Orkney Railways

[rogerfarnworth]

My wife and I are on holiday on Orkney (April 2019). Naively we thought that this would be a holiday away from railways ..... No chance!

http://rogerfarnworth.com/2019/04/29/the-railways-of-orkney

 

[hexagon789]

My wife and I are on holiday on Orkney (April 2019). Naively we thought that this would be a holiday away from railways ..... No chance!

http://rogerfarnworth.com/2019/04/29/the-railways-of-orkney

Interesting wee read there. Never knew Orkney had ever had a railway, even if it was effectively a pleasure railway.

Shame it's no longer operating, would be a great attraction for Orkney I'm sure.

 

[rogerfarnworth]

Did you also pick up on the amount of tracks of different scales used during the two world wars?

 

[Struner]

There's a short overview here: https://www.irsociety.co.uk/Archives/10/orcadian_railways.htm
Written well before the time of the Sanday Light Railway
I have seen a little book as well in the Lyness museum, don't remember title or author - twas not for sale anyway.

 

[Steamysandy]

There's a short overview here: https://www.irsociety.co.uk/Archives/10/orcadian_railways.htm
Written well before the time of the Sanday Light Railway
I have seen a little book as well in the Lyness museum, don't remember title or author - twas not for sale anyway.

The book is the Railways of Orkney written by Wilf Simms and published in the 1990s.My copy was bought at the Lyness Museum in 1999 but I had previously met Wilf in Poland in1992
Prior to that I visited Lyness in 1979 at which time the museum was still in the future.The crane was sitting on the Quayside while the two wagon chassis were at the back and red with rust.
At Rhinnigill,there was a 2ft guage line along a ricketty pier to which a barge for salvage recovery work was moored while a 4 wheel wagon chassis of 2ft gauge was lying on the foreshore at Longhope
I visited Lyness again in 1999 but due to circumstances have been unable to get back up since but I keep an eye on what is going on

 

[Struner]

The Rinnigill pier is not very fit for walking on anymore...
A friend of mine knows where to put her feet, but forbids me to go myself - & that is very kind of her

 

[Steamysandy]

The Rinnigill pier is not very fit for walking on anymore...
A friend of mine knows where to put her feet, but forbids me to go myself - & that is very kind of her

I would have said it wasn't fit to walk on in 1979!!!

 

[pitdiver]

I shall be visiting the Mainland next month will have have a look around.

 

[Steamysandy]

I shall be visiting the Mainland next month will have have a look around.

There isn't much on the mainland,if anything.The museum etc I referred to are on the island of Hoy virtually next to the Ferry terminal at Lyness (Ferry from Houten)

 

[Struner]

& the museum in Lyness was supposed to reopen again this spring after some renovation, but it seems nothing happened & it won't be open this season

 

[Steamysandy]

& the museum in Lyness was supposed to reopen again this spring after some renovation, but it seems nothing happened & it won't be open this season

According to the website there is a display at the Hoy Hotel ,The work is scheduled to continue till 2020 but the railway exhibits were all outside as far as I know.
Incidentally ,I have a book published locally - A Photographic Portrait of Hoy and Walls which details the entire island,wrecks,railways and Museum in recent times( published 2012) nearly all in colour.The downside is it's 35pounds but pure magnificence!

 

[rogerfarnworth]

So much for a holiday away from everything (including railways). ... Here is the second attempt to get railways out of the system for the holidays here on Orkney!

http://rogerfarnworth.com/2019/05/03/the-railways-of-orkney-part-2

 

[Struner]

In Orkney!

 

[Steamysandy]

I wonder if any of you know that a feature on the railways of Orkney and elsewhere appeared in the Railway Magazine of January 1930?
The Author was a very young Eric S Lomax who later wrote and became the subject of the film the Railwayman released in 2013 starring Colin Firth and Nicole Kidman.
It told the story of his experiences at the hands of the Japanese during World War 2 and subsequent connections

 

[Struner]

In Orkney!

Which means: not ON Orkney!

 

[rogerfarnworth]

Hi Steiner.

I may need correcting but if that is the case so does the Scottish Sunday Post. See for example the recent headlines about the new sea eagle chicks .....☺️

https://www.sundaypost.com/fp/white...rkney-nest-for-only-second-time-in-150-years/

 

[Struner]

I am not so sure if this was meant for me

Hi Steiner.

I may need correcting but if that is the case so does the Scottish Sunday Post. See for example the recent headlines about the new sea eagle chicks .....☺️

https://www.sundaypost.com/fp/white...rkney-nest-for-only-second-time-in-150-years/

You mean - & I quote your source - A pair of white tailed eagles have produced a chick on a nest in Orkney for only the second time in nearly 150 years ?

 

[rogerfarnworth]

Yep! Did you notice the difference between the headline on the page and the headline in the text?

 

[Struner]

You must be joking

 

[Steamysandy]

I see in the photographs of Lyness that the mtal pier with the plating on the deck has been partially demolished by nature - this is the pier I referred to as Rhinnigill Pier and about not walking on in 1979
The Steam loco at Lyness is shown in a brand new book by Amberley Press - " The Great Scuttle - The end oh the German High Seas Fleet"
I got my pre order copy this morning

 

[Struner]

Very good! & did you read The man who bought a Navy about the the aftermath?

 

[Struner]

About the aftermath: photos are still turning up of the salvage.
But would this be your train photo? The First Train in Orkney

 

[Steamysandy]

Very good! & did you read The man who bought a Navy about the the aftermath?

No I didn't because I didn't know about it

About the aftermath: photos are still turning up of the salvage.
But would this be your train photo? The First Train in Orkney

This is the photo - it is probably the only one taken which is of the Narrow gauge line.There was a standard gauge tank loco from Rosyth up there for a time.
During WW2 some diesel locos were shipped across for use at various sites I suspect.
Many years ago I read a book called Scapa Pilot about the ad hoc set up for shipping supplies of all kinds across the Pentland Firth.

 

[rogerfarnworth]

This is, I think, likely to be my last post about the railways in Orkney. It has been prompted by finding a secondhand copy of Wilfred Simms book. Struner's picture is on the front cover.

http://rogerfarnworth.com/2019/05/18/the-railways-of-orkney-part-3

 

[Struner]

Very nice! Thank you Roger

 

[Alanko]

A pair of white tailed eagles have produced a chick on a nest in Orkney for only the second time in nearly 150 years ?

I didn't know they lived that long.

 

[Struner]

I didn't know they lived that long.

Indeed, nor did I . But the Sunday Post seems to think otherwise, whether on Orkney, or in Orkney
All the same, there are two chicks!

 

[Alanko]

But the Sunday Post seems to think otherwise, whether on Orkney, or in Orkney

I'm a geographer by trade, and I don't know where to draw the line here. I went on holiday to Malta a couple of years ago, and didn't know whether to say "in Malta" or "on Malta". I imagine the citizens have strong views on the matter, either way; as per the stooshie kicked off whenever Shetland is drawn in a box floating in the Moray Firth. You can circumvent the latter issue by arguing that any map of Scotland that doesn't show Rockall is merely an excerpt anyway, so you can stick Shetland wherever you like (within the limits of cartographic good taste).

Orkney is an archipelago, so I imagine it is acceptable to say 'on the Orcadian mainland' or 'in the Orkney archipelago'? Do the good citizens of Gairsay claim to hail from Orkney, The Orkney Islands or Gairsay?

 

[Steamysandy]

The Orcadian Newspaper refers to the entire archipelago as the County!

 

[Struner]

Another reason why it is "in Orkney"!