Old Photograph Railway Station Blairgowrie Perthshire Scotland

Old photograph of the railway station in Blairgowrie, Perthshire, Scotland. The Scottish Midland Junction Railway was authorised in 1845 to build a line from Perth to Forfar. The SMJR opened its main line on 4 August 1848. Proposals to merge with other railways were rejected by Parliament at first, but in 1856 the SMJR merged with the Aberdeen Railway to form the Scottish North Eastern Railway. The SNER was itself absorbed into the larger Caledonian Railway in 1866. On 26 June 1846 the SMJR obtained authorisation to build three branches: to Dunkeld, to Kirriemuir and to Blairgowrie. In fact only the Blairgowrie branch was constructed during the lifetime of the SMJR. The Dunkeld branch was actually built by an independent company, the Perth and Dunkeld Railway. It left the SMJR main line at Stanley Junction, and was opened on 7 April 1856. It was worked by the SMJR. The Perth and Dunkeld Railway was taken over in 1864 as part of a scheme to connect Perth and Inverness, by what became the Highland Railway. The Kirriemuir branch was opened in November 1854. Most trains continued to Forfar, and when the Dundee and Forfar direct line opened, to Dundee. The now closed Blairgowrie branch left the main line at Coupar Angus; it opened for passengers on 1 August 1855, and for goods on 21 August 1855. Blairgowrie was an industrial centre for jute manufacture, and for soft fruit. The line descended sharply from Coupar Angus to the crossing of the River Isla, and then climbed again to the terminus.



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