ON THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE HIGHLAND RAILWAY, 139 



of country, and a country so much exposed to floods, but those above de- 

 scribed are the principal ; the entire waterway spanned over the entire system 

 being 9828 feet. 



On the Central Railway from Dunkeld to Forres, 104 miles, being a single 

 line, there are 8 viaducts, 126 bridges over streams, 119 public and ac- 

 commodation road-bridges, and 8100 yards of covered drains, varying in size 

 from 18 to 36 inches square. There are 1650 lineal yards of breastwalls, 

 .304,700 cubic yards of rock cutting, and 3,416,000 cubic yards of earth- 

 work, being, including rock and earth, at the rate of 35,776 cubic yards to 

 the mile. The largest embankment was at Rafford near Forres, which con- 

 tained 308,000 cubic yards. 



The permanent way consists of larch and natural-grown Scotch fir sleepers 

 of the usual size, 3 feet apart ; the chairs are 22 lbs. in weight ; the rails 

 weigh 75 lbs. to the lineal yard, are in lengths of 24 feet, and are fished at 

 the joints. 



The total cost of the works, including all extra and accommodation works, 

 amounted for the 104 miles, to £798,311 ; the land, including severance, to 

 J70,000 ; and the preliminary, parliamentary, engineering, and law expenses 

 to i;50,893, making the cost of this portion of the Companv's lines £919,204, 

 or £8860 per mile*. 



The contracts were entered into immediately after the passing of the Bill 

 in July 1801 ; the first turf of the railway was cut on the 17th of October of 

 the same year, and the whole line was passed by the Government Inspector, 

 and opened for pubUc traffic on the 9th of September 1863, being one year 

 and ten months, an uuprecedentedly short time for works of such magnitude. 

 The works between Forres and Dunkeld were divided into nine contracts let 

 by public competition, and were undertaken £15,705 below the Engineer's 

 estimate, and were completed at 12 per cent, over the Engineer's estimate, 

 including 4 per cent, for accommodation works ordered by land valuators. 



The trafiic has been worked successfully and without accident for four 

 years. The mail trains perform the journey between Inverness and Perth 

 (144 miles) in 5^ hours. It was proposed to the Post Office, but not agreed 

 to, on account of the expense, to run them in four hours. 



An ordinary goods train of 20 waggons, or 200 tons gross load, is drawn 

 up the steepest inclines by one engine, having 17-inch cylinders and 24- 

 inch stroke. 



The traffic is rapidly increasing. The sheep and cattle, which used to 

 reach the southern markets by a toilsome journey of a month or six weeks, 

 are now conveniently transported in a day at less cost, the Company having 

 carried in one week upwards of 21,000 sheep. 



In passing over the mountain-ridges already described, it was feared that 

 serious interruptions would arise from snow during the winter, but as the 

 writer had a knowledge of the whole country for many years, he did not 

 anticipate any difficulty on this head which might not be overcome. The 

 summit is about 500 feet higher than that of the Caledonian line, or some 

 1500 feet in all above sea-level, and is no doubt more exposed. The first 

 winter, viz. 1863-64, it was wholly open and the traffic uninterrupted ; in 

 February of the second winter, viz. 1865, a very heavy snow-storm occurred 

 all over the north of Scotland, impeding the traffic of almost all the northern 

 railways, and stopping the traffic on the Highland line for four or five days, 

 which was only restored with great difficulty by the labour of large bodies of 



* The extra work claimed by one Contractor is still unsettled, but is valued and paid at 

 the rate at which the extra works on 160 miles of this system of railways have been amicably 



