The Far North Line, Would you recommend it?

[GaryBrown156]

Hi
We are currently planning our annual holiday and I was looking for some suggestions and recommendations,
the past few years we have travelled on the WHL from Glasgow to Mallaig and spent a few days on Skye and the Outer Hebs before returning to Glasgow via Oban, although we love this trip we are always keen on visiting new places,
This year we where thinking of starting off with a few days in Inverness then going for a jaunt on the "Far North Line" up to Thurso then possibly catching the Ferry to Orkney for a few days, but as I haven't done this journey before my knowledge is fairly limited so i was wondering if someone with a bit more knowledge could give me some advice
I was also wondering how busy the train service usually Is around late September/early October?, I know that it's operated by a single (2 car) 158 and looking at the timetable there appears to be quite a number of stations between Inverness and Thurso although I don't know popular they are with commuters?
Thanks in advance for any advice, it's much appreciated

 

[Shaw S Hunter]

While I don't have any experience of the route that is recent enough to answer your detailed questions I will say that it does have a unique feel, certainly for a railway in GB. North of Helmsdale the line turns inland and climbs a little and you are soon above the treeline and remain that way. The bleakness is unlike any other route as there are no mountains as a backdrop. Even if you only travel that way once it's worth it in my view.

 

[Bletchleyite]

I think it's worth a go, but as Shaw S Hunter has said it's not scenic like the WHL, it's more impressively bleak like the Trans Sib or the line across Canada.

 

[MidnightFlyer]

Recommended without reservation from me. The line is a fairly pleasant mix with the rolling greenery toward Invergordon, the stretches along the coast and firths from there to Argday, then the Flow Country from Helmsdale north, not jawdropping in the same sense as the West Highland or Kyle but mesmerisingly barren.

 

[MidnightFlyer]

I ahould add, can't comment for the ferries etc. but I cannot imagine loadings on trains would be too bad at that time of year. In my experience the morning departures from Inverness (on weekdays) and the 1600 ex-Wick are rather quiet even in high summer.

 

[70014IronDuke]

We have had threads on the line in this forum that could help you. Just do a search.

There is also this site which has a lot of info. And Wikipedia.
www.fofnl.org.uk

 

[backontrack]

Hi
We are currently planning our annual holiday and I was looking for some suggestions and recommendations,
the past few years we have travelled on the WHL from Glasgow to Mallaig and spent a few days on Skye and the Outer Hebs before returning to Glasgow via Oban, although we love this trip we are always keen on visiting new places,
This year we where thinking of starting off with a few days in Inverness then going for a jaunt on the "Far North Line" up to Thurso then possibly catching the Ferry to Orkney for a few days, but as I haven't done this journey before my knowledge is fairly limited so i was wondering if someone with a bit more knowledge could give me some advice
I was also wondering how busy the train service usually Is around late September/early October?, I know that it's operated by a single (2 car) 158 and looking at the timetable there appears to be quite a number of stations between Inverness and Thurso although I don't know popular they are with commuters?
Thanks in advance for any advice, it's much appreciated

I would certainly recommend it. It's very scenic and lovely.

You start in Inverness, before skirting the Beauly Firth, with views opening up onto the Black Isle peninsula. Then it's through the farmland of Easter Ross, with Ben Wyvis, its name meaning 'Hill of Terror', looming up to the west. From Dingwall, you travel north to Alness, and Invergordon, where the station walls are covered in murals depicting soldiers from the Seaforth regiment.

After Tain, the train winds round the Dornoch Firth for a good while. After crossing the Kyle of Sutherland via a pretty latticed green viaduct between Culrain and Invershin, reputedly the two closest-together stations in the UK, the scenery becomes more rugged. We stop at Lairg, the 'Crossroads of the North', and at Rogart, where you can spend the night in an old refurbished rail carriage courtesy of Sleeperzzz, the hills are splashed with purple heather. Then it's onwards past Loch Fleet to Golspie, and Dunrobin Castle. After Brora comes the best bit of the railway: the train is practically on the shore from here to Helmsdale. Watch out for cormorants and shags, patiently drying their wings on the rocks as the train surmounts the shingle.

The railway swerves drunkenly inland after Helmsdale - the track is lined with distilleries, such as Glenmorangie, Dalmore and Balblair, so maybe the train had a dram too many? - and follows the lush Strath Ullie, where people used to pan for gold on the streams, and where deer sometimes roam - to Forsinard, where the landscape becomes a bleak wilderness, as the tracks cross the Flow Country - the largest expanse of peat bogland in Europe. At Forsinard, the pretty blue-painted railway station has been turned into an RSPB visitor centre.

Through Altnabreac - the UK's most isolated station - and Scotscalder we go, to Georgemas Junction, where the train reverses before following the River Thurso, meaning 'Thor's River', up to Thurso. Then it's a taxi ride up to Scrabster, to meet the MV Hamnavoe.

******

Please do go for it. I've got many fond memories of travelling the line - and Orkney itself is absolutely wonderful. It's just spectacular, with history, nature, folklore and personality woven into everything.

Most trains miss out the request stops completely, except for Rogart which seems to do a fairly good service.

The train can be unreliable when the weather's bad, but it's still worth a punt. The bus service has been reduced massively by Stagecoach - it's now three buses a day from Inverness to Thurso on the X99, only one of which continues through to Scrabster.

If you'd like some suggestions of things to do in Orkney, then please do send me a Conversation - or, alternatively, you can sign up on https://community.visitscotland.com/ and ask a question there, which I - and other helpful members - should be able to help you.

 

[najaB]

I was also wondering how busy the train service usually Is around late September/early October?, I know that it's operated by a single (2 car) 158 and looking at the timetable there appears to be quite a number of stations between Inverness and Thurso although I don't know popular they are with commuters?
Thanks in advance for any advice, it's much appreciated

It is rare indeed for the train to be busy any further north than Invergordon. And yes, it's definitely worth it.

 

[30907]

Well worth it but I'd think about doing part of one way by bus (Wick-Helmsdale along the coast, and perhaps the Dornoch section).

 

[backontrack]

Well worth it but I'd think about doing part of one way by bus (Wick-Helmsdale along the coast, and perhaps the Dornoch section).

A bit difficult now that the bus service has been cut.