The Railways of Upper Strathearn: Crieff-Balquhidder (LP 225)
In the 21st century, when a journey by motor car along the A85 from Comrie to Crieff occupies a mere 10 minutes, it is difficult to imagine the tremendous enthusiasm with which the people of Comrie welcomed the arrival in 1893 of the branch line from Crieff. Comrie, along with the other villages in Upper Strathearn between Crieff and Lochearnhead, had been steadily increasing in size and prosperity in the second half of the 19th century but still depended on stagecoaches and general carriers for communication with the outside world.
This book tells of the efforts made over many decades to bring the railway to Comrie and to continue it westwards to link with the Callander & Oban line at Lochearnhead. All these efforts came to nothing until, in the end, the single-minded determination of Colonel David Robertson Williamson, Laird of Lawers, above all others achieved that goal.
When the House of Commons passed the Crieff & Comrie Railway Act in 1890 there was cause for much excitement. In 1905 the line was completed westwards to Balquhidder where it joined the Callander & Oban Railway and its promoters had great hopes of Oban being developed as a major transatlantic port. But it was not to be. The line never really prospered in spite of attempts in the 1930s to develop it as a tourist route. The end came in 1951 for the Balquhidder-Comrie section of the line and Comrie lost its rail service completely in 1964 when the remaining section to Crieff and Gleneagles was also closed.
In writing the book the author has not only used original material held in various archives but has also quoted extensively from contemporary newspapers reports. These reports vividly convey the excitement generated in villages whose transport system had been confined to the speed of a stagecoach or a horse-drawn cart and were now entering the modern age of steam transport.
A5 format, with a square-backed spine, the book consists of 160 pages which include 110 illustrations and it is printed on art paper throughout.
Condition: Good/Very Good with slight fading to spine
ISBN: 9780853616221
Most orders are dispatched within two-three working days of receipt of cleared payment. Orders that require collection from us (heavy boxes and courier) are dependant upon the carrier calling to make the collection. If there is going to be a significant delay (more than 10 working days), we will contact you and, where possible, give you an estimated dispatch time.
Please be aware that advance orders will be sent as soon as the relevant book has been published and our stock has been delivered to us.
When placing your order, please ensure that you add the correct full shipping address to your order. This includes house number, street name, zip code/post code. If parcels are returned on account of an incorrect shipping address we will contact you to seek the correct address and also ask that you pay a contribution towards posting the parcel to you a second time. Similarly, if a parcel is returned to us because the local mail service is unable to deliver it (or you do not collect it from the designated collection point), we will contact you and ask you for a contribution towards the cost of shipping to you for a second time.
The journey of a book from our shelves to the reader demands careful handling and the appropriate packaging. We recognise the need to ensure that books arrive at their destination in the same condition that they leave us. Our packaging solutions aim to accommodate books of all shapes and sizes. In a society where so much is thrown away, Rail-Books have a policy of reusing packing materials to pack your order wherever possible. Whilst this may generate a small saving in our packaging costs, the impact to the environment is a much greater saving. We also try to ensure that new packaging used by ourselves, such as boxes, book-wraps and envelopes, is made from recycled materials.
UK
All orders for UK addresses are normally sent via Royal Mail 48 Hour (the business equivalent of 2nd class mail) which is not tracked although Royal Mail do confirm delivery of parcels. Orders of £50 and over qualify for free economy postage. If you require tracking for your order, tracking & courier options are available for a small fee. The appropriate shipping option can be selected as part of the checkout process. If the service that you require is not shown, please get in touch with us and we can quote for your desired service.
Large, bulky or high value orders may be split in to multiple consignments or sent via courier. There is no additional charge for this and you will be advised at the order fulfillment stage if this happens.
Overseas
Overseas orders are charged based on weight, and postage will be automatically calculated at checkout. For a postage quotation, please add the items you want to your cart and proceed to the checkout. All orders are usually sent via Air Mail - this is not tracked. If you required your order to be tracked or sent by a different service, please contact us, preferably before checkout.
Royal Mail will only accept parcels up to 5kg in weight (2kg for Canada). If you are ordering multiple items that exceed these limits, please contact us first so that we can advise you of the appropriate shipping rate.
