Crieff & Methven Railway

The Crieff and Methven Junction Railway was a Scottish railway, opened in 1866, connecting Crieff with a branch line that ran from Methven to Perth.

As a purely local concern, the line was dependent on local traffic, and when that declined in the middle of the twentieth century, the railway became unsustainable. It closed to passengers in 1951 and completely in 1967.

The company received parliamentary authorisation to build the line on 14 July 1864, with the line being completed in 1867. Perth was linked to the growing Scottish railway network when the Scottish Central Railway opened its main line from Castlecary, near Falkirk, in 1848. The Scottish Central was allied with the Caledonian Railway, connecting with Glasgow and Carlisle, and the Scottish Midland Junction Railway built northwards from Perth, also opening in 1848, giving connection to Forfar and over other lines to Aberdeen.

Places served by these main lines experienced an economic benefit: the prices of commodities such as lime and coal brought in fell considerably, and the cost of delivering their manufactured goods and agricultural products to market also reduced. By contrast, towns not yet connected experienced a worsening in their position, and business interests in Methven proposed a railway to their town, and the Perth, Almond Valley and Methven Railway opened from a junction north of Perth to Methven on 1 January 1858.

The important town of Crieff also suffered from the lack of a railway connection, and in 1856 the Crieff Junction Railway opened, from a location then called Crieff Junction, on the main line between Stirling and Perth: it is now known as Gleneagles station. This more southerly connection was convenient for transits towards Glasgow and Edinburgh, but Perth was a major commercial and agricultural centre at this period, and passengers from Crieff to Perth preferred to travel by road coach to Methven, continuing their journey over the Almond Valley line.

A railway link was suggested and on 14 July 1864 the Crieff and Methven Junction Railway obtained Parliamentary authorisation. The company's capital was £66,000. The line opened on 21 May 1866, from a junction with the Methven line a mile south of the Methven terminus. The line ran broadly west, following the Pow Water, entering the eastern margin of Crieff alongside the Crieff Junction line, and using that company's station facilities.

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