Wick and Lybster Light Railway

Wick and Lybster Railway

Locale	Scotland
Dates of operation	1 July 1903 – 31 December 1922
Successor	London Midland and Scottish Railway
Track gauge	4 ft 8 ¹⁄₂ in (1,435 mm)

Legend

Wick

Sutherland and Caithness Railway

Thrumster

Welsh's Crossing Halt

The Wick and Lybster Light Railway was a light railway opened in 1903, with the intention of opening up the fishing port of Lybster, in Caithness, Scotland, to the railway network at Wick. Its construction was heavily supported financially by local government and the Treasury. It was worked by the Highland Railway.

The line was never heavily used and the anticipated expansion of the fishing trade did not take place. When a modern road to the south was built in the 1930s, transits from Lybster were considerably shorter and quicker by that means, and the railway closed completely in 1944.

History

A 1909 Railway Clearing House map showing (right) part of the Wick & Lybster Railway (violet) and the junction at Wick

The fishing village of Lybster lies 13 miles to the south of Wick, and up to the end of the nineteenth century was relatively inaccessible on land. As early as 1864 a railway from Wick through Lybster to Dunbeath had been proposed, but nothing came of the idea at that time.

The government passed the Light Railways Act 1896 with the intenton of encouraging the construction of low-cost railways to serve such localities.

When a new light railway was proposed connecting Lybster to the main line railway network at Wick, considerable support was expressed locally. Wick was one of the northern termini of the Far North Line from Inverness, owned and operated at the time by the Highland Railway. An application was made for a Light Railway Order, Caithness County Council taking the lead in submitting it on 5 March 1896.^[1]

The order was granted on 27 November 1899. The capital of the railway company was £30,000, but the anticipated construction cost was considerably more; grants were anticipated from the County Council and the Treasury.

In the event the Duke of Portland, a substantial landowner in the district, subscribed £15,000, and the Highland Railway £1,000. Caithness County Council "advanced" £15,000, the Corporation of Wick £15,000 and the Corporation of Pultenytown (later absorbed into Wick) £1,000. The Treasury made a grant of £25,000.^{[note 1]}^[2]^[1] In fact £8,000 of shares remained unsubscribed at 28 March 1900.^[1]

The fees of the Board of Trade in granting the Order were £1,311. A contract was let to Wiliam Kennedy of Partick, Glasgow, for the actual construction.

The Highland Railway agreed to take charge of the construction, but they were clearly unwilling to let any shortfall in funding fall to them. Willam Whitelaw, the vice chairman of the Highland Railway visited Wick and stated that he required personal guarantees from the local directors; those directors were reluctant to accept the commitment, but after reflection the gave the required undertakings. However negotiation was successful in persuading the Treasury to increase its loan by £5,000 in 1900. A working agreement with the Highland Railway was finalised on 27 February 1901. The wrangle had cost a year in the construction timescale.^[1]

The line opened on 1 July 1903. Three trains ran each way every weekday, the journey occupying 40 minutes. The maximum permitted speed was 25 mph.^[2]

The financial performance of the line was always poor, with the dividend never exceeding 1.5%.

When the burgh of Wick voted to prohibit the sale of alcohol, some passenger traffic was generated by drinkers who travelled to Lybster to do so.^[1]

The Wick and Lybster Light Railway Company was simply a financial shell, receiving the working charge from the Highland Railway. The Railways Act 1921 was passed with the aim of grouping the railways of Great Britain; the Highland Railway was a constituent of the new London Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) but the W&LLR was simply absorbed; the LMS exchanged £100 ordinary shares in the W&LLR for £12 10s cash; the company was valued at £42,515.^[1]

In 1903 an 0-4-4 tank locomotive that had been working on the Strathpeffer branch was transferred to work the Wick and Lybster Light Railway. It had been built in 1890 by David Jones as a saddle tank; it was given a second-hand boiler, and in 1901 it had been altered to a side-tank configuration.

Topography

The line was 13 miles 39 chains in length, and was single; there were no passing places.

