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{{Английская Википедия/Панель перехода}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2018}}
{{Use British English|date=February 2018}}
{{Infobox railway
| name        = Dingwall and Skye Railway<br>(inc Kyle of Lochalsh Extension)
| color       = {{HR colour}}
| locale      = [[Scotland]] 
| open        = 5 August 1870
| close       = 2 August 1880
| event1label = Replaced by<br>[[Highland Railway]]
| event1      = 2 August 1880
| gauge       = {{RailGauge|uksg}}
| linelength  = 
| map         = {{Dingwall and Skye Railway|inline=yes}}
}}
The '''Dingwall and Skye Railway''' was authorised on 5 July 1865 with the aim of providing a route to [[Isle of Skye|Skye]] and the [[Hebrides]]. However, due to local objections, another Act of Parliament was required before work could commence. This was passed on 29 May 1868.

With the exception of the Strathpeffer Branch, the line is still open, being the major section of the [[Kyle of Lochalsh Line]].

== History ==
The line to [[Stromeferry railway station|Stromeferry]] opened for passenger traffic on 19 August 1870.<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=New Railway in the North |url=http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000174/18700820/008/0002 |newspaper=Morning Post |location=British Newspaper Archive |date=20 August 1870 |access-date=15 August 2016 |via = British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription  }}</ref> It was {{convert|53|mi|km}} in length and cost £238,500 ({{Inflation|UK|238500|1870|r=-4|fmt=eq|cursign=£}}){{Inflation-fn|UK|df=y}} to build.

The line was worked by the [[Highland Railway]], and was ultimately absorbed on 2 August 1880. On 29 June 1893 the Highland Railway obtained re-authorisation to build the section to Kyle of Lochalsh. The line was inspected by Sir [[Francis Marindin]] of the Board of Trade on 29 October 1897, and opened for traffic on 2 November.<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Railways in the Western Highlands. Opening of New Kyle Extension |url=http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000060/18971103/014/0007 |newspaper=Glasgow Herald |location=British Newspaper Archive |date=3 November 1897 |access-date=15 August 2016 |via = British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription  }}</ref> The construction of the {{convert|10+1/2|mi|km|sing=on}} line cost £200,000 ({{Inflation|UK|200000|1897|r=-4|fmt=eq|cursign=£}}){{Inflation-fn|UK|df=y}} and was built under the supervision of the engineer Murdoch Paterson. The pier at Kyle of Lochalsh cost £85,000 to build.

The initial aim was to connect [[Isle of Skye|Skye]] to [[Inverness]].  Although Inverness was Skye's county town at the time, it was easier to get there via [[Glasgow]]. The line opened in 1870, but with its terminus at [[Stromeferry]]. Boats provided onward connection to Skye and the [[Outer Hebrides]].

The line was extended to Kyle, through some unforgiving terrain; almost all of the extension is in rock cuttings or embankments. At the time it was the most expensive railway ever built in Britain per mile, and much money was provided by the Government.

[[File:Alexander-matheson.jpg|thumb|Alexander Matheson, the driving force in getting the line built]]
The line never gained much traffic: connections with the ferries were often unreliable; much freight traffic was stolen by the [[West Highland Railway]] upon its opening. Original ideas, including such ideas as moving fishing boats by rail across Scotland to avoid navigating around, never came to fruition. The line avoided the [[Beeching Axe]] due to social necessity, but throughout the 1970s it was variously threatened with closure, but won a reprieve until the [[Caledonian MacBrayne]] service to [[Isle of Lewis|Lewis]] was moved from Kyle to [[Ullapool]]. It was eventually saved in connection with supplying goods for [[oil platform]] fabrication at the nearby [[Kishorn Yard]]. The section of line along [[Loch Carron]] is particularly troublesome, and prone to [[landslide]]s, often closing that section.

== Strathpeffer Branch ==
{{main article|Strathpeffer railway station}}
The logical route for the original line would have taken it through [[Strathpeffer]], a [[spa town]], and one of the few centres of population, but disagreements with landowners - particularly Sir William Mackenzie of Coul House - meant that it bypassed the town, and the line was diverted through Raven Rock. This diversion consequently proved very costly for the Dingwall & Skye Railway company. The original Act had allowed the company to build the railway through to Kyle, but the severe costs of the Strathpeffer diversion in addition to loss of revenue from relevant shareholders{{vague|reason= see talk page|date=April 2020}} meant that the money ran out, leading to the line being cut back to Stromeferry, {{convert|10|mi|km}} short of Kyle. It would be another 27 years before the line reached the originally planned terminus.

The short-sightedness of the landowner was to last for a generation, as his son gave permission for the branch line to be built to Strathpeffer by 1884, despite the fact the main line was now already in place. On 3 June 1885, the branch opened, operating for 66 years before it closed on 26 March 1951, with the track being lifted soon afterwards. A station was opened at Achterneed on the original line, being called Strathpeffer, but proved too far from the town to viably harness that revenue, and closed in 1965.

== Connections to other lines ==
* [[Inverness and Ross-shire Railway]] at [[Dingwall railway station|Dingwall]]
* [[Garve and Ullapool Railway]] at [[Garve railway station|Garve]] (proposed, never built)

== References ==
{{Reflist}}
* {{Awdry-RailCo}}
* {{Butt-Stations}}
* {{Jowett-Atlas}}
*{{cite book|title=The Skye Railway|first=John|last=Thomas|date=1977|publisher=David and Charles|isbn=0-7153-7383-8}}

==See also==
[[History of the Far North of Scotland Railway Line]]

{{Historical Scottish railway companies}}

[[Category:Highland Railway]]
[[Category:Early Scottish railway companies]]
[[Category:Railway companies established in 1865]]
[[Category:Railway lines opened in 1870]]
[[Category:Railway companies disestablished in 1880]]
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