The Friends of the Far North Line
Cairdean Na Loine Tuath
the campaign group for rail north of
Inverness - lobbying for improved services for the local user, tourist and freight
operator
Readers may remember an item in our May edition of Far North Express about a "mystery" location of The Orcadian passing another train at an unidentified station on the line.
One of our members, with specialist knowledge acquired at birth, sent in his reaction to the article.
The "Mystery" picture on Page 17 of May's FNE is undoubtedly at Golspie.
I was born and brought up in Golspie, born in 1936.
The curve in the main line, the tree behind the signal post, the far line of trees from side to side completely across the scene, and the distant hills, are all absolutely correct for a view from there.
"The track that you can see on the left" is the branch line in to the shed and turntable where the Duke of Sutherland stationed his private engine Dunrobin and the staff for the private train lived in the houses adjacent to the shed on Ferry Road.
After the Duke disposed of his private train that track was used for a number of years to station holiday coaches (I think that there were two) for letting to visitors.
That curve on the main line in the picture is also the location of the incident during the First World War when a tyre came off the wheel of an engine hauling the northbound Jellicoe and whizzed past the head of the Stationmaster, Mr James Seton, standing, as was his required duty, in attendance on the passage of the Naval Special, on the south end of the northbound platform. After the passage of the train he discovered the tyre in his garden, behind that platform. The train had passed Dunrobin Castle Station by the time he could get a message to the staff there, but it was stopped at Brora and the wheel missing its tyre was confirmed.