed to until the situation was forced in the 1960s.

Railways along the Great Glen were proposed, and attention also turned to the tract of remote terrain between Oban and Fort William.

This was an untenable situation and when Anderson consulted Lord Breadalbane it was made clear the proposal could not continue, and it was swiftly withdrawn.

[7][page needed] The Connel Bridge crossed the channel where a rapid rip ran at ebb tide, and intermediate piers or temporary staging were impossible.

[9][page needed] Connel Ferry station was extended to give an additional bay platform for Ballachulish trains.

Anderson met Argyll County Council and offered to open the path on the Connel bridge in return for a payment of £800 per annum.

In 1909 the company instituted a shuttle passenger service over the bridge, between Connel Ferry and Benderloch, by motor charabanc converted with railway wheels.

After World War I motor charabanc excursions became increasingly popular; roads had improved enough for these to run independently of the trains, although for some years the journey time was much slower.

On 10 June 1931 the first through passenger train was run via the West Highland line and the Crianlarich connection; it was a special excursion and made the journey in 83 minutes less than the fastest C&OR scheduled service.

The summer timetable in 1947, prior to nationalisation, shows four daily trains from Glasgow to Oban with three additional Saturday-only services.

The last excursion train was planned over the line for 27 September 1965, but in the small hours a rock fall took place in Glen Ogle.

The new timetable was instituted immediately, and Oban residents were pleasantly surprised to find that their journey time to Glasgow was significantly quicker; and the fares (calculated by mileage) were cheaper also.

A mineral branch was built to Ben Cruachan Quarry, climbing into the hill from a connection about one kilometre east of Loch awe station.

Much of the eastern section has been converted to a cycle path known as the Rob Roy Way, with the Kendrum viaduct (on the Lochearnhead, St Fillans and Comrie Railway) restored in 2001 (the girders spanning the river having been scrapped).