This month marks the 150th Anniversary of the completion of the Far North Line to Thurso and Wick – with the last line of track laid on 28th July 1874. In a wider picture, it marked the completion of the UK’s rail coverage from the southern extremity to the northern.
Friends of the Far North Line convener Ian Budd reflects on this historic milestone.
The story of the Far North Line
The story behind the final section of the Far North Line is quite unique. Back in 1866, the Caithness Railway was granted parliamentary powers to build an isolated railway joining Thurso and Wick, which are 21 miles apart.
The intention was to extend south eventually to meet up with the Sutherland Railway which already had powers to reach Brora.
Unfortunately, attempts to raise funds locally for construction failed, so the line remained unbuilt until two things happened.
A Duke’s determination
Firstly, the Duke of Sutherland intervened when the Sutherland Railway’s money ran out after reaching Golspie, building the railway from Dunrobin Castle (his private station) the 17 miles to Helmsdale at his own expense.
This required another act of parliament to transfer the powers from the Sutherland Railway to the Duke, but he was so certain that it would be passed that he didn’t wait, carrying on with construction anyway!
Secondly, a new company, the Sutherland & Caithness Railway, was formed to take over the powers of the Caithness Railway and finish the line.
Between paying for the 17 miles of railway up to Helmsdale, and contributing £60,000 to the cost of building the final section, the Duke had spent the equivalent of over £28m in today’s value.
In a Times article later, discussing the powerful new Double-Fairlie locomotives on the Ffestiniog Railway, the Duke is quoted as saying:
“I have expended about £200,000 in promoting and making railways in the north. Had these lines been constructed on the narrow gauge, and had they in consequence cost only two-thirds of the sum that has been expended on them, I should have obtained a direct return on this large sum which I have laid out for the benefit of my estates and of the people in those remote districts. As it is, I shall suffer considerable loss.”
We can be grateful that the Duke had not been aware of this possibility at the time, as we have a full-size railway in the Far North just waiting for Scottish Government investment to enable it to be used to its full potential.
30 years of Friends
This year also marks the 30th Anniversary of the founding of the Friends of the Far North Line by Frank Roach (of HITRANS fame).
With the privatisation of the UK railways in the 1990s, Frank sensed danger for the FNL and made the inspired decision to set up a group, along the lines of the Friends of the Settle and Carlisle Line, to be ready to combat any attempt at closure.
This had been attempted twice before, so was a wise move.
FoFNL has been an effective campaigning organisation to keep the line in the forefront of the Scottish railway industry’s minds even now that the threat of closure seems unthinkable in these times of environmental awareness.
