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The Caledonian Railway was a Scottish Railway company operating in Scotland. It was well supported by Glasgow and Edinburgh shareholders, but more than half of its shares were held in England . It was an integrated railway company, in that it built and owned both the railway lines and the trains. The company was formed in the 1830s to link local railways around Glasgow and Edinburgh to the railway network in England, at Carlisle . It sought to open the only cross-border main line (it was thought that only one main line was needed). Its ''empire'' was then extended to cover the , Ballachulish , Dundee , Perth and Aberdeen . In the Scottish Lowlands it competed against both the Glasgow And South Western Railway (G&SWR) and the North British Railway; but, in the case of the G&SWR, not north of the River Clyde . There was little or no competition above Oban, Ballachulish, Dundee, Perth and Aberdeen; this area was served mainly by the Highland Railway . The Caledonian Railway was Grouped into the London Midland And Scottish Railway by the Railways Act 1921 in 1923 . EARLY HISTORY The earliest railways in Scotland and England were unconnected. Before the Caledonian railway, the quickest journey between Glasgow and London would have been Glasgow to Liverpool by sea and then Liverpool to London by train. However, from March 1841 it was possible to catch the train between Glasgow and Greenock , then travel between Greenock and Liverpool by sea; and then to London by train (see below). From about 1838 the London And Birmingham Railway had linked those two destinations; the Grand Junction Railway linked Birmingham to Warrington ; the North Union Railway was projected to reach Preston ; and the Grand Junction Railway intended to extend the line to both Glasgow and Edinburgh . They got their engineer Joseph Locke to survey a route from Carlisle . The obvious way was to follow Thomas Telford 's Coach road through Annandale and Clydesdale . He did not believe a Locomotive could climb the hills at Moffat and his preferred route was a longer route through Nithsdale to link up with the Glasgow, Paisley Kilmarnock & Ayr Railway . However Locke was persuaded to resurvey the Annandale route. This route was opened up as a railway line: The Caledonian Railway. The Caledonian wished to ensue that it was the only railway line built between Carlisle and Scotland, but they did not succeed with this intent. Two other lines were opened from Carlisle: these rival lines were the Glasgow And South Western Railway to Glasgow and the Waverley Line to Edinburgh. After the Caledonian main line opened in 1849 it was possible to travel between London and Glasgow, by express train, without needing to change trains. It cut the total journey time to 12.5 hours. THE MAIN LINE This runs from Carlisle, via Annandale , Beattock and the Clyde Valley , to Glasgow. The original Glasgow terminus was, however, at Buchanan Street . A junction at Carstairs feeds the branch to Edinburgh . The main line from Carlisle was opened as far as Beattock on 9 September 1847 . The section from Beattock to Edinburgh opened on 15 February 1848 ; and the section from Beattock to Glasgow, Buchanan street, opened on 1 November 1849 for passengers and on 1 January 1849 for goods. The final section of the journey was initially via Monklands , on the Glasgow, Garnkirk and Coatbridge railway, which had opened in 1831 . The main line from Carlisle to Glasgow, (but now to Glasgow Central Station ) is still in use today, although quite a few of the original Caledonian railway stations have closed. It is now known as the West Coast Main Line . The original stations between Carlisle and Carstairs were: Rockcliffe , Floriston , Kirkpatrick , Gretna , Kirtlebridge , Ecclefechan , Lockerbie , Nethercleugh , Wamphray , Beattock , Elvanfoot , Crawford , Abington , Lamington Symington and Thankerton . The line from Carstairs to Edinburgh ( Glasgow To Edinburgh Via Carstairs Line ) is also still in use today, but the Edinbugh terminus of the Caledonian railway on Princes Street has closed and the line diverts to former North British Railway Edinburgh Waverley Railway Station at the other end of Princes street. The front of the Edinburgh Princes Street Station building was a hotel and it is still in use today as a hotel. The main line at Quintinshill, near Gretna Green was the site of the Quintinshill Rail Crash , which occurred on 22 May 1915 . BRANCHES IN DUMFRIES AND GALLOWAY A branch of the Caledonian railway, known as the Solway Junction Railway , at Kirtlebridge , led down to Annan and crossed the Solway Firth , by a 1,940 Yard (1,791 Metre ) Viaduct , to Bowness-on-Solway and Whitrigg. The line was opened, with Caledonian Railway backing, completely by 8 August 1870 . The Scottish part was bought by the Caledonian Railway on 5 August 1873 ; and the whole line on 6 July 1895 . It joined up with the Maryport And Carlisle Railway . This line sought to bring Iron Ore , Hematite , from Cumberland to the Lanarkshire Steelworks . It was successful, but the iron ore started to run out by the end of the 19th Century . Another branch of the Caledonian railway at , with intermediate stations at Lochmaben , Shieldhill , Amisfield and Locharbriggs . The line opened on 1 September 1863 , with Caledonian Railway backing, and it was bought by the Caledonian Railway on 31 July 1865 . The Caledonian gained running rights over the Glasgow and South Western Railway between Dumfries and Castle Douglas ; and hence from Castle Douglas to Portpatrick , Stranraer and Stranraer harbour over a jointly owned line, the Portpatrick & Wigtownshire Joint Railway , which was formed on 6 August 1885 . This allowed the Caledonian to run Irish boat trains from the south without having to go though Ayrshire . A branch, the Moffat Railway, just over one Mile and 5 Furlongs long, ran between Beattock and Moffat . It was opened on 2 April 1883 and was taken over by the Caledonian, by Act of Parliament, on 11 November 1889 . CLYDE COAST BRANCHES To be added THE CENTRAL SCOTLAND LINES To be added ARGYLE AND PERTH To be added CALLANDER AND OBAN RAILWAY The Callander And Oban Railway was an independant railway company but it was supported by the Caledonian Railway. The Caledonian railway company ran the train services, but the line remained independant until it was taken over the the London, Midland And Scottish Railway at Grouping. An extension from Connel Ferry to Ballachulish was authorised on 1 August 1896 and opened on 24 August 1903 . SEE ALSO EXTERNAL LINKS REFERENCES
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