Sutherland Railway

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Sutherland Railway
Overview
Locale Scotland
Dates of operation13 April 186828 July 1884
Successor Highland Railway
Technical
Track gauge 4 ft 8+12 in (1,435 mm)
Length32+34 miles (52.7 km)
Route map
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Arrow Blue Up 001.svg Duke of Sutherland's Railway
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Golspie
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Arrow Blue Right 001.svg Dornoch Light Railway
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The Mound
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Rogart
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Lairg
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Invershin
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Culrain
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Ardgay
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Arrow Blue Down 001.svg Inverness & Ross-shire Rly

The Sutherland Railway was a railway company authorised in 1865 to build a line from Bonar Bridge station to Brora, a distance of nearly 33 miles, in the north of Scotland. This was to be continuation of a route from Inverness to Bonar Bridge that had been built by the Inverness and Ross-shire Railway; ultimately the line was extended to Thurso.

Contents

The Sutherland Railway opened its line as far as Golspie in 1868, but ran out of money at that stage, and never completed its line to Brora. That was later accomplished by the Duke of Sutherland's Railway.

The Sutherland Railway was absorbed into the Highland Railway, to which it was already indebted, in 1884. The line continues in use at the present day, as part of the Far North Line.

First steps

Map of the Sutherland Railway in 1868 Sutherland Rly.png
Map of the Sutherland Railway in 1868

In 1864 the Inverness and Ross-shire Railway had reached Bonar Bridge station from Inverness; [1] in fact the station was in Ardgay on the west bank of the Kyle of Sutherland. It was only seen as a temporary terminus, and the next stage northwards was already being planned.

The Sutherland Railway was projected to run from the Bonar Bridge station to Brora, nearly 33 miles, and it obtained its authorising Act of Parliament on 29 June 1865. [2] [3] [4] Share capital was £240,000. [5]

Joseph Mitchell Joseph mitchell.jpg
Joseph Mitchell

The engineer was Joseph Mitchell. Construction was started immediately; advertisements inviting tenders for construction had been placed in newspapers before the Royal Assent was given.

The Third Duke of Sutherland 3rdDukeofSutherland.jpg
The Third Duke of Sutherland

George The Duke of Sutherland was the main shareholder in the company, and the prime mover in bringing it to completion; he had a great interest in improving the situation of the inhabitants of his very extensive lands in Sutherland.

He was fascinated by mechanical things, and he was a keen railway enthusiast. Nevertheless economy in construction of the line was important to him, he was critical of Mitchell for his supposed over-specification of engineering works. In fact Mitchell was able to point out that contracts he had let for the work averaged £5,773 per mile, a very low figure, and there was an enduring friction between the two men. Notwithstanding Mitchell's economy, the funds for construction had been exhausted by the time the line had been built as far as Golspie in 1868, six miles short of Brora. This caused a permanent feeling of distrust of Mitchell by the Duke. [2]

Financial affairs

In 1865-66 the Sutherland Railway's cash difficulties had become unmistakeable, and the Duke let it be known that he thought the Highland Railway should inject £30,000 into the Sutherland Railway’s capital account. The Highland Railway was itself in a serious cash-flow crisis at the time, and the directors doubted that the necessary Extraordinary Shareholders’ Meeting would agree to the allocation of such a large sum, to what was suspected as being the personal plaything of the Duke.

The Duke of Sutherland was himself a major shareholder in the Highland Railway, and a director of the company, and his continual pressure on the matter made things very difficult. At the Highland Railway Board meeting of 9 October 1866, it was reported that the Duke would take up £30,000 worth of the company's unissued 4½% preferred stock, enabling the Highland to invest £30,000 in the Sutherland Railway as allowed for in that Railway's Act. Reluctantly the Board agreed, and the forthcoming Shareholders' half-yearly General Meeting acquiesced. [2] The arrangement was conditional on the Sutherland company continuing its line to Golspie at once, and completing it promptly to Brora. In fact it never got that far. [2]

Opening

The Sutherland Railway opened its line as far as Golspie on 13 April 1868, the line being worked as an extension of the Inverness and Ross-shire line; through trains between Inverness and the terminus at Golspie were provided by the Highland Railway. The Ross-shire company’s turntable and engine shed at Bonar Bridge were sold to the Sutherland Railway, and transferred to Golspie.

On opening day, the first train to Golspie was at midday from Bonar Bridge. It returned to Bonar Bridge at 6 p.m., but at 4.30 p.m. a special train arrived from Inverness, having left at 1.00 p.m. The Duke got on at Rogart and took command on the footplate. At Golspie the banners, pipes and drums were waiting, and a procession went along the street, heading for the banquet that had been prepared.

