The Keith and Dufftown Railway was a railway company in Scotland. Its line ran between Dufftown and Keith on the main line between Inverness and Aberdeen. The company was formed in 1857, but it struggled to attract investors and for some years was unable to proceed with construction. The larger Great North of Scotland Railway (GNoSR) saw that control of the Dufftown line would give it better access to Elgin and Perth, so the GNoSR invested in the Dufftown line, enabling it to open in 1862. The Speyside Railway connected to it at Dufftown, and the Morayshire Railway connected to the Speyside Railway at Craigellachie, giving the desired access to Elgin. The Keith and Dufftown Railway was absorbed by the Great North of Scotland Railway in 1866. The line closed to passenger traffic in 1968 and completely in 1991, but a heritage group took it over and most of the route now operates under the original title of the Keith and Dufftown Railway. Before the Keith and Dufftown Railway Keith was a market centre of considerable importance and it became the meeting point of two railways that had aspired to connect Aberdeen and Inverness. Neither could raise the capital to build the entire route, and eventually the Great North of Scotland Railway (GNoSR) built its line from Aberdeen to Keith, opening in 1856. The Inverness and Aberdeen Junction Railway built its own line to the Keith station from Inverness, opening in 1858. Although this provided a long-awaited railway link between Inverness and Aberdeen, there was a considerable and persistent friction between the two companies. Through passenger trains did not operate for many years: passengers had to change trains at Keith. For the people of Inverness, the way from Inverness to Central Scotland and the south involved a roundabout route, changing trains at Keith and then changing stations at Aberdeen to make an uncertain connection to the North British Railway for the onward transit southwards. In 1845 the (proposed) Banffshire Railway deposited Parliamentary plans for a 21-mile line from Portgordon on the coast to Dufftown, passing through Keith. At first the prospects for this company looked good, but the financial crash following the Railway Mania made it impossible to raise money to build it, and it was dissolved. Authorisation, but delayed construction The motivation for a railway line linking Dufftown was still in place, and in 1856 plans were deposited for