Dingwall and Skye Railway

Dingwall and Skye Railway (inc Kyle of Lochalsh Extension)
Locale Scotland Dates of operation 5 August 1870 – 2 August 1880 Successor Highland Railway Track gauge 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)
Legend
Kyle of Lochalsh Extension Kyle of Lochalsh Duirinish Plockton Dingwall and Skye Railway Stromeferry Attadale Strathcarron Achnashellach Glencarron Platform Luib (Loan) Crossing Achnasheen Achanalt Lochluichart (New) Lochluichart (Old) Garve Raven's Rock Siding Achterneed File:BSicon exÜWc3.svg Strathpeffer x20px Fodderty Junction Inverness and Ross-shire Railway Dingwall Inverness and Ross-shire Railway

The Dingwall and Skye Railway was authorised on 5 July 1865 with the aim of providing a route to Skye and the Hebrides. However, due to local objections, another Act of Parliament was required before work could commence. This was passed on 29 May 1868. The line opened to Stromeferry in August 1870.

With the exception of the Strathpeffer Branch, the line is still open, being the major section of the Kyle of Lochalsh Line.

History

The line was worked by the Highland Railway, and was ultimately absorbed on 2 August 1880. On 29 June 1893 the Highland Railway obtained re-authorisation to build the section to Kyle of Lochalsh, with opening following on 2 November 1897.

The initial aim was to connect Skye to Inverness. Although Inverness was Skye's county town at the time, it was easier to get there via Glasgow. The line opened in 1870, but with its terminus at Stromeferry. Boats provided onward connection to Skye and the Outer Hebrides.

The line was extended to Kyle, through some unforgiving terrain; almost all of the extension is in rock cuttings or embankments. At the time it was the most expensive railway ever built in Britain per mile, and much money was provided by the Government.

The line never gained much traffic: connections with the ferries were often unreliable; much freight traffic was stolen by the West Highland Railway upon its opening. Original ideas, including such ideas as moving fishing boats by rail across Scotland to avoid navigating around, never came to fruition. The line avoided the Beeching Axe due to social necessity, but throughout the 1970s it was variously threatened with closure, but won a reprieve until the Caledonian MacBrayne service to Lewis was moved from Kyle to Ullapool. It was eventually saved in connection with supplying goods for oil platform fabrication at the nearby Kishorn Yard. The section of line along Loch Carron is particularly troublesome, and prone to landslides, often closing that section.

Strathpeffer Branch

Main article: Strathpeffer railway station

The logical route for the original line would have taken it through Strathpeffer, a spa town, and one of the few centres of population, but disagreements with landowners - particularly Sir William Mackenzie of Coul House - meant that it bypassed the town, and the line was diverted through Raven Rock. This diversion consequently proved very costly for the Dingwall & Skye Railway company. The original Act had allowed the company to build the railway through to Kyle, but the severe costs of the Strathpeffer diversion in addition to loss of revenue from relevant shareholders meant that the money ran out, leading to the line being cut back to Stromeferry, 10 miles short of Kyle. It would be another 27 years before the line reached the originally planned terminus.

On 3 June 1885, the Strathpeffer branch line was opened. That branch closed on 26 March 1951 with the track being lifted soon afterwards. A station opened at Achterneed with the original line, proved too far from the town to viably harness that revenue, and closed in 1965.

Connections to other lines

• Inverness and Ross-shire Railway at Dingwall

References

• RAILSCOT article on Dingwall and Skye Railway
• RAILSCOT article on Strathpeffer Branch
• RAILSCOT article on Kyle of Lochalsh Extension