not yet set in. The Railway Times commented:' These hill-people have been too long accustomed to draw on the public Treasury for the expenses of all their local improvements. Steamboats had been operating on the Caledonian Canal from as early as 1820, and between Inverness and Glasgow from 1822. Mitchell saw that steam railways would come to his part of the country sooner or later, and was determined to be the man who would make it happen.</blockquote> In 1841 he made a proposal to a dynamic solicitor of Elgin, James Grant (later provost of the town), to build a railway linking it with the harbour of Lossiemouth, six miles away. Mitchell would undertake the engineering, and Grant would organise the company. Mitchell carried out a survey, and had a contractor ready, but he recorded that, 'although Mr Grant held meetings, and made considerable efforts at the time, the public did not seem then to appreciate the advantages of the proposed scheme. Mitchells next railway venture was to propose the building of the Scottish Central Railway, to link Perth to the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway, at Larbert. This would seem to be outside his Highland stamping ground, but it is likely that he was already thinking of securing the southern basis of a route into the Highlands. He noted of the project that, 'It would bring Perth and the whole north in direct railway communication with Edinburgh and Glasgow'.' Its prospectus was issued on 30 March 1844. On 14 August of the same year, a public meeting was held in Inverness, noted as the first meeting 'for the promotion of railway enterprise in the northern counties'.· Mitchell surveyed the Scottish Central line for its promoters at his own cost, on condition of being appointed engineer, but here he ran into the sharp and heavy end of railway politics. Mitchell was the author of several books including Reminiscences of my Life in the Highlands''. He died at his London home on 26 November 1883. In the same year his son, Mitford Mitchell, presented a marble bust of Joseph Mitchell, created by Alexander Munro, to Inverness Town Hall. In recent years Mitchell's home in Inverness, Viewhill House, at the top of Castle Street, was used as a youth hostel. In October 2007, after lying empty for some time, it was severely damaged by fire. Family He was the father of Very Rev James