A new bay platform for the branch trains was provided at Wick station, on the north side of the line. (The main Highland Railway line approaches from the west.) The Lybster line started at a junction just outside the station and curved to the south; it then ran south a mile or so inland, then curving west with the coast and converging with it at the terminus, Lybster. Intermediate stations were at Thrumster, Ulbster, Mid Clyth and Occumster.^[2]

The terrain is rocky and hilly, and gradients on the line were stiff. From Wick the line rose almost continuously, with a ruling gradient of 1 in 50, to a summit 328 feet above sea level just before the 7 milepost. Undulations followed with equally severe gradients, and the final mile descended into Lybster station, which was at a higher altitude (214 feet) than Wick (38 feet). The station was located at the north end of the main street and was some distance from the harbour.

There were numerous level crossings on the line.^[2]

Closure

The construction of a modern road over the Ord of Caithness in the 1930s was a boost to the area but it spelt the end of the railway; the distance from Lybster to Helmsdale by rail via Wick was 74 miles; by the new road it was just over 20 miles. The line closed completely on 1 April 1944.^[3]

Notes

↑ These figures from the contemporary report in the Railway Magazine; Ross says Wick subscribed £1,500, and Pulteneytown £1,500, and the Treasury grant was a loan.

References

1 2 3 4 5 6 David Ross, The Highland Railway, Tempus Publishing, Stroud, 2005, ISBN 0 7524 3479 9
1 2 3 4 Anonymous author in Railway Magazine, August 1903
↑ H A Vallance, C R Clinker, Anthony J Lambert, The Highland Railway, David and Charles, Newton Abbot, 1985, ISBN 0 946537 24 0

External links

Railscot on Wick and Lybster Railway

Constituent railway companies of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway

Constituent companies	Caledonian Railway Furness Railway Glasgow and South Western Railway Highland Railway Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway London and North Western Railway Midland Railway North Staffordshire Railway

Subsidiary companies	Arbroath and Forfar Railway Brechin and Edzell District Railway Callander and Oban Railway Cathcart District Railway Charnwood Forest Railway Cleator and Workington Junction Railway Cockermouth, Keswick and Penrith Railway Dearne Valley Railway Dornoch Light Railway Dundee and Newtyle Railway Harborne Railway Killin Railway Lanarkshire and Ayrshire Railway Knott End Railway Leek and Manifold Valley Light Railway Maryport and Carlisle Railway Mold and Denbigh Junction Railway North and South Western Junction Railway North London Railway Portpatrick and Wigtownshire Joint Railway Shropshire Union Railways and Canal Company Solway Junction Railway Stratford-upon-Avon and Midland Junction Railway Tottenham and Forest Gate Railway Wick and Lybster Light Railway Wirral Railway Yorkshire Dales Railway

Former joint railways	Ashby and Nuneaton Joint Railway Citadel Station Joint Committee Glasgow and Paisley Joint Railway Glasgow, Barrhead and Kilmarnock Joint Railway Furness and Midland Joint Railway Goods Traffic Committee Lancashire Union Railway North Union Railway Preston and Longridge Railway Preston and Wyre Joint Railway Whitehaven, Cleator and Egremont Railway

(Full list of constituents)

Historical Scottish railway companies

Primary companies	Caledonian Railway Glasgow and South Western Railway Great North of Scotland Railway Highland Railway North British Railway

Caledonian Railway	Aberdeen Railway Alloa Railway Alyth Arbroath and Forfar Busby Railway Cathcart District Clydesdale Junction Crieff Junction Crieff and Comrie Crieff and Methven Junction Dumfries, Lochmaben and Lockerbie Dunblane, Doune and Callander Dundee and Perth Dundee and Perth and Aberdeen Forfar and Brechin General Terminus and Glasgow Harbour Garnkirk and Glasgow Glasgow Central Railway Glasgow, Paisley and Greenock Greenock and Wemyss Bay Hamilton and Strathaven Lanarkshire and Ayrshire Lanarkshire and Dumbartonshire Leadhills and Wanlockhead Lesmahagow Railway Lochearnhead, St Fillans and Comrie Paisley and Barrhead District Perth, Almond Valley and Methven Polloc and Govan Rutherglen and Coatbridge Scottish Central Scottish Midland Junction Scottish North Eastern Solway Junction Symington, Biggar and Broughton Talla Railway Wishaw and Coltness Lines built by the Caledonian Railway Balerno line CR Cleland and Midcalder CR Main Line CR Douglas Branch CR Hamilton Branch CR Hamiltonhill Branch CR The Switchback Independent lines worked by the Caledonian Railway Callander and Oban Killin Railway

