Iain Findlay

Rail to the Isles Iain Findlay

This combination of documentary and historical novel marries a tale of success against impossible odds with a passionate, compelling and touristic revelation of the magic, legends and romance of the West Highland Railway. Charles Forman, , the leading Scots railway engineer of late Victorian Scotland, , fresh from many achievements and overcoming a partially negative legacy from work in Nova Scotia, conquers Parliamentary opposition and friction from the West Highland aristocracy to plunge himself into his supreme challenge-the physically impossible task of taking a railway across the rugged terrain of the West Highlands. . His inimitable Irish workforce, and in particular a man from Kerry -Tim Pat O'Sullivan-prove to be crucial allies. . After Forman's early death, Tim's story becomes entwined with the Boer War, the Titanic, World War, with McAlpine construction and as a newly fledged medic, husband and father. His son seems destined to continue the line of heroic achievements