The Morayshire Railway was the first railway to be built north of Aberdeen, in Scotland. It received royal assent in 1846 but construction did not start until 1851 due to the economic conditions existing in the United Kingdom at the time. The railway was built in two phases with the section from Elgin to Lossiemouth completed in 1852. When the Inverness and Aberdeen Junction Railway (IAJR) reached Keith via Elgin, the Morayshire was able to complete the Speyside second phase by connecting the Craigellachie line at Orton. Initially the Morayshire ran its own locomotives on the IAJR track between Elgin and Orton but this lasted only a short time and the Morayshire carriages were then hauled to Orton by the IAJR. Disagreements with the IAJR eventually forced the Morayshire into building a new section of track between their Elgin station and Rothes and was completed in 1862. The Morayshire completed its final act of enlargement by connecting to the new Great North of Scotland Railway (GNSR) station in 1863. Crippling debt forced the company into agreeing with the GNSR for it to take over the running of the track in 1866. When the Morayshire finally managed to greatly reduce its debt, a long sought after amalgamation with the GNSR finally took place in 1881.
Read more about Morayshire Railway: Amalgamation, Principal Office Bearers, Subsequent History, Chronological Events
Famous quotes containing the word railway:
“Her personality had an architectonic quality; I think of her when I see some of the great London railway termini, especially St. Pancras, with its soot and turrets, and she overshadowed her own daughters, whom she did not understand—my mother, who liked things to be nice; my dotty aunt. But my mother had not the strength to put even some physical distance between them, let alone keep the old monster at emotional arm’s length.”
—Angela Carter (1940–1992)