Glasgow and South Western Railway	Ardrossan Railway Ardrossan and Johnstone Ayr and Dalmellington Ayr and Maybole Junction Ayr to Mauchline Ayrshire and Wigtownshire Barrhead Branch Bridge of Weir Railway Cairn Valley Caledonian and Dumbartonshire Junction Castle Douglas and Dumfries Dalry and North Johnstone Darvel Branch Girvan and Portpatrick Junction Glasgow, Dumfries and Carlisle Glasgow, Paisley, Kilmarnock and Ayr Greenock and Ayrshire Kilmarnock and Troon Largs Branch Maidens and Dunure Maybole and Girvan Paisley and Renfrew Paisley Canal Line

Great North of Scotland Railway	Aberdeen and Turriff Aboyne and Braemar Alford Valley Banff, Macduff and Turriff Junction Banff, Portsoy and Strathisla Boddam Branch Deeside Denburn Valley Formartine and Buchan Inverury and Old Meldrum Junction Keith and Dufftown Moray Coast Morayshire St Combs Light Railway Strathspey Railway

Highland Railway	Buckie and Portessie Branch Dingwall and Skye Duke of Sutherland Findhorn Railway Fortrose Branch Inverness and Aberdeen Junction Inverness and Aviemore Direct Inverness and Nairn Inverness and Perth Junction Inverness and Ross-shire Kyle of Lochalsh Extension Perth and Dunkeld Sutherland and Caithness Sutherland Railway Independent lines worked by the Highland Railway Dornoch Light Railway Wick and Lybster Light Railway

North British Railway	Aberlady, Gullane and North Berwick Anstruther and St Andrews Railway Ballochney Bathgate and Coatbridge Blane Valley Border Counties Railway Border Union Railway Campsie Branch Carlisle and Silloth Bay Railway and Dock Company Charlestown Railway and Harbour Company Coatbridge Branch Devon Valley Railway Dunfermline and Queensferry East of Fife Railway Edinburgh and Bathgate Edinburgh and Dalkeith Edinburgh and Glasgow Edinburgh and Hawick Edinburgh, Leith and Newhaven Railway Edinburgh, Loanhead and Roslin Railway Edinburgh and Northern Edinburgh Suburban and Southside Junction Esk Valley Eyemouth Railway Fife and Kinross Railway Forth and Clyde Junction Gifford and Garvald Glasgow, Bothwell, Hamilton and Coatbridge Glasgow City and District Glasgow, Dumbarton and Helensburgh Glasgow and Milngavie Junction Glasgow, Yoker and Clydebank Kelvin Valley Railway Kincardine Line Kinross-shire Railway Kirkcaldy and District Railway Leadburn, Linton and Dolphinton Leven Railway Leven and East of Fife Railway Macmerry Branch Monkland and Kirkintilloch Monkland Railways Montrose and Bervie Mallaig Extension Newburgh and North Fife Railway (worked by NBR) Newport Railway North Berwick Branch North British, Arbroath and Montrose Peebles Railway The St. Andrews Railway Stirling and Dunfermline Strathendrick and Aberfoyle Slamannan Slamannan and Borrowstounness Wemyss and Buckhaven Railway West Highland Railway West of Fife Mineral Railway Wilsontown, Morningside and Coltness

Joint lines	Caledonian and Dumbartonshire Junction City Union Dundee and Arbroath Darvel and Strathaven Glasgow and Paisley Joint Glasgow and Renfrew District Glasgow, Barrhead and Kilmarnock Joint Kilsyth and Bonnybridge Portpatrick and Wigtownshire Joint

Other lines	Brechin and Edzell District Campbeltown and Machrihanish Light Railway Cromarty and Dingwall Light Railway Dundee and Arbroath Hagdale Chromate Railway Invergarry and Fort Augustus Lealt Valley Diatomite Railway Lochaber Narrow Gauge Perth, Almond Valley and Methven Rothesay and Ettrick Bay Light Railway Skye Marble Railway Tranent to Cockenzie Waggonway

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