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
Which station on the FNL is head and shoulders above all others, having top ranking of all British railway stations?
Answer below...
HITRANS has produced a Newsletter dated 15 April 2015 which features outcomes from their recent board meeting. It gives a useful overview of proposals for a £3M makeover for Inverness station and of progress on the proposed new station at Dalcross Station.
It and the papers from the HITRANS Board Meeting on 10 April can be found under "HITRANS documents" on the website .
Relevant papers are:
Was the HRUC a forerunner of FoFNL? Does anyone remember who were its members and what they did? It is known that they travelled to Wick on 2 August 1965 on service trains leaving Inverness at 10:30 and returning at 17:00.
Their itinerary document details station masters' names, sidings and closure dates for freight. A Sawmill siding is listed on one side of Beauly and Lovat's Sawmill siding on the other. Mr M Ayub was station master at Kinbrace and Mr D [Down?] Main at Invergordon.
A small item appeared in the Glasgow Herald on August 19th, 1964:
"An organisation to act as a link between railway users in the Highlands and British Rail was formed yesterday in Inverness at talks between the general manager of British Railways and 20 of the main railway line users in the area.
The organisation will be known as the Highland Railway Users Council."
Minutes from 1966-69 are held in The National Archives but, unfortunately are not available online.
Answer:
Altnabreac comes top of the list as its code is ABC.
Elsewhere on the line, Dingwall (DIN) can be a noisy place especially with two class 37s.
Alness (ASS) is an ASSet to the town.
Brora (BRA) obviously needs some support.
Helmsdale (HMS) has royal maritime patronage.
Forsinard (FRS) has royal society patronage.
Muir of Ord (MOO) is proud of its agricultural heritage as a cattle tryst in droving days.
And Beauly (BEL) is the BELle of them all!