Kinnaber Junction

The rebuilt South Esk Viaduct

The North British, Arbroath and Montrose Railway was a company established by Act of Parliament in 1871 to construct and operate a railway line from north of Arbroath via Montrose to Kinnaber Junction, 38 miles (61 km) south of Aberdeen. The company was originally a subsidiary of the North British Railway but it was absorbed into its parent in 1880. Construction of the line was delayed and a viaduct had to be dismantled and rebuilt following the Tay Bridge disaster. Rivalry between the companies on the east and west coast routes from London to Aberdeen, the "Race to the North", culminated in 1895 – the crucial point was at Kinnaber Junction where the two routes converged into a single railway.

Effectively a continuation of the North British line over the Tay Bridge, this single-track railway directly connected the older Arbroath and Forfar Railway with the Aberdeen Railway to the north. North British had running rights over the Caledonian Railway to Aberdeen. There was a short branch line to Montrose South Harbour and a junction with the Montrose and Bervie Railway. The railway opened in 1881, but for goods traffic only; it did not open fully for passenger traffic until 1 May 1883.

The main station was Montrose railway station, opened in 1883 and quite separate from the Caledonian Railway terminus nearby. A station was opened at Lunan Bay, which also served the nearby settlement of Lunan. The opening of the station made access to the area easier than by road. A nearby picturesque feature which has been bridged by the railway is the deep ravine at Buckie Den.

Because the line was largely single track, exchanging tablets was required at five places – St Vigean's, Inverkeilor, Lunan Bay, Montrose and Hillside. Hillside to Kinnaber Junction was built as double track. Each exchange required slowing the train to about 35 mph (56 km/h). The St. Vigean's exchange was removed, when the North British Railway doubled the line from there to Iverkeilor in 1897. But it was replaced, when a Loop was constructed at Usan in 1906, and an exchange introduced there. Even so, travel time from Edinburgh to Aberdeen – over the Forth and Tay bridges and along this line – was reduced by one hour compared with the previous journey via Perth.