Railway travellers in the past were able to enjoy some of the most remote and dramatic scenery in the whole of Britain as they journeyed through the Trossachs and West Highlands.
Sadly many of those routes have now been lost but in ‘Trossachs and West Highlands, Exploring the Lost Railways’ author Alasdair Wham enables the reader to follow these forgotten tracks once again. Stretching from Kintyre in the west and north via the Great Glen to Inverness, this vast area encompasses the Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park.
Built through some of Scotland’s most beautiful landscape, the routes offered a lifeline to remote communities and the prospect of a brighter future. For the engineers the challenge was to decide on a route through narrow glens, across vast stretches of moorland and with gradients at the limit of existing technology.
‘Trossachs and West Highlands, Exploring the Lost Railways’ is the latest from an author whose extensively researched work has included tracing the disused tracks through Galloway, Ayrshire, Edinburgh and the Lothians and Glasgow.
His research into the rail companies behind the once extensive and busy routes will satisfy the enthusiast whilst his evocative writing style and intriguing stories will enthral the general reader. The journeys not only pass through an outstanding landscape but also lands rich with myth and legend. “Even Harry Potter has had an impact on the attraction of these routes and helps to fill trains with loads of the young at heart of all ages as they wait to cross the Glenfinnan Viaduct. This, then,” writes Alasdair, “is a special land and the story of the lost railways is one worth exploring.”
Trossachs and West Highlands : Exploring the Lost Railways
by Alasdair Wham
Published December 2009.
Price £12.99
Order your copy here
