The Railway Magazine – August 2019

PRACTICE&PERFORMANCE

Eastfield depot’s ‘K2’2-6-0 No.61784

gets awayfrom the originalFortWilliam

station on May9,1959.COLOURRAIL

CELEBRATION

In thefirst oftwofeaturesfocusing on theWest Highland line, whichmarksits

125

th

anniversary this year,Keith Farranal yses steam-hauledjourneys over this

sceni cand demandingroute.

G

lasgow (Queen Street) high-level

terminus is beingtransformed.

Platforms arebeing extendedtocope

with morefrequent and longer trains

and thestationfront ismoving forwardtot he

fringe of George Square. One hopes thesign

above the concourse,Failte d’on Gaidhealtachd,

(‘Welcome to the Land of the Gael’), is being

retained; for,asw ell as ahost ofservices to

Lowland destinations and the Central Highlands,

afew penetratesome of the most outstanding

sceneryinthe British Islesenr oute to thewest

coast, whereGaelicconversationcanstillbeheard.

It was 125 years ago, on August11, 1894,

that theinaugural train from Glasgow steamed

underatriumphalarchasitentered FortWilliam

statio nonthe shoreofLoch Linnhe. Motive

power comprised two North British Railway

Holmes 4-4-0s, newlybuilt for the steeply graded

line, hauling saloon coaches speciallydesigned for

ascenic journey.Leavingthe fo rmer NBR North

Clydesidenetwork at Craigendoran Junction, the

singletrack follows Loch Long and Loch Lomond

to Glen Fallochand Crianlarichbeforetraversing

Rannoch Moor and dropping intoGlen Spean,

turning south-west to FortWilliam, all but 100

miles from the Clyde.

Hill climbers

Earlierproposals had included one by the

Glasgow&North WesternRailwayfor aline up

the east side of Loch Lomond, thenfollowing the

route of the present railway to Bridge of Orchy

beforedescending into Glencoe andheadingup

the Great Glen through Fort William to Inverness.

Opposition from the Caledonian andHighland

companies putpaid to this threatened intrusion

and so theWest Highland Railwaycame into

being, withthe NorthBritish as itsoperator.

Initiallyrestrictedto25mph, WHR trains

werepowered by various NBR 4-4-0 and0-6-0

classes.Abig step forwardcame in 1913with

the introductionof Reid’s ‘Glen’ class 4-4-0s,

permitted180tons tareover the long 1-in-60

gradients, andproving themselves grand hill

climbers, although,ast rains grew heavier,they

often hunted in pairs.

After the1923 Grouping,help came in the

formofLNERGresley ‘K2’ 2-6-0s, modified

with side windowcabs to protect crews from

West Highlandwinter weather,and many named

after nearby lochs.They were allowedtot ake220

tons overthe route, although the lateOSNock

considered they wereless happy with that load

than a‘Glen’ with its180-tonmaximum(some

sources quote190 tons).

In the1950s, ‘K2s’ werestill piloting4-6-0s

on the heavier Glasgow workings,invariably

coupled ‘inside’, in accordancewith NBR and

LNER practice. As late as August23, 1958,

on Rannoch Moor,itw as apleasuretos ee an

Up passenger train in the charge ofapair of

these ‘Ragtimers’, although they continued

AWESTHIGHLAND

22 •TheRailway Magazine•August2019