| This map of Inverness
dating from 1930 shows the railway system in the town
which, apart from the Engine Shed long since demolished, is still the same today. |
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RAILWAYS IN INVERNESS & THE HIGHLANDS |
| This map of Inverness
dating from 1930 shows the railway system in the town
which, apart from the Engine Shed long since demolished, is still the same today. |
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| The first railway to
reach the town linked Inverness with Nairn and opened on
November 6th, 1855. The above plaque was brought from a viaduct over the Spey at Dalvey and shows the coat of arms and directors of the Inverness & Aberdeen Junction Railway and is now displayed at Inverness station. |
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| (Above) Looking towards
the terminus are left to right platforms One to Four,
used by trains to Aberdeen, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Euston and King's Cross. Towards the right can be seen the other three curved platforms for Thurso, Wick and the Kyle of Lochalsh. (Below) A view taken from a road bridge shows the curved platforms for the Wick, Thurso and Kyle of Lochalsh trains on the right, the terminus itself just out of sight on the right. The large builing ahead is the Motive Power Depot the main line for the south runs behind it. The lines on the left form part of the "triangle" and also allow trains to proceed north without having to reverse in the station. |
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| Four views of the
terminus at Inverness. Although the approach from the
street is rather uninspiring, the interior is an excellent example of how an old building can be refurbished without destroying its characted as well as making it visually very appealing. |
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| A sleeper service operates (Saturdays excepted)
between London Euston and Inverness and v.v. Currently this is operated by Scotrail. These four pictures were taken in 1989 when a seating carriage was included in the formation (the current service is sleepers only). At the time the pictures were taken, the train was diesel hauled between Euston and Carstairs and diesel over the remaining route. The top left photo shows the train at Perth at 0640. 47578 "The Royal Society of Edinburgh" is at the head of the train. Unfortunately, it failed on its way to Inverness - fortunately at a very picturesque location on a viaduct (top right). 37261 "Caithness"had to be hastily depatched from Inverness to rescue the train and arrival at Inverness (illustrated in the lower views) was substantially later than scheduled ! |
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| There are two through
services from London. The Highland
Chieftain operates daily from King's Cross via the East Coast Main Line and is operated by a GNER HST/125 set, which is stabled at Inverness overnight returning to London the following day. The Royal Highlander operates Saturdays excepted to/from Euston and is sleepers only. The two trains meet in the evening as is illustrated in some of the above. The bottom left hand photo was taken from the site of the former engine shed. |
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| Before the introduction
of the Sprinter
disel units, locomotive hauled trains were common at Inverness operating, not only to Glasgow and Edinburgh, but to Thurso, Wick and the Kyle of Lochalsh. Currently, the only regular loco hauled passenger train is the Royal Highlander. (Above) An interesting exception to this was in 1995 when one of the Edinburgh runs was locomotive hauled. On August 1st if that year, 47781 waits prior to forming the 1030 to Edinburgh. In 1985 the prestigious Royal Scotsman commenced operating tours over the Highland lines. The train complete with its observation carriage is seen whilst at Inverness. |
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USEFUL SITES |
