{"product_id":"the-highland-main-line-9780906899960","title":"The Highland Main Line","description":"\u003cp\u003eThis book marks the centenary of the opening of the direct route between Aviemore and Inverness on the Highland Main Line. It looks particularly at the people who planned, built, operated and travelled on the Perth to Inverness route. In the early days of the line these included Joseph Mitchell, a visionary civil engineer, and Sir Alexander Matheson whose fortune, made from the Chinese opium trade, ensured the survival of the Inverness-based railway companies.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Highland Main Line runs through countryside which varies from wooded straths to the bleak mountain-side near Druimuachdar, the highest main line summit in Britain. In the Victorian era there were wide variations between the summer and winter traffic with a massive peak before the start of the grouse shooting season in August when the railway was worked to capacity.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe railway staff have largely been ignored in previous histories of railways in the Highlands. The Highland Main Line looks at their role in operating the railway through the worst of winter weather and the massive demands of wartime traffic. It also shows the leading part they played in the life of the communities along the line. The memories of those who worked or lived alongside the Perth to Inverness railway play an important part in this book as do the vivid descriptions of journeys by travellers such as Beatrix Potter.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe history of the railway since the late 1950s has been as complex as in its early years. There have been major changes in the operation of the line and certain types of traffic have disappeared, but it still remains a major transport route in the Highlands. The mileage of the line is indeed once again increasing as the Strathspey Steam Railway expands its operations.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Highland Main Line will be of interest not only to railway enthusiasts, but also to all those who know the Central Highlands. The book's appeal is increased by over 200 illustrations of the line and the people associated with it from the 1860s to the 1990s.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHardback with dust jacket, 22x28cm, 144 pages, black \u0026amp; white photographs\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCondition: Very Good\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Atlantic","offers":[{"title":"Secondhand (289)","offer_id":57780665155967,"sku":"9780906899960","price":7.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1910\/7111\/files\/9780906899960.jpg?v=1781792203","url":"https:\/\/rail-books.co.uk\/products\/the-highland-main-line-9780906899960","provider":"Rail Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}