some distance south of Perth (road) Bridge, a significantly inconvenient location. The Scottish Central Railway had planned a terminal there, but now altered its plan and proposed a station in a more westerly location. As it became clear that several railways all wished to have a terminal in Perth, the idea of a "General" or joint station arose. When the SCR obtained an enabling Act for the station, there was a period during which other railways could serve notice that they wished to use it; the Scottish Midland Junction Railway and the Edinburgh and Northern Railway gave the necessary notice but the D&PR failed to do so. The SCR accordingly settled on a location somewhat further north than had been contemplated earlier, as it was apparently not necessary to allow for the D&PR alignment. The D&PR now settled on a second temporary terminus at Princes Street while it decided on its approach to the joint station. At least this was on the west side of the Tay, but it was not at all central. At the end of October 1846 the D&PR finally decided that it wished to use the joint station; its discussions with the SCR, although received as rather arrogant, were just in time to influence the design of the station. This was announced at a shareholders' meeting in October 1846: "a station in Perth west of the town was being arranged, enabling connection with the Scottish Central Railway and the Edinburgh and Northern Railway. There were also to be three short branches added to the system, although in fact only one of them, at Inchture, was completed. A ceremonial opening of the line was arranged for 22 May 1847. A horse omnibus connection plied from Barnhill to the centre of Perth, and a booking office was opened in the centre. The public opening took place on 24 May 1847; it was the first railway in Perth. Dreams of going on to Aberdeen In 1847 the Directors announced that they had concluded a lease of the Dundee and Arbroath Railway; a new connecting line at Dundee was to be built between the two lines. The D&P would guarantee an 8% return on the £66,666 cost of building a linking line across the north side of Dundee and the construction of a central station. The lease was authorised by Act of 14 August 1848 and the link line was