Part 2 – Isleornsay Pier and Station

 

Isleornsay Pier

 

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Commencing on a Pier to be constructed in Isle Ornsay Habour in the Parish of Sleat, Isle of Skye, Inverness-shire, on the foreshore and bed of said harbour in or ex adverso of said Parish at a point 766 yards or thereabouts south-eastwards from Druisdale House…

 

Druisdale House was (from the 1860s) a hunting lodge; it is now a hotel and the venue for “Skye Weddings“. Using a ruler on Google Earth, with the House at one end, to whatever point on the coast is 766 yards away, gives us this.

 

 

Which suggests the start is not at the old pier in Isleornsay.

 

One might ask, why not use the old pier? Have a look at an OS map like this:

https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=15.6&lat=57.14682&lon=-5.80178&layers=11&b=1

It shows the old pier ends between high and low water. Meaning a ferry could only reliably access that at high tide.

 

I’m assuming the “766 yards point” was chosen for a new pier that would allow deeper water access at all states of the tide, high and low. This would enable ferry voyages with timings to suit a railway timetable, and less attuned to the natural cycles, when one sets the times of voyages to match the high tide. Every day, the time of high tides (twice a day) will advance by about 30 minutes.

e.g. the nearest port at Mallaig.

https://www.tidetimes.org.uk/mallaig-tide-times

 

Isleornsay Station

 

Here we have the first assumptions on a potential track layout, with many more to come!

Based on the 1:2,500 OS map

https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=16.3&lat=57.15378&lon=-5.80201&layers=170&b=1

 

 

Being a Light Railway, built on a tight budget by frugal Scottish folk, much would be built in accord with the “Minimum Viable Product” principal. But the New Pier would be necessarily something different. It was a focal point, both literally and figuratively, of the vision and intent of the railway’s creators. To boldly go where no railway had gone before. It would have to be substantial and robust enough to handle vessels at all states of the tide, in almost all weathers (Caledonian MacBrayne permitting).

 

This is no ordinary pier, it’s a railway company pier. So I’m assuming a short length of track would be laid on the new pier itself, to facilitate the transfer of general freight between ship and shore. Also, for the import of coal, and perhaps the export of whisky and Skye Marble. There might also be sheep and cattle, which used to be taken by drovers as far as London and the Caledonian Market. Traditionally, drovers used to force their cattle to swim from Kylerhea to Glenelg at slack low tide. Even when the tide was favourable, it was a hazardous event. There might also be other seasonal products like live haggis.

 

Passengers would have a short walk from the pier to the nearby Isleornsay station, along the footpath shown above. The orientation I’ve chosen allows for a smaller approach road from the existing main road. With the station on the south side of the tracks, for the more favourable sea view, and easier access to the pier without crossing the tracks.

 

This orientation also allows provision for a later extension to Teangue and Armadale.

 

As (for now) it is the southern terminus of the whole venture, what would we want at a small terminus station?

• A station building on a short platform
• A goods shed with a small crane
• Coal staithes for the railway
• A coal yard for a coal merchant and retail sales
• A simple engine shed.

Horseless automobiles with internal combustion engines have not yet reached the island, so no new-fangled “car park”.

Anything else?

Would we need more sidings?

But no turntable?

 

Note : Passengers in the West Highlands (especially Summer Tourists) are advised that they may be travelling in peak midge-season. Therefore, all passengers are advised to wear midge-proof face nets, long sleeves, and gloves. Alternatively, or also, passengers can purchase midge repellent creams from the Apothecary Shop at the station.

 

Next, Part 3 - Isleornsay to Broadford

Part 3 - Isleornsay to Broadford

 

Loch-n-Dal section

 

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… and proceeding from that point, northwestwards along the west shore of Loch-n-Dal …

 

Here’s the first section, from Isleornsay past Druisdale House and heading northwards alongside Loch-n-Dal. This three-miles has no villages or hamlets that might demand a halt. The track has been laid parallel to the road. There is only one crossing that might demand gates or a crossing keeper. But with the paucity of road traffic, might it be an gate-less and unmanned crossing?

 

Note: previous correspondents had chastised me for using too-thick a line for the proposed track bed, implying the purchase of too much land. Rest assured the Trustees of the new railway will also consider that a frivolous waste of their investments, so the new trackbed in green is also minimised in width.

 

 

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… passing to the east of the head waters of Loch Eishort into the Parish of Strath and the vallev of the river Airidh-na-Suiridhe ….