From then on there were two trains daily each way between Golspie and Inverness, shown on the original poster as: Up Mail at 6 a.m. and Mixed at 3.15 p.m., arriving 9.50 a.m. and 7.20 p.m.; Down Passenger at 9.15 a.m. and Mail at 2.45 p.m., arriving at 1.20 p.m. and 7.20 p.m. Probably all these trains were mixed, passengers and goods; by the 1871 timetable they are all shown as such, with slightly altered times. [6]

A service of coaches, running in connection with the trains, was established between Golspie and Wick and Thurso, and between the Mound (at the head of Loch Fleet) and Dornoch. For some years there was no station between Bonar Bridge and lnvershin, at the northern end of the bridge over the Kyle of Sutherland. The nearest road bridge was at Ardgay, and people living on the Ross-shire side of the Kyle had to come into Bonar Bridge to join the train, although the railway passed almost by their doors. A great improvement was effected in 1871, when a platform was opened at Culrain, at the south end of the viaduct. [4]

For the time being, trains stopped by request at Culrain to pick up or set down passengers; but by 1873 it figured in the timetables as an ordinary station. Although little more than a quarter of a mile apart, Culrain and lnvershin served different districts, because of the lack of facilities for crossing the Kyle. Up to the end of 1916 a third-class single ticket between these stations cost one halfpenny, the lowest fare on the Highland Railway. [4]

Brora abandoned

The original Parliamentary authorisation had been to build as far as Brora, but the company had run out of money and was unable to complete. The Duke of Sutherland's Railway was later authorised to start at Golspie, and the Act for that line on 20 June 1870 cancelled the Sutherland Railway's obligation. [5] [4]

Acquired by the Highland Railway

The company was acquired by the Highland Railway, by Act of 28 July 1884, taking effect on 1 September 1884. [3] [7]

Dornoch Light Railway

The Dornoch Light Railway connected at The Mound; it started operation on 2 June 1902, and closed on 13 June 1960.

Locations

The onward line was opened by the Duke of Sutherland's Railway in 1868.

The line today

The line is still open, being part of the Far North Line.

Related Research Articles

Sutherland Historic county in Scotland

Sutherland is a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area in the Highlands of Scotland. Its county town is Dornoch. Sutherland borders Caithness and Moray Firth to the east, Ross-shire and Cromartyshire to the south and the Atlantic to the north and west. Like its southern neighbour Ross-shire, Sutherland has some of the most dramatic scenery in the whole of Europe, especially on its western fringe where the mountains meet the sea. These include high sea cliffs, and very old mountains composed of Precambrian and Cambrian rocks.

Helmsdale Human settlement in Scotland

Helmsdale is a village on the east coast of Sutherland, in the Highland council area of Scotland. The modern village was planned in 1814 to resettle communities that had been removed from the surrounding straths as part of the Highland Clearances.

Highland Railway Former British railway company

The Highland Railway (HR) was one of the smaller British railways before the Railways Act 1921, operating north of Perth railway station in Scotland and serving the farthest north of Britain. Based in Inverness, the company was formed by merger in 1865, absorbing over 249 miles (401 km) of line. It continued to expand, reaching Wick and Thurso in the north and Kyle of Lochalsh in the west, eventually serving the counties of Caithness, Sutherland, Ross & Cromarty, Inverness, Perth, Nairn, Moray and Banff. Southward it connected with the Caledonian Railway at Stanley Junction, north of Perth, and eastward with the Great North of Scotland Railway at Boat of Garten, Elgin, Keith and Portessie.

Far North Line A railway line in Scotland

The Far North Line is a rural railway line entirely within the Highland area of Scotland, extending from Inverness to Thurso and Wick. As the name suggests, it is the northernmost railway in the United Kingdom. The line is entirely single-track, with only crossing loops at some intermediate stations allowing trains to pass each other. In common with other railway lines in the Highlands and northern Lowlands, it is not electrified and all trains are diesel-powered.

Brora Human settlement in Scotland

Brora is a village in the east of Sutherland, in the Highland area of Scotland.

Bonar Bridge Human settlement in Scotland

Bonar Bridge is a village on the north bank of the Kyle of Sutherland to the west and the Dornoch Firth to the east in the Parish of Creich in the Highland council area of Scotland.

Golspie Human settlement in Scotland

Golspie is a village and parish in Sutherland, Highland, Scotland, which lies on the North Sea coast in the shadow of Ben Bhraggie. It has a population of around 1,350.

