Things started to
move apace and by early 1897 the Dornoch Light Railway Company under
the chairmanship of His Grace The Duke and Earl of Sutherland was in
name, at least, a reality. The 3rd Duke had been the driving force
for the construction of the main line through Sutherland, building a
private railway for some 17 miles to Helmsdale when the original
company ran short of funds upon reaching Golspie. As we shall see,
his successor was not to let down the people of Dornoch in their
efforts to be connected to the railway network.
The Dornoch Light
Railway Order was confirmed on 13th August 1898. The company was
empowered to construct a railway between the Mound and the fishing
village of Embo and Dornoch. The County Council of Sutherland was to
provide £1,000 towards the cost, with the Town Council of the Royal
Burgh of Dornoch providing a further £500 and the Treasury a grant
of £9,000.
The Duke
himself was to contribute £5,000 and have the right to appoint one
director of the company, in addition to himself, a right he
maintained as long as he held at least 5000 £1 shares. Likewise the
County Council and the Corporation could also appoint one director
each, who must be a member of their respective bodies.
The
light railway order gave the company wide powers of compulsory
purchase for a period of two years, although the Duke of Sutherland
had gifted most of the land so these would not be required. Parts of
the order make fascinating reading and give an insight to attitudes
of the time, section 20 states:
The Company shall
not under the powers of this order purchase or acquire in any
district within the meaning of the Public Health (Scotland) Act 1897
ten or more houses which on the fifteenth day of December last were
occupied either wholly or partly by persons belonging to the
labouring classes as tenants or lodgers except with consent of the
Secretary for Scotland ten or more houses which were not so occupied
on the said fifteenth day of December but have been or shall be
subsequently so occupied.
For the purpose of
this section the expression “labouring class” means mechanics
artisans labourers and others working for wage hawkers costermongers
persons not working for wages but working at some trade or
handicraft without employing others except members of their own
family and persons other than domestic servants who’s income does
not exceed an average of thirty shillings a week and the families of
any such persons who may be residing with them.
The order also
prohibited the speed of any train to exceed twenty five miles per
hour, though by all reports and published timetables this was never
to hinder the operation of the railway in any way!
With the legal
niceties behind them the directors were able to get on with the
business of building a railway. In November 1898 they felt warranted
to issue a prospectus and invite applications for shares – 9.501
were taken up. The line was to be constructed and operated by the
Highland Railway Company. It was the opinion of the Dornoch company
that the widening of the road bridge at the Mound and provision of
additional sidings would benefit the Highland Railway more than the
Dornoch line and as such the Highland Company should defray the
engineering costs. The Highland Company would have none of this and
offered only to put in the junction at an estimated cost of £1,000.
At a directors
meeting in the Sutherland Estates Office in Golspie on 6th June 1899
plans were submitted and instructions given to advertise for
tenders. However by August all was at a stop. The Treasury had
intimated that as a condition of their grant the Highland Company
should work the line for a period of 99 years. This the Highland
Company refused to do unless they were guaranteed against loss in
working the railway for the said 99 years. After considerable
negotiation Sir Francis Mowatt of the Treasury agreed that in
special circumstances it would accept a working period of 50 years.
Various meetings took place in order to devise a plan to surmount
the difficulty faced by the directors, even on the reduced working
period. Ultimately the chairman, The Duke of Sutherland offered to
give the necessary guarantee for the first 15 years. However the
Treasury would not agree to a reduction in the working period of 50
years. Once again the Duke stepped in and this time offered to place
£3,000 with trustees as a guarantee fund for 35 years if the
Highland Company would agree to work the railway for the required 50
year period. This on 4th October 1899 the Highland Company agreed to
do.
At last
progress could be made. On 26th of the same month advertisements
appeared seeking tenders for the construction work. By December all
tenders of which there were a great many, were to hand. Not only
that but representations to the Treasury had resulted in an increase
of the grant to some £14,000 which was estimated to be half the cost
of construction. Only £3,000 of the authorised share capital of
£31,000 had yet to be taken up.
Messrs. Chisholm
& Co. of Inverness won the contract for £11,573 which did not
include the cost of permanent way or buildings. The work consisted
of excavating 13.155 cubic yards of earth, of which only 30 cubic
yards were rock, and the forming of 15,484 cubic yards of
embankment, laying over 2,900 yards of drain, fencing each side of
the line, altering the public road in a number of locations, forming
sheep creeps, building platforms and laying rails. By February 1900
the engineer was able to report to the directors that work was in
progress at the Mound. An enterprising person had erected a wooden
hut there and opened a shop for the new squad of workers. Severe
weather was to hold up work during March but by the middle of June
the track was made all along the southern margin of Loch Fleet and a
large gang of men were at work between Coul and Embo. July saw the
formation reach Achinchanter.
However on
13th November 1900 The Northern Times Newspaper reported that work
had been at a standstill for some time and large numbers of men
could be seen wandering around Dornoch and the Mound aimlessly in
expectation of the work being restarted. Poor old Mr. Chisholm was
in financial difficulties. The directors formally asked him to
complete the contract and meetings were held with Mr. Richie,
Chisholm’s solicitor. No progress was made and they then asked the
Highland Railway Company to complete the turnpike road at the Mound
and other works necessary for public safety. It was decided to
advertise for tenders to complete the railway which was by this time
three-quarters finished. Mr Chisholm was later to be taken to the
Court of Session by the company who made a claim of £2,088.8s.9d
against him, this being the difference between his contract price
and the lowest tender for completion of the works together with a
further sum of £1,820 as penalty for breach of contract.