 

This three-mile section also has no villages or hamlets to need a halt. Just a few small bridges would be needed over the streams that descend towards Loch Eishort.

 

 

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… passing to the south of the Village of Broadford, keeping to the west and south side of the main road from to Broadford to Portree as far as Skolamus…

 

A station in Broadford, overlooking the bay. What would it need? I’ve assumed the minimum of a passing loop, with perhaps one small freight siding for local traffic? Agricultural supplies, some coal, etc. Would it supply coal and grain to the distillery in Broadford?

 

 

 

 

1 hour ago, TheQ said:

A branch from Broadford to KyleAkin would have been most logical

 

The Trustees of the HLRC have graciously granted me special permission to make this the first publication of a plan for the additional branch from Broadford to KyleAkin. The station at Broadford will be extended to provide a bay platform for the branch, and to permit through running of excursion trains from Kyleakin direct to Portree.

 

 

Keen observers will note that the route of the railway into Kyleakin is also in alignment with the planned Railway Bridge across to Kyle of Lochalsh. Which is expected to commence construction as soon as Government funding has been approved. We are assured by the promoters of the Railway Bridge that this will be within a few short years of this year (1898). They also  assure us that all discerning and sensible people of good breeding will always prefer railways as a mode of transportation. Likewise, we should treat with scorn all suggestions that the new-fangled and dangerous horseless-carriages with internal combustion engines will ever provide a suitable or couth alternative. It is most likely a passing fad that will only appeal to a reckless and foppish class of Sassenach people. With which no good Scottish folk would wish to be associated.

Part 3 – Broadford to Portree

 

3a - Broadford to Loch na Cairidh

 

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from whence following the west side of Loch-na-Cairidh, ..

 

Dreich weather permitting, visitors to our Isle will have already been thrilled by our scenery. This section will be the start of an even more scenic journey.

 

 

No major engineering works are required on this near-level section, with small bridges over mountain streams. A slightly larger bridge, perhaps some 25 yards long, will be required at Strollomus over the converging streams that feed into the loch.

 

A Halt station is suggested here, for the village and for adventurous travellers wishing to cross to Scalpay.

 

3b - Loch Airnort

 

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the south-east, south-west and north-west shores of Loch Ainort ….

 

A six-mile section around Loch Airnort. At the head of the Loch, at Sròn Àrd a' Mhullaich, a pair of causeways are proposed. These may be economically constructed using the plentiful supply of scree rock to be found in this part of Skye, much of which will in any event need clearing from the base of the slopes around the loch. This will ensure there is enough level ground for the advancing trackbed to proceed unhindered.

 

 

3c - Loch Sligachan

 

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into the Parish of Portree and thence round the coast to the southern side of Loch Sligachan, and across the glen and river of that name. into the Parish of Bracadale through which it passes to the south-west oi Sligachan Inn and to the west of Loch Mor na Caiplaich …

 

Our surveyors have reported that this section has some significant challenges. Namely, the very narrowness of the level land around the headland, clinging as it does to the side of a steep slope. If a railway track had to run alongside the existing single-track road, it would be most demanding, with a lot of heavy rock clearance.

 

Fortunately, the local laird is eager to make a “fair and equitable exchange”. The existing single-track road can become the railway track bed, and in exchange the railway company will construct a shorter New Road over the hill north-west of Sròn Àrd a' Mhullaich and then north through the Gleann Torra-mhichaig to Sconser. This will also enable the Laird to more easily transport timber from the forest and stone from the Sconser Quarry, both at favourable rates on the HLR.

 

 

A station at Sconcer, for the town and the ferry to Raasay.

 

Once the track has reached Sligachan, we are on more level ground. Our main route turns north-west towards Glen Varragill and Portree.

 

We should, however, mark this point as a station and a junction for a branch line (shown in yellow) through the flat and level Glen Drynoch to Carbost and the Talisker Distillery. It would greatly assist the moral and fortitude of our engineering and construction crews if they knew there was a wee dram or two waiting for them at the end of their efforts.

 

3d - Glen Varragill and Portree

 

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to the valley of the Varragill river when again entering the Parish of Portree it follows the west side of said river …

 

Three miles through the Glen.

 

 

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and Portree Loch to the Town of Portree, …

 

To the Portree Station, with a siding to the waterfront and a small wharf.

 

 

Next, Portree to Uig.

Edited October 31, 2023 by KeithMacdonald

Portree Station

 

Our intrepid surveyors have produced two suggestions.

 

Suggestion 1 – a rather simple through station, with a level crossing, sited outside the town, and a siding down to a waterside wharf.

