Fort William Rail Trail – Maps and Diagrams

On this page you will find a selection of maps and diagrams to help you understand the geography of the former railway and how it changed over time.

Ordnance Survey Map 25 inch – Revised 1899

Reproduced with the permission of the National Library of Scotland

The extract above from the 1899 map shows the area covered by the Rail Trail as it was shortly after the railway opened. If you look at the Old Fort, you can see that some of the original military buildings were still standing. At this time, the original smaller (52 foot) turntable was in use. On the south side of the line, there a siding marked Cattle Pens but the goods depot here would not be added until the London North Eastern Railway (LNER) took over the railway. The original goods shed can be seen on the opposite side of the line.

The complete map can be viewed on the National Library of Scotland website.

Ordnance Survey Map 1:2500 – Revised 1964

The extract above from the 1964 map shows how the layout had changed by that time. The remaining original buildings in the Old Fort have now been demolished and the larger 1948 turntable can be seen. The LNER Goods Depot is now well established on the south side of the line. Note also that one of the two sidings past the station to the New Pier had been removed.

Signal Box Diagram

The above is a recreation of the diagram which used to hang in the old Fort William signal box. It shows the layout of track and signals controlled from the box, as it was in 1957. The numbers on the diagram correspond to lever numbers in the 23-lever Saxby & Farmer frame. The recreation was drawn by Robert Dey and may be downloaded as a pdf by clicking here or on the image.