Due to the high volume of parcels going missing, we are no longer able to send untracked orders via third party mail handling services such as Parcel Motel. We are able to send untracked parcels to bona fide PO Box addresses, friends and family members and to work addresses.
In the UK, books, magazines and other printed matter do not attract VAT; in many other countries VAT is payable on books etc. and payment of local VAT will be the responsibility of the recipient. Likewise, the recipient is responsible for the payment of any import duties/tariffs or other local taxes levied by their government. If these need to be paid before shipping, we will invoice you for the appropriate amount.
Please note that courier services are unable to deliver to PO Box addresses. If you usually use a PO Box address, you will need to supply an alternative address if you require shipping by courier.
Our shipping rates are based on sending a 5kg/10kg parcel and will include insurance. We can often secure good rates by the use of booking agents and we will refund any excess paid by you.
Shipping to Mainland Europe and the European Union
From 1 July 2021, EU countries have imposed VAT on imports. In the UK, books are zero-rated for VAT proposes so there is no VAT to deduct from the prices quoted on our website. All of our orders are usually sent "DDU" (Delivered Duty Unpaid) using a courier service and the shipping prices quoted are on a DDU basis. However, we are now able to offer limited "DDP" (Delivered Duty Paid) services to certain EU destinations. If you would like to purchase books on a DDP basis, please contact us before making your purchase and we will give you a DDP price. (Sometimes we can secure good DDP shipping rates - if this holds true, we will advise you if we are able to pay your taxes and/or whether is any additional payment required).
As of 1 July 2026 we are no longer able to send parcels to any mainland European destination (including the Republic of Ireland) via the mail service. This is because of the huge administrative burden of tax collection imposed on small businesses by external organisations such as the EU. We will still continue to ship parcels to Europe via reputable couriers who are able to collect and administer taxes & customs duties on our behalf. We always attempt to secure the best rates available and where possible we try to send your orders tax/duty paid. The shipping rates charged at checkout are estimates and we will contact you if the cost is greater than the estimated charge collected at checkout; likewise if you have overpaid, we will refund the additional amount paid
Please note that DDU shipments to EU destinations will be held by the relevant customs authority until the customer pays any VAT that is due. We understand that if no payment is received by the relevant customs authority after 30 days, the package will be either returned or destroyed. Rail-Books will not be liable for any loss resulting from the destruction or return of goods where VAT has not been paid.
We recommend that customers in the EU follow the tracking data supplied to them once we dispatch your parcel and once the parcel is showing as arriving in the destination country, make contact with their customs authorities to pay the appropriate amounts of tax/duty. We will advise you if your order can be sent on a DDP basis and of any additional cost beyond the Estimated Shipping Charge collected at checkout.
Shipping to United States of America
We are again able to ship parcels to the USA.
Ordinary printed books imported into the United States are exempt from US tariffs, due to an exemption for "informational materials" under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) and protections established in the Berman Amendment. However, there will be an additional administrative burden attached to exporting books from the UK as the US customs authorities will still require us to state the country of origin of each book (i.e. where it was printed). While most of the books that we stock are printed in the UK, a number are printed in various parts of the European Union or, as with Pen & Sword, India. While magazines are also exempt from US tariffs, maps and atlases do not appear to qualify for the exemption.
We can offer shipping either via Royal Mail or FedEx and the estimated costs of shipping, including the small administrative charge levied by the carrier for processing exempt items as outlined above, will be displayed as part of the checkout process. If an order includes non-exempt items such as maps/atlases, we will invoice you for any additional administrative charges and tariffs requested by the carrier before dispatching your parcel.
Returned Parcels
On rare occasions, parcels will be returned to us. Where this happens we will refund the customer the cost of their order less any expenses incurred by ourselves (e.g. the initial cost of sending the parcel, costs relating to damage incurred in transit or fees levied by the carrier for the parcel's return). If a customer requests that a parcel be shipped again for a second time, we request the customer to place a repeat order together with shipping costs. Repeat orders to UK customers will not be eligible for free shipping.
Updated: 10 July 2026