Scottish Midland Junction Railway

The original route was well aligned for fast running, but it by-passed numerous towns and many branches were built to serve them.

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.

At this period it was expected that a district could only support one railway line, so that the first to serve an area would secure a near-monopoly.

This was done by agreeing a guaranteed periodical lease payment; it did not require money at the time of making the agreement, but it incurred a financial obligation later.

[1][page needed] In the 1845 session of Parliament, a large number of Scottish trunk lines were proposed.

Leaving Newtyle the two lines turned away from one another and together formed a nearly straight axis that suited the intended route of the SMJR; the Scottish Midland Junction Railway Act 1845 (8 & 9 Vict.

[7] The lease arrangement was modified to be joint with the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway on an agreed traffic sharing system; but it needed to be ratified by Parliament.

[1][page needed] The Caledonian Railway relations with the Edinburgh and Glasgow were somewhat stormy, and lurched from friendly to hostile.

From this time there was a "loose amalgamation" between the SCR, the SMJR and the Aberdeen Railway: they worked collaboratively but remained separate companies.

[1][page needed] On 26 June 1846 the SMJR obtained authorisation via the Scottish Midland Junction Railway Branches Act 1846 (9 & 10 Vict.

The line descended sharply from Coupar Angus to the crossing of the River Isla, and then climbed again to the terminus.

[15][page needed] The SMJR had inherited the short branch to Newtyle by its acquisition of the Coupar Angus and Glammiss lines.

While express passenger trains caught the public eye, there was a substantial goods traffic; cattle were particularly dominant.

Large structures on the line were constructed in laminated timber, but in the 1880s these were in poor condition and inadequate for the heavier and faster traffic of those days, and widespread reconstruction in stone and wrought iron was undertaken.

As publicity became important, the two routes competed for the title of the fastest transit, and in 1888 and again in 1895 spectacularly fast journeys were made; the rivalry was known as the Railway race to the north.

At the end of the 19th century and, after the line had been upgraded, the Caledonian Railway introduced the very successful 4-4-0 Dunalastair class of locomotives.