It was to be July 1901 before the new
contractor, Roderick Fraser, was to commence work, slowly at first
but by September good progress was being made. Two hundred tons of
rail had arrived by steamer and 7,000 sleepers from the Duke of
Sutherland’s saw mill at Golspie were lying along the line waiting
to be put into place. The directors asked the contractor to put more
men on the job as they were keen to see the line open for the
following season.
After the Annual General
Meeting on 10th October 1901 the directors of the Highland and
Dornoch Companies met in private. It was widely speculated that they
were considering building a new hotel in the town which was
confirmed on 17th October. The directors were expecting the railway
to result in a doubling of the influx of visitors each year.
Tenders for
construction of the station buildings, gate houses and the station
master’s house at Dornoch were accepted, at a total cost of
£2,570.10s.0d. A house at Skelbo was to be bought from the Duke of
Sutherland for £200 to accommodate either a gate keeper or station
master. Mr. C.M.Gillespie, newsagent of Dornoch, had requested the
provision of a bookstall on the station, which was agreed to and
James Robertson, the carpenter building Dornoch Station was
instructed to construct same.
January 1902 was to
see much of the rail laid as well as an inspection by Major Druitt
of the Board of Trade, with a view to seeing that the conditions of
the Treasury grant has been complied with. All was well and an
interim payment of £7,000 was to follow.
On 17th May a ura
or cyst was found at Cambusmore. Upon lifting stone slabs some 4
feet below the ground, it appeared to contain a cremated body. This
was taken by Mr. Fraser to Cambusavie.
As opening day grew
nearer a draft timetable was published. This showed three trains in
each direction each day, commencing with the 6.10 a.m. from Dornoch
to the Mound and finishing with the 6.02 p.m. from Mound to Dornoch.
This timetable was criticised as the busiest day in Dornoch was
Tuesday, court day, and no consideration had been given to people
travelling from the north. The first connection with a southbound
train at the Mound was at 1.02 p.m. arriving in Dornoch at 1.32 p.m.
yet the court started at 12 noon.
On 29th May 1902
Major Druitt returned to the railway for its final inspection and
was well pleased with what he saw. The week before opening, station
staff were appointed. Douglas MacKenzie ex Georgemas Junction, was
to be station master at Dornoch, James Craig, ex Dalcross, agent at
Embo, and James Farquhar ex Nairn, agent at Skelbo.
Opening day, 2nd
June 1902 dawned dull and wet yet it was still to be described as a
red letter day in the history of Dornoch and the Empire. Not that
the railway coming to Dornoch made much impression on the Empire,
but the South Africa War had finished on the same day. Still every
house in Dornoch was decorated with flags and bunting. A large
crowd, reported to number 1,000, gathered at the station to see the
first train arrive from the Mound with the directors of the Dornoch
and Highland Companies. They were greeted by the town council and
local band. Mr. MacLean the factor for the Duke of Sutherland
performed the opening ceremony, in the Duke’s unavoidable absence.
The official photograph was taken and all then marched to the
Sutherland Arms Hotel where 60 invited guests were entertained to
lunch.
Later all shareholders were treated
to a free return ride to the Mound and back. The takings for the
first day amounted to £35 in total, £16 from Dornoch, £10 from Embo,
£4 from Skelbo and £5 from the Mound.
The railway was well patronised from the
start. In July there was a meeting of the Dornoch shopkeepers as the
Great North of Scotland Railway Company, which operated in North
East Scotland, was refusing to provide a through rate for goods to
the Dornoch Light Railway. It was resolved that if the company did
not provide a through rate by 9th August 1902 then all shopkeepers
would cease to deal with suppliers in towns served by the G.N.of S.
Railway Company. In the first three months, gross earnings of the
railway were £561.19s.9d. less working expenses of £379.19s.5d.
giving a net profit of £182.0s.4d. A total of 15,930 passengers had
used the railway and train mileage stood at 4,115. The working
expenses did not include any allowance for permanent way work as the
contractor was responsible for this for the first six months.
Messrs. Cameron & Burnett, architects of
Inverness, had submitted plans for the new Highland Hotel to the
Highland Company. It was expected to cost £30,000, as much as the
whole railway, this to include furnishings and landscaping of the
grounds. The building was not to have a very ornate exterior, Mr
Alexander, builder and Mr Robertson, carpenter, both of Inverness,
were awarded the contract and work started in early 1903.
The Highland Railway published
its timetable each week in the Northern Times but for some unknown
reason it was not until February 1904 that the timetable for the
Dornoch line was included:
Dornoch D 6.05 8.46 11.00 12.40
5.07
Embo D 6.16 8.56 11.12 12.48 5.16
Skelbo D 6.27 9.07 11.20 12.56 5.26
Cambusavie D
Mound A
6.28 9.18 11.31 1.06 5.38
