Original Circa 1845 Very Rare Prospectus for the CALEDONIAN CANAL & GREAT NORTH WEST of SCOTLAND RAILWAY Co, a Line proposed from GLASGOW to INVERNESS, The Engineer on the prospectus being JOHN MILLER, The Companies Offices listed at 57 Great George St, Westminster London & 1 St Colme Street, Edinburgh. Printed by J. Teulon, 57 Cheapside London & the map by Max & Co, Litho, by Steam Power, with the route of the proposed line coloured red and the other lines in blue, some with manuscript notations, SIZE H18" x W11" folding out to H18" x W22".

The Company was registered in 1845 but very little is known of the scheme which was not built. This item was found amongst the papers of James & Duncan Grant of Bught, Inverness

John Miller of Leithen FRSE MICE DL (26 July 1805 – 8 May 1883) was a Scottish civil engineer and Liberal Party politician. Together with Thomas Grainger, he formed the influential engineering firm Grainger and Miller, specialising in railway viaducts.

Miller was born in Ayr on 26 July 1805, the son of Margaret Caldwell and James Miller, a wright and builder. He attended Ayr Academy and then studied law at the University of Edinburgh going on to be a legal apprentice with A Murdoch Esq, a lawyer in Ayr. His interests then turned from law to engineering.

In 1825 he went into partnership with Thomas Grainger. The partnership was responsible for many of Scotland's railway projects. Miller took the lead role in surveying the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway. He designed many viaducts, including the Lugar Viaduct, Almond Valley Viaduct, Cumnock and the Ballochmyle Viaduct, Mauchline. Miller designed and led the construction of the Almond Valley Viaduct to carry the Glasgow–Edinburgh via Falkirk line which was completed in 1842. The viaduct is 1.5 miles long with 36 masonry arches and is now Category A listed. Miller designed the route to keep the railway as level over as much of the route as was possible. Miller designed a planned maximum gradient of 1 in 880 with the aim of ensuring the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway was the most level main line in the UK at the time.

Although primarily a railway engineer, including the design of railway stations, he was also responsible for the construction of Granton Harbour.

Miller trained the engineer Benjamin Blyth.

Miller was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 1841 his proposer being the architect William Burn. The civil engineer James Deas apprenticed under Miller from 1841 to 1844.

In 1842 he bought the Millfield Estate in Polmont near Falkirk and began building a large house to his own design, naming it Millfield House (demolished 1958). The family moved here when Miller retired from engineering in 1850. In 1852 he bought the 5,260 hectares (13,000 acres) site of Leithen near Innerleithen enlarging a 16th-century house to 13,274 square feet (1,233.2 m2) to create Leithen Lodge. He thereafter styled himself John Miller of Leithen. In 1853 he also bought the smaller but still considerable estate of Drumlithie in Kincardineshire.

During this period, as was normal for the time, he also had a townhouse in Edinburgh. This was originally at 132 George Street in the Edinburgh New Town however he later moved to the more spacious and fashionable West End, buying a newly built townhouse at 2 Melville Crescent.

Miller died at home, 2 Melville Crescent[14] in Edinburgh on 8 May 1883. He is buried with his wife in the north-east section of the original Dean Cemetery in Edinburgh not far from the main entrance.