Mystery

Facebook is full of fascinating organised groups, to which you have to apply for membership explaining your interest. The trouble with this of course is the danger of disappearing down rabbit holes and losing the occasional morning, afternoon or evening.

One such group which popped up on my FB feed is the Railway Identification Group. If you come across a railway photo and wonder where it was taken, or what the circumstances were, this is the group to ask.

Some algorithm spotted that I have an interest in railways, so one day I was presented with a post asking if anyone knew the location of an old photo of The Orcadian passing another train.

There were already three suggestions put forward - Fearn, Invergordon and Golspie. The picture is clearly looking generally southwards. So that immediately ruled out Invergordon which had a signalbox and goods shed which would be visible. The track at the southern end of Fearn Station is not on a bend. That left Golspie.

I got in touch with Mike Wedgewood, author of the Modern Railways publication Highland Railways - Four decades of Diesel Traction North of Perth to see if he had any thoughts. I'd noticed the photo of Golspie in his book and he agreed that it was probably there. He sent me a crop from his photo enlarging the area at the rear of the train which shows the track curving away to the right as it does in the old photo.

A quick look at the National Library of Scotland georeferenced maps confirmed that the track you can see on the left was there even on the OS 6" 1888-1915 map.

So, where was I...?
Ian Budd