The Lochearnhead, St Fillans and Comrie Railway company was formed to build a line along the valley of Strathearn, closing the gap between the Callander and Oban line of the Caledonian Railway and Crieff. Tourism was on the increase in the area, and there were ambitious ideas that imported goods traffic at Oban would be routed to the eastern Scotland towns and cities over the line. The route was opened in stages between 1901 and 1905; raising finance was a serious difficulty, but in the end the Caledonian Railway took over.