page_title: Caledonian Railway
section_title: Introduction
hierarchical_section_title: Caledonian Railway / Introduction
caption_attribution_description: Caledonian Railway engine 419 at the Bo'ness and Kinneil Railway
context_page_description: The Caledonian Railway was a major Scottish railway company. It was formed in the early 19th century with the objective of forming a link between English railways and Glasgow. It progressively extended its network and reached Edinburgh and Aberdeen, with a dense network of branch lines in the area surrounding Glasgow. It was absorbed into the London, Midland and Scottish Railway in 1923. Many of its principal routes are still used, and the original main line between Carlisle and Glasgow is in use as part of the West Coast Main Line railway.
context_section_description: In the mid-1830s railways in England evolved from local concerns to longer routes that connected cities, and then became networks. In Scotland it was clear that this was the way forward, and there was a desire to connect the central belt to the incipient English network. There was controversy over the route that such a line might take, but the Caledonian Railway was formed on 31 July 1845 and it opened its main line between Glasgow, Edinburgh and Carlisle in 1848, making an alliance with the English London and North Western Railway.  In the obituary of the engineer Richard Price-Williams written in 1916 the contractor of the Caledonian Railway is stated to be Thomas Brassey and the civil engineer George Heald.
  Although the company was supported by Scottish investors, more than half of its shares were held in England.
  Establishing itself as an inter-city railway, the Caledonian set about securing territory by leasing other authorised or newly built lines, and fierce competition developed with other, larger Scottish railways, particularly the North British Railway and the Glasgow and South Western Railway. The company established primacy in some areas, but remained less than successful in others; considerable sums were expended in the process, not always finding the approval of shareholders.
  A considerable passenger traffic developed on the Firth of Clyde serving island resorts, and fast boat trains were run from Glasgow to steamer piers; the company was refused permission to operate its own steamers, and it formed a partnership with a nominally independent, but friendly, operator, the Caledonian Steam Packet Company.
  In 1923 the railways of Great Britain were "grouped" under the Railways Act 1921 and the Caledonian Railway was a constituent of the newly formed London Midland and Scottish Railway; its capitalisation at that time was £57 million (equivalent to £3.27 billion today), and it had a single track mileage of 2,827 miles (4,550 km).
  It extended from Aberdeen to Portpatrick, and from Oban to Carlisle, running express passenger services and a heavy mineral traffic.
caption: Caledonian locomotive CR 419 at the Bo'ness and Kinneil Railway (formerly part of the North British Railway).
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