Dornoch Light Railway

Although it provided a useful link, the journey to Inverness was circuitous, and the development of road services for goods and passengers led to a steep decline, and it closed in 1960.

However the Duke of Sutherland desired that the railway should come through Ardgay, and as he funded a considerable part of the cost of the line his wishes were complied with.

The line made a wide westward sweep through Invershin and Lairg, and left Dornoch some considerable distance – 7 miles (11 km) – from the nearest station at The Mound.

The Dornoch Light Railway Company was formed in early 1897[4][page needed] to build a branch line.

The fourth Duke of Sutherland was its chairman, and contributed £5,000, and gave much of the land free; he had a seat on the Highland Railway board.

The first sod of the railway was cut on Achinehanter farm, just north of Dornoch, on 15 May 1900 by Miss Florence Chaplin, acting on behalf of the Duchess of Sutherland who was unable to attend on account of the illness of the Marquis of Stafford.

[5] In November 1900 Chisholm's company went bankrupt and work was suspended, and after some delay, a new contractor, Roderick Fraser, took over in July 1901.

The line was inspected by Major E Druitt of the Board of Trade on 29 May 1902 and declared fit for public service.

[4][page needed] There was an opening ceremony on 2 June 1902: a special train hauled by the Duke of Sutherland's private locomotive "Dunrobin", ran from the Mound conveying invited guests.

[8] After a formal opening ceremony at Dornoch led by Mr D Maclean, Deputy Chairman of the Highland Railway, there was a luncheon.

Among the speakers was Andrew Carnegie, "the American steel king and multi-millionaire, who resided at Skibo [Castle], in the neighbourhood of Dornoch".

The Railway Magazine reported that: A special six-wheel coupled, tank locomotive, "Dornoch".

[3] A through carriage from Inverness was conveyed on the 12:58 pm train in 1905, and a through Pullman sleeper was run from Glasgow to Dornoch every Friday night in June.

After October 1906 and the Further North Express became a Wick train, and Dornoch passengers had to change at the Mound unless an entire carriage had been reserved from Inverness.

[4][page needed] In 1922 the train service was simply three return journeys daily; the first train left Dornoch at 10:55 am and the last arrived there at 7:15 pm;[11][page needed] the foreshortened working day was no doubt a result of the working hours limitation that had been introduced.

They were based at Helmsdale, where the running maintenance was carried out;[12] there was a small shed at Dornoch for overnight stabling.