The Ness Islands Railway is a gauge miniature railway in

Inverness Inverness (; from the gd, Inbhir Nis , meaning "Mouth of the River Ness"; sco, Innerness) is a city in the Scottish Highlands. It is the administrative centre for The Highland Council and is regarded as the capital of the Highlands. Histori ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

, opened in 1983.

Overview

Operating around a site in

Whin Park ''Ulex'' (commonly known as gorse, furze, or whin) is a genus of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae. The genus comprises about 20 species of thorny evergreen shrubs in the subfamily Faboideae of the pea family Fabaceae. The species are ...

, near the

Ness Islands Ness or NESS may refer to: Places Australia * Ness, Wapengo, a heritage-listed natural coastal area in New South Wales United Kingdom * Ness, Cheshire, England, a village * Ness, Lewis, the most northerly area on Lewis, Scotland, UK * Cuspat ...

, an area popular for recreation amongst tourists and the local population, the Ness Islands Railway markets itself as the most northerly public miniature railway in the United Kingdom. The

Sanday Light Railway The Sanday Light Railway was a privately owned ridable miniature railway situated in Braeswick, on the island of Sanday, Orkney, Scotland. The railway was of gauge. The first rails were laid down in 1999, and the line closed at the end of 20 ...

on the Island of

Orkney Orkney (; sco, Orkney; on, Orkneyjar; nrn, Orknøjar), also known as the Orkney Islands, is an archipelago in the Northern Isles of Scotland, situated off the north coast of the island of Great Britain. Orkney is 10 miles (16 km) north ...

is further north, but is no longer open to the public. Railway Bridge in Whin Park - geograph

In the 1990s the Ness Islands Railway operated a fleet of

replica A 1:1 replica is an exact copy of an object, made out of the same raw materials, whether a molecule, a work of art, or a commercial product. The term is also used for copies that closely resemble the original, without claiming to be identical. Al ...

diesel locomotives, representing in miniature assorted current locomotive designs of

British Rail British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most of the overground rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the Big Four British rai ...

. The locomotive fleet has since been rationalised, with two diesel engines and one steam engine currently in operation: * Uncle Frank – Class 91 diesel locomotive – 4w4wDH – Built 1991 (Mardyke) * Uncle John – Class 47 diesel locomotive – 4w4wDH – Built 2011 (Mardyke) * Chrissy – Tinkerbell Class steam locomotive – 0-4-2 – Built 2012 (Peter Beevers) The railway features repeat loops, cuttings, and over-bridges, including a 140-foot iron bridge dating from 1837.See the reference a
Miniature Railway World
website. It usually operates from Easter to October, running at weekends, with a daily service during school holidays. Since April 2019 Ness Islands Railway has been owned and operated by Highland Hospice. All surplus funds support the delivery of hospice services across the Highlands. In 2020 the bridge on the railway was vandalized and had to be fixed. Most of the money was provided by the public.

References

External links

*
Ness Island Railway official website

Highland Hospice
official website 7¼ in gauge railways in Scotland Railway lines opened in 1983 Heritage railways in Scotland Transport in Inverness 1983 establishments in Scotland {{Scotland-rail-transport-stub