Lord of Lochalsh
Kyle Line Class 47s
Two Class 47s visited the Scottish Highlands over the weekend of October 19-21, hauling the ‘Lord of the Isles Statesman’ charter.
Operated by Locomotive Services Ltd, the tour began at Stevenage and ran north behind LSL D1924 (47501) Craftsman and 47593
Galloway Princess, but only reached as far as Tyne Yard before the former failed and had to be removed.
The latter continued solo until Edinburgh, where D1944 (47810) Crewe Diesel Depot joined the train for the final leg to Inverness.
Class 47s were regular performers on the Highland Main Line - including 47593, which was delivered new to Haymarket depot on November 10 1965, and which apart from a year based at Gateshead between October 1968 and 1969 remained allocated to Scotland until transferred to Bristol Bath Road in November 1992.
It gained its name in September 1983, and retained it for 11 years before being reunited with its classmates again during its Direct Rail Services’ days in July 2009. In comparison, 47501 was only ever allocated to Scotland for 12 months between May 1987 and May 1988.
The route itself is
“one of the world’s most scenic rail journeys”, according to support group the Friends of the Kyle Line.
Yet scenic means challenging. The nearly 64-mile single track to the ‘Gateway
to Skye’ has miles of 1-in-50 gradients - including on the climbs to the summits of Ravens Rock (458ft above sea level), Corriemuillie (429ft) and Luib (646ft).
And these were not even the hardest parts to build - that section was actually the comparatively level final 11 miles from Stromeferry. Much of the formation here brushes the coast on a route that involved constructing 29 bridges and cutting “through 31 sections of solid rock”.
This part - the Kyle of Lochalsh Extension - opened in 1897, more than 27 years after the
Dingwall and Skye Railway that comprises the rest.
In some ways, this winding railway to a remote outpost is a lucky survivor - closure was fended off not only in the Beeching era, but again soon afterwards.
Initial operation by the Highland Railway gave way first to the London Midland and Scottish (in 1923), and then to BR’s Scottish Region (1948), which later brought Class 26s and then Class 37s to the route.
Signalling today is by Radio Electronic Token Block, with passing loops at Garve,
Achnasheen and Strathcarron. The service is run by ScotRail from Inverness using Class 158 diesel multiple units, and trains take somewhat over one and a half hours for the 82½ miles.
However, on October 20 Statesman Rail’s ‘Lord of the Isles Statesman’ brought rare visitors. The Locomotive Services Ltdoperated three-day charter from Stevenage had intended to use Class 47s 47593 Galloway
Princess and D1924 (47501) Craftsman.
In the event, D1924’s failure at Tyne Yard on October 19 meant the ‘large logo’ former Scottish Region machine continued alone to Edinburgh, where it was joined by D1944 (47810) Crewe Diesel Depot.
Class 47s (including 47593) were regular performers on the Highland Main Line, but rarely continued further north than the charter’s first-day destination - Inverness.
The two ‘47s’ returned south from Inverness to Stevenage on October 21.
Founded in 1995, the Friends of the Kyle Line runs a museum, shop and snack bar at Kyle of Lochalsh station, as well as a holiday apartment in the renovated signal box. See www.kylerailway.co.uk. R