The Strathspey Railway was authorised on 17 May 1861 as a route leaving the Keith & Dufftown Railway at Dufftown and meeting the Morayshire Railway at Craigellachie. The Strathspey Railway then ran down the east side of the River Spey to Abernethy (later Nethy Bridge), near Grantown on Spey. The railway was eventually extended to meet the Highland Railway between Boat of Garten & Grantown on Spey (on their mainline to Inverness), although there was a great deal of dispute over the provision of a signal box where the lines met. Eventually it was agreed that the Strathspey trains would use a separate Highland-Railway owned track (parallel to the mainline) with a proper junction at Boat of Garten. Services along the line were from the start operated by the Great North of Scotland Railway who eventually amalgamated the Strathspey into their company.

Traffic in the Spey Valley never fully developed and for many years the line was principally supported by the whisky industry. In BR days Diesel Railcars were used on Elgin-Craigellachie-Boat of Garten services, and were later extended along the Highland line to Aviemore.

Passenger services along the Strathspey Railway were withdrawn on 18 October 1965, with the Aberlour-Craigellachie-Dufftown section retained for goods traffic until 15 November 1971. The track between Aberlour & Dufftown was subsequently lifted, although the Dufftown - Keith Junction line remained as a goods-only line for many years and is now a preserved railway.

Many of the smaller stations along the Strathspey Railway survive, although the site of the junction at Craigellachie is more or less built over. The former Highland Railway mainline from Aviemore to Forres (and on to Inverness) via Dava was also closed in the 1960s, although the Aviemore-Boat of Garten section was sold to the Strathspey Railway who now operate preserved steam services and recently extended their line to Broomhill. The former divergance between the Highland and Strathspey railways north of Boat of Garten can still be easily seen from the preserved railway's trains.