 

 

Suggestion 2 – a terminus station, closer to the town, but splitting the line into two (Uig to Portree, and Portree to Isleornsay)

 

 

If prestige and budget permits, this might be the most favoured, reflecting the status of Portree as the principal town on the Isle. A station forecourt leads onto Somerled Square in the town centre.

 

All depending on the reaction of you the assembled Trustees?

 

Reference:

https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=17.0&lat=57.41239&lon=-6.19668&layers=168&b=1

 

Note:

Suggestions are welcome for the operating schedule and timetabled services.

We expect it to be something like this.

• Monday to Friday – normal service
• Saturday – limited service but with sports and excursion specials
• Sunday – no service on the Highland Sabbath

 

Thanks for the PM's with feedback and suggestions, much appreciated. 🙂

In response here's an updated version of Portree station.

• The signal box is now where it should be, next to the level crossing.
• To make it clearer, the Broadford line crosses the River Lisgeary over a small girder bridge.
• The line to Uig is only doubled for a short distance north of the level crossing, as that provides a siding for spare wagons to be kept.
• The Portree fuel merchant was most eager to be able to supply coal, so a coal depot has been added next to the goods shed.
• For the convenience and comfort of the Portree gentlefolk, the cattle dock and coal depot has a separate entrance onto Bridge Road.

Can anyone spot anything else?

 

Invitation to Tender

 

The Trustees of the Hebridean Light Railway Company hereby invites all potential manufacturers, suppliers and vendors of railway equipment to offer a list of engines, coaches, wagons, guards vans and sundry related equipment that may be suitable for the Hebridean Light Railway Company. Along with explanation of their rational for said equipment and why it is most suited to the said railway.

 

 

3 hours ago, KeithMacdonald said:

Invitation to Tender

 

The Trustees of the Hebridean Light Railway Company hereby invites all potential manufacturers, suppliers and vendors of railway equipment to offer a list of engines, coaches, wagons, guards vans and sundry related equipment that may be suitable for the Hebridean Light Railway Company. Along with explanation of their rational for said equipment and why it is most suited to the said railway.

 

 

Your specification leaves the bidders rather a lot of latitude! To what gauge will the line be built and for what traffic (and in what volumes) is stock required?

Since the line is isolated from the mainland, there is no reason for it to be standard gauge - so perhaps 3' or 3' 6" for economy? The plans suggest that the route will follow the coastline and therefore be relatively level - or do you anticipate the need to climb mountains?

It rather suggests something like an Irish narrow gauge line rather than a Scottish version of Colonel Stevens.

Best wishes 

Eric 

5 minutes ago, burgundy said:

Since the line is isolated from the mainland, there is no reason for it to be standard gauge - so perhaps 3' or 3' 6" for economy?

 

That would be consistent with the Skye Marble Railway, which was a 3 ft gauge.

3 hours ago, TheQ said:

A slight confusion in terms here, to a true Highlander or Islander Gael , the Scottish folk are Sassanachs.

 

You are completely correct, my bad typo. I should have said:

 

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It is most likely a passing fad that will only appeal to a reckless and foppish class of Sassenach people. With which no good Highland folk would wish to be associated.

 

As those lowlanders know not the Gaelic (and all goodness which eminates from it).

Edited November 3, 2023 by KeithMacdonald

Another note on the industrial railways on Skye. Even more obscure than the Skye Marble Railway was the Lealt Valley Diatomite Railway.

 

 

Even by Highland standards, it was so remote and isolated that everything had to be moved by ship. But that's normal for the Western Isles.
 

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The Lealt Valley Diatomite Railway was a 2 ft (610 mm) narrow gauge tramway on the Isle of Skye, Scotland, which ran parallel with the River Lealt.

Work was underway to lay the tramway in March 1889. At the opening, the line was worked by gravity – the line being on a falling gradient – and manpower. Later, the line began the use of a steam locomotive.

 

 

What was the line for?

 

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The western end of the line was at Loch Cuithir, where diatomite - known locally as Cailc (Scottish Gaelic for chalk) - was taken out from the lochbed and dried on wire nets. The seaward terminus had warehouses on the cliff-top at Invertote. At the base of the cliff was a factory where the diatomite was kiln dried, ground and calcined.

 

What was the diatomite for?

 

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From Invertote, the diatomite was transferred by skiff, onto puffer boats, waiting in the bay, and shipped across to the mainland. The diatomite was turned into kieselguhr which was mixed with nitroglycerine by Nobel Industries, at Ardeer, to make dynamite

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lealt_Valley_Diatomite_Railway

 

Not mentioned on the Wiki page is some of the juicier history.

