fact the terminus was in Dandaleith, on the north-west bank of the River Spey; Craigellachie was over the river, on the south-east bank. Inverness people travelling to the south resented the long deviation through Aberdeen, and they decided to build their own line to reach Perth, starting out from Forres on the Inverness and Aberdeen Junction Railway. This new southward line, constructed by the nominally independent Inverness and Perth Junction Railway, ran to Perth via Dava Moor, using the Perth and Dunkeld Railway and a section of the Scottish North Eastern Railway at the southern end. That project was authorised in 1861 and it opened throughout in 1863. The building of this line had the potential to abstract a huge volume of traffic from the GNoSR route via Aberdeen. A report submitted to the GNoSR board claimed that "the value of through traffic between stations on the Inverness line and the south is apt to be over-rated", but their true belief was revealed when they prepared a Parliamentary Bill for a 33 mile continuation of the Keith and Dufftown Railway line down the River Spey as far as Grantown-on-Spey, which was on the proposed I&PJR line to Perth. It was noted that there were large forests owned by Lord Seafield, that might generate timber traffic. Formation of the Strathspey Railway By October 1860 the scheme had developed into "The Strathspey Railway". The plan was to extend the Keith and Dufftown Railway to a more useful station for Dufftown at Balvenie, and to build the Strathspey Railway on from there via Craigellachie to Abernethy. A pact had been agreed with the Inverness and Perth Junction Railway not to oppose one another's Bills, so the Strathspey Railway Bill received Royal Assent on 17 May 1861; authorised capital was £270,000. The Inverness and Perth Junction Railway was incorporated on 22 July 1861. At the same time the Morayshire Railway received parliamentary approval to extend its line across the river at Craigellachie from the original terminus to a junction with the Strathspey Railway. The Keith and Dufftown Railway opened on 21 February 1862. The Speyside line required two major crossings of the River Spey, at Carron and Ballindalloch. During the construction of the line, the health of the main contractor, Preston, failed, and he was unable to proceed, and after a delay, a new contractor was appointed. Colonel Yolland of the Board of Trade