D.J. Henderson's photos

A family outing from Plockton, to Kyle and back. One of us would not return until the following day, after leaving two surplus parts of anatomy in a jar.

Viewed from the station footbridge, 158703 arrives at Dingwall with 2H73, the 14:50 Inverness - Invergordon. The small groundframe still sees a bit of use, mostly by P-way machinery, but the occasional failure gets put in there.

With the "Points Set" Indicator lit in the distance, 158722 will shortly depart Dingwall with 2H57, the 14:00 Inverness - Wick. The bright orange aspect will light, hopefully, after the driver hits the plunger on the platform. This selects the route that the train will take at Dingwall Jct, either to Kyle, or the Far North. The indicator confirms that the points are correctly set and, without the light, the train can go nowhere.

158722 arrives at Dingwall with 2H57, the 14:00 Inverness - Wick. I seem to photograph this unit at Dingwall every five years - weird. This time, the set is carrying the new Saltire livery, which it acquired in February 2016. The "Night Blue" paint job isn't quite as loud as First Group's "Barbie" colours.

Another unit now in the Saltire livery, 158718 calls at Dingwall with 2H85, the 13:35 Inverness - Kyle. Repainting of the Inverness-based 158s has, pretty much, been completed. The new look 158718 was outshopped from Glasgow Works in January 2017.

Resplendent in freshly applied Saltire livery, 158708 pulls into Plockton station with 2H81, the 08:55 Inverness - Kyle. The unit was repainted at Springburn a few weeks earlier. The much-maligned Rhododendrons add a splash of seasonal colour to the rampant vegetation at the station.

158719 sits at a sunny Muir of Ord station with 2H71, the 11:42 Inverness - Dingwall.

158716 runs into a wet Dingwall station with 2H82, the 12:08 Kyle - Inverness.

Viewed across the HML from Millburn Road, EWS were proud enough of their facility to erect a big sign. Sadly, the yard was kept as tidy and spruce as their locos. Even the "Three Beasties" seem to have turned their backs on the place. Currently, (2017) DB Cargo locos are, very much, in the minority in Inverness.

Viewed from Millburn Road, the former Blue Circle™ cement depot is still in regular use. Its new owners receive regular trains of cement from Oxwellmains, near Dunbar on the ECML. The frequency of these trains can vary a great deal, depending on the season and on what construction projects are afoot. There will be occasions when nothing is delivered for a couple of weeks, followed by four or five trainloads in a seven day period. Over a year, it probably averages out to about once a week. Until the end of 2015, this was a Freightliner job but, in January 2016, Colas Railfreight took over the cement traffic from Oxwellmains. The train usually runs as 6H51 on the way north, becoming 6B31 for the empties going south. Currently,(2017) Colas tend to use a class 60 for the trip. Loads can vary but a typical consist has one, or maybe two, IWA Ferrywagons at the front, followed by a rake of JPA tanks, anything from half a dozen to the mid-twenties, so a good sized train.

Viewed from Platforms 1/2 at Inverness, part of the Lochgorm Works, originally built around 1855 by the Inverness and Nairn Rly. Inherited by the Highland in 1865, then the LMS, BR, and finally Scotrail, the remaining parts of this fine old complex still retain a lot of their original features. I doubt if the pre-1948 custodians would approve of the tree growing from the wriggly tin roof.

Like the sign says: Inverness Depot, or part of it. Parts of the old Lochgorm Works survive, mingling with new, far less substantial bits of today's TMD at Inverness.

66171, stabled in Platform 5 between jobs, during the track relaying blockade between Inverness and Dingwall. Finding a loco in the North platforms is pretty rare these days. While loco-hauled specials are not that uncommon north of Inverness, the majority of these workings avoid the station, accessing the line to Dingwall via Rose Street Curve.

158704 at Muir of Ord on the rear of 2H65, the 17:54 Inverness - Wick/Kyle. The leading unit (158705) will detach at Dingwall, running forward to the Far North, leaving 158704 to form 2H87, the 18:30 Dingwall - Kyle. This arrangement continued until the December timetable change in 2014 when 2H87 went back to the previous set-up, still leaving Inverness at 17:54, but running as a simple 2-car to Kyle.

Crossing the Dingwall Canal on Bridge 47, 158707 approaches Dingwall Jct with 2H60, the 06:20 Wick - Inverness. The short canal was never much of a success and, when the railway was built, it seems that no-one insisted on a swing bridge, so the canal fell into disuse from January 1890.

The right unit for the job, 158707 "Far North Line 125th Anniversary" approaches Dingwall Junction, from that very line, with 2H60, the 06:20 Wick - Inverness. Like most of Scotrail's named class 158s, this set lost its nameplates when re-liveried, early in 2017 in this case. 158720 is now Scotrail's only named 158.

Still in NatEx livery, 158724 leaves Dingwall with 2H81, the 08:53 Inverness - Kyle. The "Mallard" road van is continuing a long tradition of vehicles using the Down platform at Dingwall. Post vans were common and anyone picking up (or dropping off) a heavy parcel would drive right onto the platform.

If you're going to derail a 158, you might as well put all the wheels in the ballast and do it at the throat of a junction station. Joking aside though, and the most important thing, there were no serious injuries.