The Caledonian Railway was the largest of the Scottish railway companies, working the West Coast route north of the border and the industrial heart of central Scotland. Its blue engines and its route from Carlisle over Beattock summit to Glasgow, Perth, and Aberdeen made it the Scottish partner of the London and North Western in the Anglo-Scottish traffic.
The route
The Caledonian carried the West Coast expresses north from Carlisle, climbing to Beattock summit and running on through the Clyde valley to Glasgow, and beyond to Stirling, Perth, and Aberdeen. Its main line and its dense network of lines through the coal and steel districts of Lanarkshire made it the dominant railway of the Scottish central belt, in perpetual rivalry with the North British Railway to its east.
Locomotives and livery
The company was known for its handsome blue passenger locomotives and for the express engines associated with Dugald Drummond, John McIntosh, and William Pickersgill, including the Dunalastair 4-4-0 family that set a standard for Scottish express work. Its principal works were at St Rollox in Glasgow. Locomotive detail is recorded in the RCTS Locomotives of the LMS series and in the company histories.
Grouping and after
The Caledonian became a constituent of the London Midland and Scottish Railway at the 1923 Grouping. Its lines passed to British Railways in 1948 and were worked by the Scottish Region. Much of the Caledonian character survived in the West Coast route through Scotland, which remains a principal main line today. The Caledonian Railway Association researches and records the company.
- Awdry, C. (1990) Encyclopaedia of British Railway Companies, PSL, Caledonian section.
- RCTS Locomotives of the LMS series, for the Caledonian designs absorbed into the LMS.
- The Caledonian Railway Association, for company-specific research.