The gorge is so narrow in this location that a long viaduct was needed to carry the railway through it. The result is one of the most spectacular railway scenes in Scotland. It is listed Grade B.
Killiecrankie House, PH16 5LG
The railway northward from Perth was built by the Inverness & Perth Junction Railway whose engineer was Joseph Mitchell (1803-1883). He was the son of the Chief Inspector who worked for Telford on the great road building programme in the highlands, and succeeded his father before turning to railways. In a remarkably short time this 104 mile line between Dunkeld and Forres over difficult terrain was constructed in a mere two years and opened in 1863. As was the case on the Inverness & Nairn, Mitchell designed some impressive bridges and viaducts.
At the Pass of Killiecrankie north of Pitlochry the river Garry forces its way through a narrow gorge. For 631 m. it was necessary to carry the railway on a retaining wall up to 17 m. (55 ft.) high. It is punctuated with crenellated turrets. Then even this was impossible and a stone viaduct was constructed with ten arches on a curve 100 m. long. It leads directly into a tunnel. Both viaduct and tunnel are also crenellated.
Together the trio assist in calling to mind the famous battle of the first Jacobite uprising in 1689.
Photo credit: cc-by-sa/2.0 - © The late Dr P E G Clements - geograph.org.uk/p/6562165
By road: A footpath passes along the foot of the viaduct through the Pass of Killiecrankie. It can also be seen from the A 9.
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