By comparison with their English counterparts, Scottish nineteenth-century railways have suffered from a degree of neglect by economic historians. Most of the existing literature is written for the railway enthusiast, concentrating mainly on topography, mechanical developments and entertaining episodes. Few of these books cover the whole of Scotland and most are treatments of single companies or of particular dramatic events.

This study covers the earliest period of Scottish railway history, from the years of the first waggonway developments in the eighteenth century to the advent of the railway mania of the 1840s. It concentrates on the planning and formation of the various railways, the problems and achievements associated with their construction, and the financial records of the companies up to 1844. The first two chapters cover the horse-drawn waggonways of the eighteenth century and the coal railways of the early nineteenth century, while Chapters 3–5 cover the railways of the 1830s and 1840s.

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Preface
• Contents
• Chapter 1. The Century of the Waggonways
  • I. The eighteenth-century background
  • II. Early waggonways: Tranent, Alloa and Lord Elgin’s
  • III. The first railway?: Kilmarnock and Troon
  • IV. Coal, construction and costs
  • V. Growing ambition: long-distance projects
• Chapter 2. The Coal Railways
  • I. The idea of the railway
  • II. The Monklands lines
  • III. Other early railways: Dalkeith, Newtyle and the Clyde
  • IV. The impact of the locomotive
  • V. Financing the coal railways
  • VI. The lines in operation
• Chapter 3. From Town to Town: Planning and Authorisation
  • I. Expansion in the 1830s
  • II. The essential link: Edinburgh to Glasgow
  • III. Landowners’ initiatives: north of the Tay
  • IV. Problems and profligacy: Granton, Leith and the route to Fife
  • V. From Glasgow to the Firth of Clyde
  • VI. A selection of failures
  • VII. Sources of capital: an examination of subscription contracts
• Chapter 4. From Town to Town: Construction and Operation
  • I. Expectation and reality: the accounts of the inter-urban railways
  • II. Ordeal by Parliament
  • III. The acquisition of land
  • IV. Works, engineers and contractors
  • V. Other costs: rolling stock and road trustees
  • VI. The search for further capital
  • VII. The costs of operation: expenditure on current account
  • VIII. Current income and the setting of rates
  • IX. The passenger boom
  • X. Rendering unto Caesar: the passenger duty
  • XI. Rendering unto God: the sabbatarian question
  • XII. Relations with other transport
• Chapter 5. The Battle for the Border
  • I. English trade and border topography
  • II. Joseph Locke and the Smith-Barlow Commission
  • III. Supporters and committeemen
  • IV. Western delays and the authorisation of the North British
  • V. The triumph of the Caledonian
• Chapter 6. Summary and Conclusions
  • I. Scottish railways in 1884
  • II. The conveyance of coal
  • III. Diversification: general freight and passengers
  • IV. Connections and extensions
  • V. Costs and estimates
  • VI. Investors and promoters
  • VII. Managerial developments
  • VIII. English influences
  • IX. Forward to the mania
• Appendix. Analysis by Location and Occupation of Subscriptions to Scottish Railway Companies authorised in 1837-38
• Notes
• Bibliography
• Index