 

In the Trotternish area of Skye, taking the Staffin road out of Portree, travellers will pass the Storr Rock, and then after continuing a further five miles or so, arrive at a lay-by near a gorge with a sign pointing off to the left, indicating the small community of Lealt. There is a lot more to this area than first meets the eye, and it’s all down to a substance called Diatomite and even a brush with German espionage. Known to the locals as ‘Caile’ (Gaelic for chalk), Diatomite is a clay-like floury grey substance, found in certain freshwater lochs and suppling many minerals used in the production of numerous products, ranging from beverages, sugars and cosmetics to chemicals, industrial oils and paint. Trotternish was home to two mining areas – one in Digg, Staffin, and the other at Loch Cuithir in Lealt. Although little is known of the Digg mine, where production ended sometime after the First World War, it is the history of the Loch Cuithir mine which is of interest. Work began at Cuithir in 1899 and finally ceased over six decades later in 1960. Over the years, the mine saw periods of inactivity, but when up and running operations made use of the large industrial works at the area – a large factory building, a railway with embankment cuttings, and a rolling stock traversing three miles of landscape, including an aerial ropeway. The light railway was used to transport the Loch Cuithir Diatomite to the shores at Invertote for a final drying and grinding, and a large building containing a furnace, grinding machine and storage space was constructed there for this purpose. Such modernised business works were quite remarkable for this part of the world at the time. In those days there was no road between Staffin and Portree, so a puffer boat would anchor in the bay at Lealt, and local skiffs were used to transport the finished Diatomite from shore to boat, ready for shipping to the mainland. There were around 40 to 50 people steadily employed at Lealt, yet on days that the boat came in this total rose to as many as 80 workers. Perhaps one of the most intriguing aspects of the mine’s history comes from the ownership of the drying factory at Invertote by Germans. Although closed during the period of the Great War, surprisingly the now enemy foreign residents were allowed to stay on. Shortly afterwards a rumour began to circulate that the area was haunted and that the ghost of a recent tragic death at the Lealt falls had appeared at the factory. As the local story goes, (the rumour was actually started by the Germans) with the intent of keeping locals away. It turned out that the resident Germans were spies and that, almost unbelievable to the community, the area was being used as a German base with submarines surfacing in the sea bay!

 

Ref : https://www.scottishbrickhistory.co.uk/diatomite-mines-isle-of-skye/

 

Why did it stop? Seems like the operators got too impatient with the production rate and tried to mechanise it, instead of men with shovels.

 

Moving on, the year 1950 saw the next development in the mining of Diatomite from Loch Cuithir. As the loch was one and a half miles up the moor, through peat bogs and rivers, the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries for Scotland (DAFS) decided that a road should be built, with the intention of extracting the Diatomite by digger, and then taking it to the Lealt road end above Invertote. The road took around a year and a half to build, during which the mine was put out of operation. Yet, when production started again, the new method of extraction did not reach the high standard of quality which was achieved when extracted manually by spades. The mechanical extraction resulted in the Diatomite being less pure, and full of unwanted dirt. Drying the substance is, in fact, the problem of the process, for it is obvious that in a damp climate like Skye, the diatomite does not lose its moisture quickly. The problems which began after the construction of the 1950s road were further highlighted and compounded six years later. A new factory was built at Uig (the site where the Cal Mac offices are now situated), far from the mining site at Loch Cuithir, and it may be said that this move was the ruining of the entire Diatomite industry upon Skye. As Diatomite was no longer dried at Invertote it now had to be transported by road, wet, for the much-needed drying process to Uig, 23 miles away. A vehicle may have left Loch Cuithir carrying five tonnes of Diatomite, yet only producing one tonne of the finished product after drying had taken place – a finished product which was also not as pure as it ought to be for the specialised work it had to do in various products. A lot of money was wasted on travelling, and within the factory itself, inefficiency was also present, with machinery often breaking down due to the damp state of the Diatomite. Outside the factory, the scenic communities of Trotternish also began to suffer. When the factory was working, it poured out a fine white dust which covered every house in the area. Grass became chalky in colour and after dry spells in the weather, the road-sides from Staffin to Uig would turn white with Diatomite – Uig was constantly under a cloud of dust. With complaints of insubstantial profits and bad management, the factory was finally closed to production for the last time in 1960.

 

Ref : https://www.scottishbrickhistory.co.uk/diatomite-mines-isle-of-skye/