page_title: History of the Far North of Scotland Railway Line
section_title: Invergordon to Bonar Bridge
hierarchical_section_title: History of the Far North of Scotland Railway Line / Invergordon to Bonar Bridge
caption_attribution_description: English: Up freight train approaching Bonar Bridge Station, Ardgay. View NW, towards Lairg, Thurso and Wick, ex-Highland Far North line. Diesels were just taking over in 1962, this one being Birmingham/Sulzer Type 2 No. D5335.
context_page_description: The Far North Line was built in several stages through sparsely populated and undulating terrain. Extending to 161 miles, it runs north from Inverness to Wick and Thurso in Caithness, and currently carries a regular passenger train service.
  It was completed in 1874, running round the western margin of the firths north of Inverness and then keeping to the coast as far as Helmsdale. From that point it turns inland through Forsinard, returning to the far north-east coast at Wick and Thurso.
  Some intermediate stations were closed in 1960 but despite the construction of major road bridges across the firths significantly shortening the route by road, the line has seen some revival at the southern end due to housing development, and it has a secure future. The original through route of 1874 remains in use.
context_section_description: In the Parliamentary session that year, the Ross-shire Extension Act was passed, on 11 May 1863, authorising extension of the line to Bonar Bridge, a further 26 miles (42 km).
  The extension railway was opened to a station called Meikle Ferry, 2 ¹⁄₂ miles (4 km) beyond Tain, on Dornoch Firth on 1 June 1864. The station closed in 1868 after the line advanced. The station buildings still exist (2015) as 'The Dornoch Bridge Inn' (now closed). The ferry crossing led to a coach connection which was laid on from Meikle Ferry to towns and villages in Sutherland and Caithness but the ferry was nearly 1 mile (1.6 km) into the Dornoch Firth from the station, and journeys north were inconvenient.
  The line was opened to Bonar Bridge on 1 October 1864, but this station too was some distance from the place it purported to serve; the station was located on the south side of the Kyle of Sutherland, in a village slightly to the south called Ardgay.
  Railway amalgamations were still on the agenda, and the Highland Railway was formed by merging the Inverness and Aberdeen Railway and the Inverness and Perth Junction Railway; the authorising Act received the Royal Assent on 29 June 1865.
caption: A goods train approaching Bonar Bridge
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