 Formed in 1889 to complement the services of the Caledonian Railway, the company expanded by taking over rival ferry companies.In 1973, they were merged with MacBraynes as Caledonian MacBrayne.Rival railway companies, the Caledonian Railway (CR), the North British Railway (NBR) and the Glasgow and South Western Railway (GSWR) at first used the services of various early private operators of Clyde steamers.