Caledonian Railway (railway company: 1845-1923: Scotland)

The Caledonian Railway , Scotland, was authorised by the Caledonian Railway Act of 1845 . The line provided a service from Carlisle, England, to Glasgow, Scotland; Edinburgh, Scotland, and Greenhill (near Falkirk), Scotland.

The first section of the railway between Carlisle and Beatock, Dumfries & Galloway, Scotland, was opened in 1847 . The line was completed to Glasgow, Scotland, in 1848 along with a branch line to Castlecary, North Lanarkshire, Scotland. The company purchased the Wishaw & Coltness Railway , Scotland, in 1849 . In 1853, Edinburgh Station, Edinburgh, Scotland was opened along with a line from Slateford, Edinburgh, Scotland to Haymarket, Edinburgh. In 1901 a branch to Leadhills, South Lanarkshire, was opened and was extended to Wanlockhead, Dumfries & Galloway, the following year. The company acquired other lines and later the services encompassed Aberdeen, Dundee, Forfar, Perth, Stirling, Oban, Ardrossan, Peebles and a large number of other locations in Scotland. This was done through the purchase of smaller railway companies.

Between 1849 and 1864 the company repeatedly tried to absorb the Edinburgh & Glasgow Railway Co into the Caledonian system. If it had succeeded the Caledonian would have had a virtual monopoly of Scottish Railways. Although it failed to achieve this, as it had routes to both Glasgow and Edinburgh from the south of Scotland it took the policy of buying-up small railway companies and using their approach routes to those cities. They purchased the Glasgow & Kirkintilloch Railway, the Monkland & Coltness Railway and the Monkland & Kirkintilloch Railway in the 1840s along with the Glasgow & Garnkirk Railway which brought with it parliamentary approval for a station at Buchannan Street, Glasgow. The Caldeonian were powerfull in Glasgow as a result, and its competitors, the Edinburgh & Scotland Railway, the Glasgow & South Western Railway and the North British Railway united against the company in competition for traffic, urban space and local influence in a battle that lasted for nearly 60 years.

The company merged in 1923 with the Glasgow & South Western Railway Co , the Highland Railway, the London & North Western Railway, and the Midland Railway to form the London, Midland & Scottish Railway Co in 1923 . This company was nationalised as part of British Rail in 1948.

John Kellet, Railways and Victorian Cities (London, 1979)

David Thomas, A Regional History of the Railways of Great Britain: Scotland vol 6 (Newton Abbot, 1971)

From the guide to the Records of the Caledonian Railway, Scotland, 1844-1892, (Glasgow University Archive Services)