Ardgay railway station Railway station in Highland, Scotland

Ardgay railway station is a railway station serving the village of Ardgay and its neighbour Bonar Bridge in the Highland council area of Scotland. The station is on the Far North Line, 57 miles 70 chains (93.1 km) from Inverness, near Bonar Bridge, and has a passing loop 32 chains (640 m) long, flanked by two platforms. Platform 1 on the up (southbound) line can accommodate trains having ten coaches, but platform 2 on the down (northbound) line can only hold five.

Culrain railway station Railway station in Highland, Scotland

Culrain railway station serves the village of Culrain in Kyle of Sutherland in the Highland council area of Scotland. It is located on the Far North Line. It is 61 miles 0 chains (98.2 km) from Inverness, and has a single platform which is long enough for a five-coach train. The railway line through Culrain is single track, with the nearest passing loop to the north being at Lairg and to the south at Ardgay.

Rogart railway station Railway station in Highland, Scotland

Rogart railway station is a railway station serving the villages of Rogart and Pittentrail, in the Highland council area of Scotland. The station is on the Far North Line, 77 miles 1 chain (123.9 km) from Inverness, between Golspie and Lairg.

Golspie railway station Railway station in Highland, Scotland

Golspie railway station is a railway station serving the village of Golspie in the Highland council area of Scotland. It is on the Far North Line, situated between Rogart and Dunrobin Castle, 84 miles 30 chains (135.8 km) from Inverness.

Dunrobin Castle railway station Railway station in Highland, Scotland

Dunrobin Castle railway station is a railway station on the Far North Line in Scotland, serving Dunrobin Castle near the village of Golspie in the Highland council area. The station is 86 miles 22 chains (138.8 km) from Inverness, and has a single platform which is long enough for a three-coach train.

The Sutherland and Caithness Railway was a Scottish railway company that built a line from Helmsdale, the terminus of the Duke of Sutherland's Railway to Wick and Thurso in Caithness, giving the northern towns access to Inverness. It was driven through by the efforts of the 3rd Duke of Sutherland and the engineer Joseph Mitchell in the face of apathy from interests in Wick.

Culrain Human settlement in Scotland

Culrain is a small village in Sutherland, Highland, Scotland.

The Duke of Sutherland's Railway was a railway in Sutherland, Scotland, built by the 3rd Duke of Sutherland.

The Inverness and Ross-shire Railway was a Scottish railway company formed in 1860 to build a line from Inverness to Invergordon. It opened in 1862 as far as Dingwall and in 1863 to Invergordon. It was extended to a Bonar Bridge station in 1864. It provided the basis for later extensions that eventually reached Thurso, forming the Far North Line. The Dingwall and Skye Railway branched off at Dingwall to reach the Kyle of Lochalsh.

Dornoch Light Railway

The Dornoch Light Railway was a branch railway in Scotland that ran from The Mound on the Far North Line to Dornoch, the county town of Sutherland.

The Mound railway station Railway station in Highland, Scotland

The Mound railway station was a former railway station on the Far North Line near the head of Loch Fleet in Scotland. For more than half of its life it was the junction for Dornoch.

The Far North Line was built in several stages through sparsely populated and undulating terrain. Extending to 161 miles (259 km), it runs north from Inverness to Wick and Thurso in Caithness, and currently carries a regular passenger train service.

Meikle Ferry railway station Short-lived railway station in Dornoch, Sutherland

Meikle Ferry railway station served the town of Dornoch, Sutherland, Scotland from 1864 to 1869 on the Inverness and Ross-shire Railway.

References

  1. John Thomas and David Turnock, A Regional History of the Railways of Great Britain: Volume 15, North of Scotland, David and Charles, Newton Abbot, 1989, ISBN 0 946537 03 8, page 317
  2. 1 2 3 4 David Ross, The Highland Railway, Tempus Publishing Limited, Stroud, 2005, ISBN 0 7524 3479 9, page 47 to 49
  3. 1 2 Donald J Grant, Directory of the Railway Companies of Great Britain, Matador, Kibworth Beauchamp, 2017, ISBN 978 1785893 537, page 546
  4. 1 2 3 4 H E Vallance et al, The Highland Railway, David & Charles, Newton Abbot, 1938, extended edition 1985, ISBN 0-946537--24-0, pages 33 and 35
  5. 1 2 E F Carter, An Historical Geography of the Railways of the British Isles, Cassell, London, 1959, page 279
  6. Ross, page 50
  7. Vallance et al, page 40
  8. M E Quick, Railway Passenger Stations in England, Wales and Scotland: A Chronology, version 5.03, September 2021, Railway and Canal Historical Society, electronic download, alphabetically arranged