Perth and Dunkeld Railway

Introduction

This line is open. Built as a local line serving Dunkeld from the south it later became part of the main line between Perth and Inverness via Forres, the Inverness and Perth Junction Railway later one of the main constituents of the Highland Railway. Today it is part of the main line between Perth and Inverness via Carrbridge carrying local and long distance trains as well as a sleeper service.

Service

Passenger services are provided by ScotRail from Dunkeld to Inverness, Perth, Glasgow and Edinburgh.






Dates

10/07/1854Perth and Dunkeld Railway
Act receives Royal assent for a railway from Stanley (on the Scottish Midland Junction Railway) to Dunkeld.
31/12/1855Railway Clearing House
By this date, Cork and Bandon Railway, Crieff Junction Railway, Dublin and Belfast Junction Railway, Dublin and Drogheda Railway, Forth and Clyde Junction Railway, Furness Railway, Great Southern and Western Railway, Irish South Eastern Railway, Killarney Junction Railway, Leeds, Bradford and Halifax Junction Railway, Leven Railway, London and South Western Railway, London, Tilbury and Southend Railway, Monkland Railways, Monmouthshire Railway and Canal, Newport, Abergavenny and Hereford Railway, Norfolk Railway, North and South Western Junction Railway, Oxford, Worcester and Wolverhampton Railway, Peebles Railway, Perth and Dunkeld Railway, Shrewsbury and Hereford Railway, St Andrews Railway, Ulster and Dundalk Railway, Waterford and Kilkenny Railway and Waterford and Limerick Railway join.
07/04/1856Perth and Dunkeld Railway
Perth and Dunkeld Railway opened. Operated by the Scottish Midland Junction Railway. Stations opened at Murthly (possibly, may be late 1856) and Birnam and Dunkeld.
  /  /1859Perth and Dunkeld Railway
Rohallion halt opened.
  /02/1860Perth and Dunkeld Railway
Rohallion first advertised.
  /  /1861Inverness and Perth Junction Railway
Agreement for access to Perth General. (Reaffirming and adjustment of the Perth and Dunkeld Railway agreement.)
  /  /1863Perth and Dunkeld RailwayInverness and Perth Junction Railway
Perth and Dunkeld Railway absorbed by Inverness and Perth Junction Railway (Also given as 1864, 28 February).
01/06/1863Perth and Dunkeld Railway
Dunkeld station becomes a through station on the opening of the Inverness and Perth Junction Railway which extends the line north.
28/02/1864Perth and Dunkeld RailwayInverness and Perth Junction Railway
Perth and Dunkeld Railway absorbed by Inverness and Perth Junction Railway (Also given as 1863).
  /10/1864Perth and Dunkeld Railway
Rohallion closed.
03/05/1965Perth and Dunkeld Railway
Murthly closed.
  /  /1984Perth and Dunkeld Railway
Murthly loop closed.

Route described

It is a single track line with a passing loop at Dunkeld which is the only remaining open station.

The line largely runs north west distantly following the route of the River Tay from Stanley Junction where it began from the Scottish Midland Junction, part of the main line to Aberdeen via Forfar [2nd] later owned by the Caledonian Railway. At Dunkeld the line is on the south bank of the Tay, on the opposite bank to Dunkeld itself.


Portions of line and locations

This line is divided into a number of portions.


Stanley to Dunkeld

This was a three platform station and junction. It was not convenient for the village of Stanley, being on its northern edge. It was the junction between main lines to Aberdeen and Inverness.
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More details

See also
Scottish Midland Junction Railway
170425 approaches Stanley Junction from the north with a train from Inverness to Glasgow. ...
Ewan Crawford 03/04/2023
The base of a post on the up (southbound) side of the former Strathmore main line about a mile out from Stanley Junction, near Mains of Taymount. ...
Ewan Crawford 03/04/2023
Under a stunning blue sky 170431 leaves Stanley Junction on a Glasgow to Inverness service. The signal box can be seen to the right of the train. ...
Ewan Crawford 03/04/2023
View east away from Stanley Junction just to the east of the former station. This portion of the former line is blocked off and partly flooded, ...
Ewan Crawford 03/04/2023
4 of 25 images. more


This was a two platform station with a passing loop. It was the first station north of Stanley Junction on the former Inverness and Perth Junction Railway, later the Highland Railway.
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Platform remains and boarded up signal box at Murthly on the Highland main line some 9 miles north of Perth, photographed in the summer of 2007. The ...
John Furnevel 12/07/2007
Class B1 4-6-0 No.1264 in LNER lined black and Jubilee Class 4-6-0
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John Gray 21/04/2018
Murthly signalbox now without steps and boarded up. Looking to Dunkeld. ...
Ewan Crawford //2003
47708 takes a northbound train over the level crossing and through the site of Murthly station in 1990. ...
Ewan Crawford //1990
4 of 14 images. more


This crossing was between Dunkeld (to the west) and Murthly. It was just east of Kingswood Tunnel.
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B1 1264 and 45699 Galatea with The Great Britain XI approaching the former Kingswood Crossing north of Murthly. ...
Bill Roberton 21/04/2018
45407 pilots 60009 at the head of The North Briton passing Kingswood, on Day 2 of a five day tour of Scotland. ...
Brian Forbes 13/04/2008
2 of 2 images.


This was a short lived private station open in the 1860s. It was located between Kingswood Crossing and Kingswood Tunnel at the west end of the loop.
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This is a single bore tunnel 330 yds long to the south east of Dunkeld station.
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Black Five 45212 and K1 62005 lead the Inverness - Glasgow Central leg of the Great Britain X exiting Kingswood Tunnel, south of Dunkeld and Birnam. ...
Bill Roberton 02/05/2017
46115 brings the southbound 'Great Britain V' out of Kingswood Tunnel on 24 April 2012 on its way to Perth. ...
John Robin 24/04/2012
47826 leads the Royal Scotsman south out of Kingswood Tunnel heading for Murthly and Perth. ...
Brian Forbes 04/10/2007
68005 'Defiant' climbs towards Kingswood tunnel with Inverness - Mossend empty containers on 29th July 2014.  Earlier on the same date this loco ...
Graeme Blair 29/07/2014
4 of 4 images.


This temporary signal box was located between Dunkeld and Kingswood Crossing (west of Murthly).
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Near the site of Dunkeld Road Bridge Temporary Signal Box viewed from the south. ...
Ewan Crawford //
Southbound train near the site of Dunkeld Road Bridge Temporary Signal Box, south of Dunkeld. ...
Brian Forbes 11/02/2003
2 of 2 images.


This is a two platform station which for originally the terminus of the line from Stanley Junction before the Inverness and Perth Junction Railway extended the line north to Inverness via Forres.
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More details

See also
Inverness and Perth Junction Railway
Passing trains at Dunkeld on 29 September 2020. Platform 2 (left) is only used when passing, possibly because it is accessible only by that footbridge ...
David Panton 29/09/2020
A photograph of the new cyclespaces on board the Inter7City sets. ...
John Yellowlees 08/11/2022
A step up for Dunkeld. ...
John Yellowlees 30/05/2019
An Edinburgh service pulls into Dunkeld on 29 September 2020 with the rocks above the King's Pass in the background. The steps needed because of the ...
David Panton 29/09/2020
4 of 74 images. more