| Home | Open Account | Help | 389 users online |
|
Member Login
Discussion
Media SharingHostingLibrarySite Info |
European Railroad Discussion > The Road to the IslesDate: 09/02/15 14:57 The Road to the Isles Author: 86235 Our road to Na h-Eileanan Siar or the Western Isles took us to Edinburgh, following the Highland mainline via Pitlochry past Inverness and then along the Kyle of Lochalsh line to Skye and the ferry port of Uig before sailing across the Minch to Harris. Here are a few pictures I took too and from the Western Isles.
Edinburgh has a brand new tram line which connects the city centre with the airport. Not without controversy the tram took much longer and cost much more than anticipated and its route was curtailed at York Place behind Princes Street rather than the original plan which would have seen it run the length of Leith Walk to the Ocean Terminal. Never mind it makes a welcome addition to the city's public transport system. The modern tram cars are sleek but rather lacking in character. On Sunday 23rd August an inbound car near Haymarket Of course no visit to Edinburgh would be complete without first walking up Arthurs Seat (which we did) and then a drive out to see one of the wonders of the world, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Forth Rail Bridge. The 12:47 Aberdeen to Edinburgh is crossing the bridge. On Tuesday 25th the TThO Oxwellmains to Inverness cement train approaching Blair Atholl just after 07:00. The pan shot was a necessity as the light was pretty poor. Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/02/15 14:58 by 86235.    Date: 09/02/15 15:05 Re: The Road to the Isles Author: 86235 Half an hour after the cement train came the daily Stobart Iintermodal from Mossend (near Glasgow) to Inverness
Wednesday 26th was generally wet, we drove from Applecross to Portree on Skye following the Kyle line from Strathcarron to Kyle itself. Here at Duncraig two would be passengers flag down the 12:08 Kyle to Inverness. Duncraig was opened as a private station serving Duncraig Castle, a Victorian country house built in Scottish Baronial style for Sir Alexander Matheson. This west coast of Scotland is very lush because a.) it rains and b.) the relatively mild climate is influenced by the Gulf Stream :-) Thursday 27th found us taking to the seas on Caledonian MacBrayne's MV Hebrides, seen here leaving Tarbert on Harris    Date: 09/02/15 15:13 Re: The Road to the Isles Author: 86235 We returned from Stornoway, the Western Isles principal town, on the Cal Mac ferry to Ullapool and then drove to Boat of Garten in Strathspey. The following morning I caught the Stobart intermodal crossing the Findhorn Viaduct on the descent from Slochd Summit to Inverness, 68001 was in charge again. We spent the rest of the morning on a walk around Grantown on Spey, starting our journey south just after lunch and stopping at Blair Atholl where I knew the return intermodal had to pass a passenger train. Here's the passenger, the 13:34 Edinburgh to Inverness and here's the intermodal. As you can see the weather had cheered up somewhat.
And from there we drove back to London via a stop over in Jedburgh in the Borders    Date: 09/02/15 16:58 Re: The Road to the Isles Author: gaspeamtrak Really nice pictures! The country is very pretty up there. Thank you for sharing...
Date: 09/02/15 19:05 Re: The Road to the Isles Author: MMD Man what a great set of photos, thanks very much for posting them. The shot of the Cal Mac ship is great I'll have to try and get there some day.
Malcolm New Zealand. Date: 09/02/15 21:07 Re: The Road to the Isles Author: wag216 We have not been to Scotland for over two years, so we have really enjoyed your photos. Thank you, wag216
Date: 09/02/15 21:27 Re: The Road to the Isles Author: McKey Wonderful set of pictures as usual, thank you Nick! Good to see so many class 68s in action already in the North. Some of you might not agree with older diesels moved lesewhere... Will this be their first winter? Any word from their engineers how they like it?
That tram, it looks like a Alstom Citadis 300 copy, possibly from CAF. What is it? Almost identical tram was being used for driver training a few weeks back in Stockholm, Sweden. Date: 09/02/15 23:56 Re: The Road to the Isles Author: 86235 The trams were built by CAF. As I said they are sleek but rather characterless, I think that's because you can't see the wheels!
Glad you like the pictures, this was my first visit to Scotland for three years, I had forgotten just how much I like the place. The weather was indifferent, but this summer has been generally very wet in Scotland so we were quite lucky Date: 09/03/15 08:12 Re: The Road to the Isles Author: YG Date: 09/03/15 08:52 Re: The Road to the Isles Author: McKey Surprisingly, the magnificent Forth Bridge (in the upper picture) was designed by Fowler and Baker. Somehow the ambition level building something like that in the late 19th century sounds like suitable for Brunel, who was dead already by then. Would you have any more pictures of this great railway structure?
Date: 09/03/15 21:27 Re: The Road to the Isles Author: NH2006 Love shot #7 Nick!
Date: 09/04/15 02:05 Re: The Road to the Isles Author: 86235 NH2006 Wrote:
------------------------------------------------------- > Love shot #7 Nick! Thanks, I've a similar shot taken on our 2009 holiday en route to catch the ferry from Uig, but the sun came out momentarily. Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/04/15 02:11 by 86235.  |