be limited to 25 mph. Opinion had been expressed within the company that a limited opening to Gareloch at first would be preferable, but the politics of securing government support for the Mallaig line meant that no hesitation could be displayed. Trains started running on that day, although a formal opening was arranged for Saturday 11 August by the wife of the chairman, William Hay, 10th Marquess of Tweeddale. The line ran from Craigendoran Junction to Fort William, with fifteen stations formed in the style of Swiss chalets. The line was single, with Saxby and Farmer tablet apparatus. There were three passenger trains each way, the first down and last up train conveying a through coach for Kings Cross via Edinburgh; one goods train ran each way daily. On 1 November 1894 the passenger service was reduced to two trains each way, the "winter" timetable. The rival Caledonian Railway introduced a London to Fort William service via Oban, with a steamer connection from there to Fort William, with throughout timings not far off the West Highland times. An attempt was made by the West Highland to operate a residential service from Arrochar to Craigendoran (three return journeys daily and 4 on Saturdays from 1959), there connecting with North British Railway trains to Glasgow, but the difficult location of the WHR stations, some distance from the communities they purported to serve, made this unattractive for daily travel. An attempt to generate goods traffic from Greenock (via steamer to Craigendoran) to Fort William was also unsuccessful because of a price disadvantage compared to throughout steamer transits. Rannoch station was at this time remote from public roads: the West Highland built a road eastward from the station to Loch Rannoch. (The road is now part of the B846 road. Kinlochleven was also inaccessible by public road at this time.) From 29 December 1894 through to 7 February 1895 blizzards of exceptional severity struck the area of the line, and many trains became marooned, as the line was blocked. Improved snow defences were subsequently erected, including the Cruach Rock snowshed. Banavie extension The 1890 Act for the West Highland Railway included a short branch line from a junction near Fort William to Banavie, at a location adjacent to the Caledonian Canal. This was duly completed and Banavie Pier railway station was opened on 1 June 1895, closing to passengers in 1939 and to freight