Undiscovered Scotland

 

"The Railway Through the Central Highlands" by David Price can be thought of as a love letter told in pictures to the amazing railway line that runs from Perth to Inverness.

The back cover of the book sets the scene: "The railway route through the Central Highlands from Perth to Inverness offers a spectacular journey through a variety of landscapes. Initially traversing the pastoral Strathtay as far as Ballanluig, the scenery becomes more dramatic and bleak as the line runs alongside the river Garry and on to Druimuachdar, the highest standard gauge railway summit in the United Kingdom. From Newtonmore, the valley of the Spey is followed to Aviemore, giving excellent views of the Cairngorm Mountains. Here is the junction with the preserved Strathspey Railway, which uses part of the original route northwards that was built in 1863. A new route from Aviemore to Inverness was opened in 1898 involving another major climb to a summit at Slochd and a series of superb viaducts across the river valleys. The author has visited the line regularly over the last four decades and presents a selection of his steam and diesel photographs showing the different traction in use during this period."

The book begins with a page and a half of introduction and a map of the line; and then you are straight into the author's photographs, set out two to a page and accompanied by short captions that usually give the identity of the train shown and the location in which it is depicted. Trains photograph best from a front three-quarters angle and most, though by no means all, of the photographs in the book conform to this formula. You get a nice mix of diesel and steam locomotives and of passenger and freight trains; shown in many different locations along the line. There are even slight diversions to the Cairngorm Mountain Railway and the restored Strathspey Railway. This is a book that will be appreciated by railway enthusiasts everywhere.