The Anonymous Widower

Will Trains Enable Chinese And Other Tourists To Invade Loch Ness?

In my list of possible stations from my friend Nick, there is the innocent station called Ness.

This could be any one of the following.

• Orford Ness in Suffolk.
• Bo’Ness near Falkirk in Scotland
• Bowness in Cumbria
• Loch Ness

As the others, are probably not destinations that would generate a lot of traffic to pay for the station, I suspect that Ness refers to Loch Ness.

There used to be a Fort Augustus Pier station, at the Southern end of Loch Ness. I assume from the giveaway word in the station name, that this was the transit point for Victorian hunters going to shoot Nessy

The station was the Northern terminus of the Invergarry and Fort Augustus Railway. At its Southern end the railway connected to the West Highland Line at Spean Bridge station.

This Google Map shows the area.

Fort Augustus To Spean Bridge

Loch Ness intrudes from the North and Spean Bridge station is close to Ben Nevis at the bottom.

This diagram shows the various stations on the Invergarry and Fort Augustus Railway.

Surprisingly, the railway has not been completely dismantled and Wikipedia says this.

Some of the line today has been built over by roads and holiday parks, although it mostly survives in a reasonably good, if overgrown, condition. The many bridges and single tunnel are in particularly good condition. Some of the line along Loch Oich has been incorporated into the Great Glen Way, and a further section is proposed to become part of National Cycle Route 78.

A restoration project is (2016) under way at Invergarry Station, the last remaining station that is largely intact. The Invergarry Station Preservation Society plan to create a static museum, with a short length of track and several freight wagons.

It would be an interesting way to get to Inverness, if you could get a boat from Fort Augustus.

February 19, 2017 - Posted by AnonW | Transport/Travel | Fort Augustus, Scotland, Trains