GNSR Trivia

  • The Great North of Scotland Railway was intended to connect Aberdeen to Inverness as a part of the main route to Inverness from the south. It failed to meet both of these targets.
  • There were many delays in the paperwork transfer of the Aberdeenshire Canal. An impatient construction contractor cut the bank of the canal, draining the water into the River Don before all formalities were completed. Barges were stranded, meaning the canal had to be repaired and refilled.
  • The GNSR was the first railway to be opened with electric telegraph along its entire length.
  • The GNSR never operated second class coaches.
  • The GNSR's longest tunnel was the 269 yard long Hutcheon Street tunnel in Aberdeen.
  • Manson never patented his successful tablet exchange apparatus. He did not want to hinder the adoption of this life-saving device.
  • All 100 GNSR tender locomotives taken into LNER stock were 4-4-0s.