Four-wheel railbuses were introduced in 1958 to reduce operating costs, but the decline continued and the line closed on 6 July 1964.

However the topography was more challenging on that axis, and when the Scottish Central Railway was authorised, its route ran east of Crieff through Auchterarder.

It crossed the River Earn and ran southwards, joining the Scottish Central main line at Crieff Junction; that station was renamed Gleneagles in 1912.

By this time there had long been proposals to extend westwards, to Comrie and possibly much further west to Lochearnhead, and surveys had been carried out, but the schemes had come to nothing.

[1][page needed] In 1863 Colonel Williamson, proprietor of the Lawers estate, became involved in promoting a railway from Comrie.

He published a pamphlet proposing a railway connecting Comrie and Crieff, and within a month £22,000 had been subscribed locally for the line.

The terrain of Strathearn was considered to have considerable natural beauty, but the difficulty of transport to Comrie meant that there was a disadvantage compared to locations that were rail-connected, or on the coast and accessible by steamer.

The committee called on the Caledonian chairman, but they had not brought any prepared costs with them, nor any indication of likely local financial support, and they were received coldly.

Subsequent appeals to the public to subscribe were not much taken up, and a large loan was incurred, much of it personally guaranteed by the directors of the company.

In fact its offer was remarkably generous: they would repay the share capital in full, pay off the mortgage loan, and settle MacKay's claim.

Optimistic assertions that transatlantic trade would arrive at Oban and be transported to the east of Scotland over the line proved unsubstantiated.

Although the hoped for tourist trade developed somewhat, changing social patterns limited the extent to which either of the Comrie lines benefitted.

In an attempt to sustain the passenger service, British Railways introduced four-wheel railbuses made by AC Cars which started on the line in September 1958, with three trains daily running between Crieff and Comrie.

Various other types were tried later but proved unreliably mechanically with a number of services provided by a standby steam locomotive and a couple of coaches.